THE HOSPITAL FINANCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 99, 15 April 1908, Page 4

THE HOSPITAL FINANCES.

KATE HEDI'ITIOX KLFISED. PAST ADMIMMIUTIO.S atlTlLISLD. Tin- 110-pital Board on Alondav waxeu wordily elo.pien; on the rale rcductiou propusa,,. ~,,4 U„. di-.u-sion was one. the tong.t in the history of the Mr. G. V,. Uoi.nc Miirt(l( , „ rolling. uh..„ h(l Ill(lV(iJ [0 ri .. eiml rcoluuon p.,-,,1 ilt ~l >t mi , L , lj]i! , t() '"> a rate „f mnepeiice in t'llin Vai.i- ''?' Vill,U ' "«■ complained ,1,,t when he matter was di-cu-scd h-t monl'i ill the iiiloriiuliuu necessary to -liable them to form au e-liinalo of Ui.~vVrrs" requirement,. ji,. , ou teuded that 'the ■"iiiua balance-sheet should be on tlio table beloiv the r ate wa- struck. Thee hiid had to depend upon an:., x,,,,,,",. %;-rc- and noon,, n!,.,,,!,,' 'uew"cv actly how ti, t . ii„, m „., >l()0(1 ||( , ni _ [erre. to the ~,,, , Mlll „„. hj ,„.,. . had been struck upon the ehiinnui'"Mills vote, and he cou.„te l e,t'tl,.,[ in J«eh a ,cc,-,o„ ~,,r i. .„„„,, ,„. .„,,„.. thing like iiiianimitv. lie reviewed sonio ~f the figures' of la-t vear. and contended that following itemwould not be rcciirriu". except to a modified extent:-Building and repairs, £st>S; surgical in-lruineiit-. .C2l(i; duty On surgical instrument. Of ID: extra labor on ground- .Uo d- ; repairs to chimney, £ls; and one or two other small item- which brought the total up to .tSSii odd. He would allow Coilil instead of .tSSti fur extraordinary expenditure this year, which would* ju,tifv th c eontinuanee of the 8d rate, for a penny rate produ.ed only llju. <j ul . mguuient adduced in favor of the higher rate was that the extra £l5O raised would earn tlsn in liovcrnmenl sub. sidy. For his pait he wa- not prepared to accept the principle of penalising the people to get the Government subsidy. Mr. O'Sullivan said that according'to Mr. Browne's iigures the rate could be , reduced.

Mr. Browne: Yes, unless the chairman assures us that these itiues an going to recur. Continuing, he .-aid that the valuations had riventh U<cn largely inen-a-ed. and ci;.o the ca-e o: the Carrijigtou road district.

The chairman: lint we won't rate on that till next year.

Mr. Browne concluded by expressing the opinion that tin- Board would be more likely to economise if it were just a little short of Hinds. On local bodies a credit balance generally induced extravagance.

Mr. .I. Brown (luglewood) seconded. (Here followed a dUcu.-siuu upon the propriety of adjournment for lunch. It

was 1.15 p.m., ami country members stated that their early breakfasts produced healthy appetites, one of them confessing that he had not yet had any thing to eat that day. The chairman forced the Board to a division, when the votes were even, and the Board adjourned).

Upon resuming, tin- -ei-onder expressed his Ix-lief that the Hoard could carry on comfortably on the Sd rale. If a't the end of the year it wa- found that the money wa- in-ullicient. he would vote for the bigger rate next time. The chairman had interjected against -Mr. Browne's figures that the recent valuations would not affect this year's re-

venue. Well, the previous year's increases in the valuations lml been even bigger. The Taranaki county vaiuations were increasing, and the Countv Council, who had to lind the greater part oi the rate revenue, was "dead opposed to the, higher rate.' So was the speaker. He didn't agree with the system of including bequests in the general fund, and he didn't believe thaUa-'. year'- extraordinary expenditure wciul-l feiir. for the hospital was now -thoroughly up-to-date. The chairman: ljuery. strong tpierv! -Air. Brown -slid the furiuer chairman had always fca t|„. p,,,ai,l t „ |, t .|i,. V( . „„ anyhow. So long as thev had money in hand, however, they would hava lo keep on spending it at the dictation of the medical authorities. J),, knew that the secretary liked a credit balance; that, wa- the way with clerks of Inca bodies. Uut ih'c iih-iiilkts were aiv. pointcd to consider the the inl.-n-.i- of the ratepayers. : „„l the ratepayer, objected to tiie increase.

