CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 269, 23 April 1915, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE NEW PLYMOUTH HOSPITAL. The very comprehensive annual report which the chairman of the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board submitted at the recent mooting of that body should be read with interest throughout the district. The near completion of the new hospital, the contract price for which was £28,034, marks another step in the advancement of Taranaki, and should prove a boon to suffering humanity in this district. It is gratifying to find that the Inspector-fieneral of Hospitals (Dr. Valintinc) is well pleased with til! now building, and there is no doubt that it will enhance the already high reputation gained by the existing institution. The large increase in the number of patients (70S as against ,584 in the previous year) shows how necessary the new building had become owing to the Increased population, though the strain on the medical and nursing staff must have at times been severe, and the fact thai they have done so well reflects the greatest credit on their zeal and skill. Financially the Board's position is most satisfactory. Starting the year with a credit balance of £o4fi, there was at the end of the year £220(5 in hand. The. increased number of patients would naturally cause the receipts from that source to be larger, but a more pleasing fact is that the average amount received from each patient was higher than in the previous year by two shillings and threepence, this average comparing more than favorably with similar payments to other hospitals. In such a prosperous district as Taranaki it would hardly be expected that the expenditure for charitable aid would be other than very light, and this proves to be the case,, as the payments on this account only amounted to £409 for the year. That the hospital and Old People's Home are both excellently managed is well known, while the Board is entitled to much credit for the care and ability exercised over its administrative business. The chairman has given very sound reasons for not reducing the levy in the coming year, and the ratepayers should not be other than satisfied at the amount they will have to .pay. for the money is devoted to the best of all purposes —the care of the sick and ased. Wo congratulate the Board, the medical and nursing staff, the matron of the home, as well as the secretary (Mr. C. M. Loppor) on the creditable record for the year. The institutions are a credit to the province, and the services they perform are of the greatest benefit to the community.