HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 37, 19 February 1901, Page 2

HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD.

Thb Hospital and Charitable Aid Roard met on Monday, Present: Messrs, Oorkill (chairman), McDonald, McOullum, Sutton, Wilkinson, Lepper, Scott, Stowart, Oliver, Liardet, and Mackay. The Chairman's action in dealing with two charitable aid cases was conI firm?d.

The Hawcra Housa Committee repsrfcod that the following gifts hid been received: Mrs. Lysaght, 2 cases mineral water; Mr. J, Macklam, 7 new books; Mr. O. R. Bayly, ss, received as Court expenses, They stated that Nurse Price's probation had expire'!, and that both Djctor Weatenra and the Matron spoke very highly of ber ability, and they had every confidence in recommending her for appointment as nurse. The report was adopted. A long discussion took place on a letter fram Mr. Gibbons, relative a rebate in charges for a child who had been in the hospital. Eventually it was decided, by 8 to 2, on the motion of Mr. Mackiy, that the matter be deferred until it was explained to Mr. Gibbons that a conce sion could only be made on his applying in forma pauperis. ' A letter fiom Mr. J. Oorbest relative to plaoing out the boy John Oourtenay. now in the hospisal, was ordered to lie on the table. Two cases of admission to the Refuge w<Te dealt with.

The Oha : rm«>'» action in arranging for the funeral of Mrs. Bradford was confirmed.

Several cases of inability to discharge accounts for hospital charges were disposed of. Mr. Lianlet, pursuant to notice, moved that adequate hospital acfommadation be provided at Stratford. Ha considered that as a larg« centre, Stratferd was entitled to propar hocpital He instanced .-as's having to be biought 40, 50, and 60 miies, and plaeed in an auction ua*rt If t!.« Bonrd would assist the people of Stratford, Stratford would, he was sure, oon iftino funds to erect a hospital. From a humanitarian point of view a I hospital th«re was a necessity. Another matter was the largi* amount of rates received from that part of the district. The present accommodation was only a j on* for a casual c«e, and in thai !room the dootors would not undertake an operation. He knew it was a quesiou of cost of maintenance, but if they i.ould only hava a good casual ward, where a surgical operation could be conducted and the patient have quiet, it wou'd ra et the n- •<>" *■ »•■?. quiremenis. He naS'UTfl thflStrat< ford purple would iiuar.i.j.

Mr. S owarfc seconded the motion pro forma. Mr. M.(kay was sorry to sty he did not agr. e with his fellow member. H< luoted fri>m an official return as to the ■iveragn d lily expmise per pa'iont at v- rious hcspitu's. Taking small hospital-, he fund that the average varii'd from 1 Is. o.|d. at Dunstin, to 17s. Od. it Mercury B.y, whild at the larger ' ■■osfiitaN, such as Duoedin, Auckland, Blenheim, and Wellington, if. ranged from 3s. 2J> to 4s. lOf I. Looking, 'iawever, at dona-

ions racived towards the various hospitals the figures were sumewbutcuriout, is shewn in the following list:

( It was remarkable that in the hospitals where the expense was '„'r.<a'n:;t tho stin-criptii'-ns were eilhn' nothing or cost to nothing, whilo the 1 h-r-slit-y was in tho mining districts. If, s-M-m d, titer. io->, that except ui the minin? di<ch;ui(y was dyiag out. Whit, however, he wished particularly to UKsprSFiK cm the Board as b»ar~

ing on tho question under discus-1 son, was the patent fact that the larga hospitals were by far the leaßt expensive, and that the small hospitals werj particularly costly, and r3ceivetl little, it anything, by way of subscriptions. Dr. McGregor, who was I an authority that carried great weight, had stated that one of the pests of the coun'ry was that when a few medical men were found in a small community they immediately etirted an agitation for a hospital. With regard io Stratford he had not consulted the paople in the town, but ha had been at some trouble to canvass the opinion of the country people, aad they were decidedly