Mr. Burgess thought that low of the members, if any, were likelv lo have altered their ..pinion- -inee 'l;,,t nieeting. .Mr. Browne might be right, but be (Mr. Binges-, preferred to have a. - ' "'■•'■•-•'" f""' contillgelleies. |[,. „, ; , prep.lfd to ae.vp, t|„. opinion ol 111.--e.lelary. who cnu-ide|,-| liim-pellce ~!,. • : > the lio.u.is .|ll..ns than anyone el-edid. Uh.l made bin, ee,l;,iu'lhat c:gMipence would be ii|s,iiliei,.„t was thai I lie Hoard started l.i-i year with a

ere,!,. „| c||,ki. ami had „„|v cill'l credit at the end of the year. On the actual receipts ~u.| expenditure. e veu disre-ardiiig the cxlraonliuarv expenses detailed by Mr. Ur..wue. the Board would still have been in debt.

Mr. McDonald w,,uld not change his views. Tiie 1t..-ii-.l would be laughed at as a lot of children il tlwy dc-ided at one meeting and rever-ed the decision a month later. Mr. J. Brown: ion wanted us to change a minute ago about Alec the Greek. -Mr. McDonald -aid it was U-tt.r lo raj-,-the ca-h trom the ratepayer- than to have to sig,, , -joint and -cecal" to the bank. Mr. Brown: \\\\i be economical then. The chairman, Mr. [•'. Bellringer, in opposing the motion, -tated that th: amount of the rate in I!KH-:* had been lid; VJOi-3, lid; 1!H.«-I. KM: l!ll)4-f,. !M: l!"lj-ti, llkl: l'.ll|l>-7, '.ld; HIO7-S, Sd. The la-t-naii.cd rate had been possible -imply because the Hoard liad received a of .tbOH from Mrs. Small, with its accompanying Ouvcruiiicnt .subsidy, turn, ;ind this amount had actually gone into the general account. It was a very easy thing to reduce a rale when money was got Unit \\\i\: lbdid not want a high rate—he would be conteut with sixpence if that wcic smtli'■ient for the working. Eighlpcnco. however, would not suilice. He ventured the opinion that if the public knew the conditions under which the hospital was now run, thev would be surprised. A member: Oh! The chairman tlien referred to the want of. a dining room for women. Without that, wa- the ho-pital up-to-date? The idea of the males and female- dining in the one room was feasible with healthy people, but when they were convale-ecnt the members could ea-ily see that it would not be always wi-<. < )r convenient. fixing their hours -" that one -ex ...tild follow lh e other would be uiisuti-laclorv. The isolation block, a- they knew, had recently been the -übject of an inquiry. The-e building- had not been painted for nine >e.ii'-. and they were very insanitary. The -iecping accommodation there li.id had t.. b t . ntili-cd for the imr-cs from tin- main hospital, and the nurses in charge of case- of infection- di-eases had had to -leep in the i-nlnthm ward or in the passage-. To hi, mind this •lio«ed criminal neglect on the part of the Board in tic p.i-t. Mr. Brow n f That'- not up -1., .late. Th.- .haiiinan -,, id Ihev had had i wo I win!- f.-r i-"iati..„ .-, .->■-. lb- had n J from Hie medical -upei-inteiideiii thai !,.,.( |,„| to -I.op a'.oej-l.le .eariel !,...•■ .a-. -. anil .1 plbcil.' ~.-.■- I inc.,.|,. in lie- -anic wanl. lie panel,.,- lieile, of n -e\e. i|.,,| .mi Cell lienors,- h.,,1 .„ ~in, ~( i t „| Iheir aparl Mr. Br..mi.-: U.-'i.- o.ercom.- thai I'O.V. Mr. IVllriu-.r: \<-. we I,a\e ihj.r. th- d.t. cell i-ec.-utU a- a wail, alel had had to lilll-e ..I-- ~l inf.- lioll-di-c,.-.- in lie. iu,.i -i.i1..). Wa lei,..- mi ,|e..-n, a- ;.,. bo' 1..-.!, palnii'- ~i„| ~- .11: Aid ).■: ,1 .li'„!v" in r.-.-.nl n. |e- .'ill ii-eno-iil ~| lil- ~.l|-e- hoe... I ..„|,| Hie .„eu r-,|,-li; tint in i bltloil was s,, -..1,1 ih.i: Ihe day 11111-e- had In leep in the l-d- yoatc.l lo ill- ei-ln -laiV: \\a- thai met.elate or healthy: At ,mv tat.-, it wa- a fact. Again, for len or'tw.-lve v-.ii- pa-i tin- niaimn had been .wcup;, ing a mom that umi" <>t the

