Mater Hospital to Have New Wing

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 502, 3 November 1928, Page 5

Mater Hospital to Have New Wing

SURGICAL PROVISIONS CEREMONY ON NOVEMBER 19 AN up-to-date surgical wing, 1 th e foundation-stone for whicn “ to be laid on November 19, is to be added to the Mater Misericord.ae Hospital, on the northern slopes of Mount Eden. For the past 28 years the hospital lias made a notable contribution to the 01 the cit y’ s sickness and buttering. i* 01 merly, the Sisters of Mercy who ran it had charge of the Coromandel General Hospital. With the experience there gained and with a .staff trained in the best hospitals in Sydney and elsewhere, the Mater Hospital commenced its period of useful service io-day, hundreds of its friends and expa. tien ty, Catholic and non-Catholic will be interested to learn that the Sisters of Mercy propose to extend the hospital by the addition of an up-to-date surgical wing, the foundationstone of which will be laid on Novemby , hls , Eminence Cardinal Cerretti. who will be returning from his recent visit to Australia as the FW.v.f!..i P^ SC ?? al re b resen tative at the Eucharistic Congress held in Sydney in September. y y n

The new building, which will be erected on the eastern end of the presl\°. aP i tal ' -Y, 111 u. be . so Placed that all the wards will obtain a maximum of sunshine withohut interfering with the warmth and light of the existing rooms. From its windows, unsurpassed views will be obtained of the whole of the harbour and Gulf, and of the peopled isthmus between the two harbours. The plans of the new wing have been designed by Mr. Daniel B Patterson, architect, of Auckland. Every modern hospital requirement has been carefully studied and included in the lay-out of the three floors of a fireproof steel-frame building, surrounded by concrete, with reinforced concrete floors and roof. Provision has been made for the accommodation of -57 patients, which, with the present buildings, will allow of over 80 beds in the hospital. TO COST £ 40,000 1 In the past successful years, the Sisters have earned high praise for their hospital management from the most prominent Auckland and visiting surgeons, among them the worldfamous Dr. Mayo, of .Rochester, of the United States. Their efficient nursing and management achieved for them the approval of the American College of Surgeons, whose recognition is at once the ultimate ideal of hospital administrators and the highest test of hospital efficiency that the world at large recognises. When the decision was made to undertake an expenditure of from £30,000 to £40,000 in extending the hospital’s sphere of usefulness and service by the erection of the proposed additions, the most expert assistance was readi'%/ forthcoming. The result of this co-oper-ation will be seen in the jjew surgical wing. The patients will have a choice of single rooms, or two or fourbed wards. The most modern technical opinion considers that the fourbed wards provide the maximum accommodation for the simultaneous receipt of most efficient nursing. In addition, there are eight single-bed suites, self-contained, with bathroom and other facilities attached individually.

On the scientific side, the new hospital wing provides for two large operating theatres, separated by a sterilising room with access to each. By this means the highest technical efficiency can be maintained. Nearby is the anaesthetising room. Provision is also made for a large pathological room and laboratory, food dispensaries and X-ray suite. Besides the usual radiological facilities, the special treatments wherein the X-rays are the healing medium are properly provided. Two passenger lifts, as well as a bed-lift, will give access to the higher floors, on each of which nurses’ and doctors’ rooms are included, in addition to all the usual facilities for efficient control and management. Verandahs, twelve/feet in width, run the whole length of the building on each side, and there is another similarly wide verandah on the eastern end of the first and third floors; to all of these there is access from each ward and patient’s room. On the ground floor, near the large entrance hall, the administrative offices are situated, and a telephone exchange will allow of communication with every room in the buildings, and with the outside telephone system. Provision has been made for an infectious diseases ward at a distance from the main buildings in a distant part of the spacious grounds.