against the proposal to erect a hospital at Stratford, tie had pointed out tb&t J the cost of maintaining sueh an institution would be close upon £IOOO a year, and that the vxpense would have to be mat. He felt convinced that if a hospital were granted to Stratford (where he considered one was not required) it would be a case of inserting the wedge which would have to be driven home, as Stratford was not the I only centre in the district which was looking for a hospital. Opunafce was just as much, or perhaps mare, entitled to a hospital than Stratford. Then there was Inglewood, Eltham, aad far above all in urgency wns the country north of New Plymouth, the Mimi and Mokau. ] These claims had all to be faced, and those who voted foe a hospital at Stratford would, to ba consistent, have to give a f imilar vote in favour of oth«r places. He admitted that some better arrangements were required at Ssratfoid than at present existed, but, he asked, what benefit was a hospital at Stratford to a poor fellow with a tree on top of him away miles back in the bush? The real qu?stion was one of proper applunce). What was wanted, and required urgently, was a thoroughly equipped band, horse, and railway ambulance, so that at Whangamomona and such

remote places there might always be a h&Dd ambulance ready for use to convey any ease of acoident to the nearest point where a horse ambulance was in waiting ready to take tbe patient by road to the nearest railway station, where be ooulA be transferred to a railway ambulance and taken either to Hawera or to New Plymouth, where the beat of appliancas and medical staff were available. The same mattress on which the sufferer was first placed weuld thus be brought right through with little or no discomfort to the man on it. This would ensure far better treatment to patients than a hospital at Stratford, and entail far less expanse If proper representations were made to the Government for iacreising the supply of appliances in this district, he had no doubt that it would either be aeceeded to or a grant* made fer the purpose. For the reasons he had givea he was unable to support the motion. Messrs. Oliver and Sutton took the

samo view as Mr. Mackay. Mr. Scott was disappaintad with Mr Liardet for not bringing forward some definite proposal from the Stratford County as to w bat amount it was willing and ready to subscribe. He considered that it was far too large an order to supply hospitals over the district. Mr. Wilkinson thought tbat possibly ; the cane of Stratford might be met by a differential rate, although he considered it was premature to provide a hospital there ac present. Mr. McDomld agreed with the views expressed by Mr. Mackay. It would, he said, take atleast £ 10,000 to provide for places which were even more entitled to hospitals than Stratford. The Chairnun pointed out the difference between the cates of Hawera and |

Stratford, and briefly sketched the origin and completion of the Hawera hospital, the e'oation of which was almost entirely due to local effort-. It was no terrible tarmination to a journey .out ftool tho bush to convsy a patient ihy rail either to New Plymouth or Hawera. It was inadvisable to build more hospitals and if thj Boird entertained the claims of Stratford it must treat oiber places in the same way. Mr. Liardet, in reply, said he did not expect to cany his motion when b. brought it forward, but he was surprised at members raising such a bogey as the cost of building, fie contended that the mistake made was in not placing the hopltal at Stratford instead of Hawe.-a. What he wanted was some encouragement from the Board by way of a premise th*t if the Stratford people raised a definite amount of money the Board wou'd meet them and erect a ho-pital. There had alway* been, and were now, thoce who were averse to the progress of Stratford and tried to place all obstacle in the way. The motion wag lest on a division by 4 to 7, MessiH. McOullum, Liardet, Wilkineou and Stewart voting with the ayes. t Mr. MacWy, by leave of the Board, trnved th..t a letter be sent to thf Colonial Sacretary pointing out thtnecessity of establishing a complete hand, horse, and railway Bmbu'ano servioe in the outlying parts of this district; and that in the opinion of tr.e Board tho Government should provide f,he n<3ressary appiunces on the uodorstanding that this and other Boards similarly circumstance:), keep the appliancf s in proper repair. | Tho motion was carried. Ton Chairman annomicad that thfre| wore ( J casts of typhoid in the hospital and two in the town. Tho source of infection h«d been traced and he hepftd the outbreak had bcea nipped in th' bud. No trouble or expense was spared in treating the patients and ho trusted hat before thi next meeting of tho Board tho pa'ients would have recovered. Accounts wors p.ssol. The Bond adjourned to visit the hospital and tho new refuse which wan • eported as nearing comp'otion. i

Hospital Average daily Subscriptions cost per bead a a & dona'ions £ s d Ashburfon 8 24 1 18 11 Akar o 15 4 nil Hiwera 8 7| nil Liwrence 5 H nil Pictoa 3 7| 5 1 0 Knraara 2 1U 251 15 2 RofB 3 9i 105 9 9 Hokitiki 3 ll| 370 9 9 Auckland S 2 800 13 9 Thames 3 5f 554 4 5