opened into the corridor near the fever |ward. Tlio iiiitiron had not been properly treated, and he was glad that they now proposed to give lier better j accommodation. The reputation of the institution depended on the cflicioilcv or llie stall', and lo I nieieiit thev must bo decently housed. Tin- Board had last year to make considerable outlay in the operating, theatre, and the piv-eui standard imw !.,. maintained. The building-, too, were twenty years old. and were in need of < .instant rcpair at considerable expense. During the current year the exterior ot tinpital buildings would have lo lie paint- . ed. lie referred to the I'a.-t inn la-l year the secretary had collected over | timid in maintenance ice-, almo-i Ihe ■ Invest anioiinl in tin Dominion, aim , far larger than in anv ho-pilal -imil.it ;-'rn the "New I'lyinniith' iu-til ulioii. The ' patients, then, paid well, and were en- , titled to the best their money could

Mr. lirown -aid that no one wa- Hud inn fault with Ihe expenditure incur

'lhe chairman: I thought j on alleged

extravagance. Mr. O'Sullivan: If you were cxtrava gant. we'd -non -fop'you.

The chairman reminded members iiiitl the Hoard was going to have allot her big expenditure soon, in the erection of au isolation block on the hack of I lie property. It was only by "putting their backs up" that they managed to stave oil' the expenditure last year. Very soon, too, they would have to face' the re-erect ion of the ho-pital.

The secretary, in an-wer to a ipies lion, said that last year ! lie expenditure was C'/Ojo. which, out lor the bequests, would have needed a rate of elevenpence. There was a credii of i'12(1(1 at the end of the year, but outstanding liabilities reduced that to about. £25.

Mr. J. Brown asked how much was outstanding against the .UIIUu credii at the commencement of la-t year.

Mr. Lepper: We had CHIOO clear of all liabilities. Continuing, he said that of Mr. Browne's .1:210 for surgical appliances .Clb's 14s Sd was to be charged against this year. After nineteen, years' experience with the Hoard—not three monllis-he felt thai they could not foresee their expenditure. This m-,rea-e of a penny in the rate would not mean more than 12- to the l.igge-i ratepayer, and less than three or lour

-hillings to the. majority. Mr. lirown suggested that the tune Ilul arrived for increasing the fee-. the hospital was being n-ed by the better class of people now, and he thought Is a day too little when the actual cost to the Hoard was (is 2 : }', d a day. 11l replying. Mr. Browne stated that the medical superintendent should in>< have liecn allowed to .-pend over C4OII in England when only L'2IIII was authorised. ])c-pitc the lowering ot the rate the payments by I lie individual ratepayers liad not dimnished- b- I"' lieved thev had increased. If the hopital were not up-to-date why didnt the doctors tell them so, and have the improvements "all in one hit, instead of a series of small contracts'! lie •,..-mi complained thai lh- l>»ard I"" 1 ~7,t the annual balance-aeel before Ihem on which to base their calculations. The motion was 10-'.. on the following division:-Aves: .Messrs. Browne Andrews and Brown; Noes: Messrs. Bellringer, Burgess, O'Sullivan, and McDonald.