HOSPITAL FOR OPUNAKE.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 August 1919, Page 6

HOSPITAL FOR OPUNAKE.

SUGGESTED SEVERANCE FROM TARANA'KI BOARD. . ' The question of severance from (lie Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid District and the establishing of a hospital in the Egmont County was touched on by Cr. O'Brien in a lengthy speech at the meeting of . the Egmont County County Council yesterday. Cr. O'Brien stated that he wished to bring under the notice of the council the very unsatisfactory position of Egmont County in its relations with the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and considered that it was the bounden duty of the council to at dnee look into the position and seek relief for the people of the Egmont County. This year Egmont paid the Taranaki board £1379 (is 8d for charitable aid, on which the board received a like sum in: subsidy from the Government, making a total of £3158 13s 4d from Egmont County. He had made discreet inquiries and could not ascertain that any person in Egmont received one penny in out-door relief, and there were only two Egmout people in the Old People's Home at New Plymouth. In addition, tlioy paid £220 lis 4d annually as interest and sinking fund on a loan of £3525, raised in 1914-15 to build the new hospital. This yeai;, therefore, they contributed £11790 13s in respect of , the. New Plymouth Hospital, and ther probability was that the sum would be increased next year. This tribute! was worse than the New Plymouth | harbor raie that they had fought against in the past; and was on a par with tlie toll-gates and wheel tax.' He did not know how much longer they were going to submit to this. What did they get in return! New Plymouth had now informed them, and also the Stratford and Hawera Hospital Boards, that no more old people could be accommodated at the home, and Hawera was now sending its old people to the Salvation Army Home at Wairarapa, to be herded with a class tainted with criminals. What a fate, he added, awaited some of their respectable old people. Patients were charged 7s per day at New Plymouth Hospital, yet, despite this, a patient from their district was recently told that she was only malingering and ordered to get out of the hospital. Others from their district had been advised to build their own hospital at Opunake, so that it was evident they were not wanted, but their money was. He, therefore, considered they should take the advice and build their own hospital at Opunake. "Cut the painter with New Plymouth; hold on to the £1579 Gs Bd, and establish our own hospital district." He felt sure the Government would agree to the proposal if properly approached. They had a doctor in the district now. This year, with the Government subsidy, they would have a sum of £3158 13s 4d assured with which to start, and that sum, as far as Egmont was concerned, he considered largely wasted in tribute to New Plymouth. Ten thousand would build a hospital, and this could be paid for in a little over three years with the present contribution and Government subsidy, or,-better still, they could borrow the amount for a lojig period at a fair rate of interest- Sotoe people said that Egmont would not bo,large enough to maintain its own hospital, but lie held that it was large enough, and wealthy enough, to build and maintain a hospital. Population, wealth, and territory were the factors to be considered, and in all of these respects he held that Egmont had the advantage over Patea, which had a new, u'p-to-date, brick hospital. At the last census, Patea had a European population of 3.W5 and Egmont of 3264, but Egmont had a much larger Maori population. Patea's valuation was £1,534,494 and Egmont's £1,408,379, whilst Patea had 23 miles of coastline and Egmont 32. He held that at the present time Egmont was more populous and wealthy than Patea, and, being isolated, required a hospital more than Patea. It did not conduce to a sick person's recovery to be taken 50 miles in all weathers to a hospital, and each human life was an asset to the State. Some of their people also went to Hawera, in place of the New Plymouth Hospital. He referred to the death of a woman who was taken to Hawera some years ago, and considered that this life might have been saved had there been a hospital in Opunake. They did not know the day when another epidemic might visit them, and they should, therefore, be prepared. He asked councillors to give the matter every consideration. Another matter of the highest importance and calling for attention was the present position of their Nursing Association, which was unable to perform its functions owing to the nurse having left and another not having been appointed. It .was the duty of the Taranaki Hospital Board to find and maintain a nurse, and, in this connection, he quoted the reply sent by the Department to the Stratford Hospital Board in which the Department pointed out that the contention that the ratepayers of the whole district should have to bear the expenses of a district nurse at Whangamoraoim was fundamentally unsound, as the ratepayers of the Whangamomona district had to contribute towards the cost of the Stratford Hospital, which was certainly more convenient for Strat-ford-people than those of Whangamomona, and therefore the Stratford residents should contribute towards a similar provision for the care of the sick at Whangamomona. The board must remember that it was their duty to provide equally for the sick all over the district, and not confine itself to the larger centres bf population. It was, therefore, ;the bond's plain duty to maintain the nurse un'der decent Conditions; 'The Nursihg Association had done good work in the and lie thpiight that the associatiom and the county's two: representatives 6n the Hospital Board should co-operate U)\ the good and devise a remedy for a position that was serious for the ratepayers. t 5 . Cf. Campbell said the 'New Plymouth Hospital Board was doing, all it could to get a nurse, but could not get one until they got suitable accommodation. The chairman agreed that New Plymouth' was doing its' bfest in the interests of the ratepayers,!'but he thought that, in view of the levy the district paid them, the board should find a home for the nurse. Regarding the establishment of a separate hospital district for the county, he considered this opened up such a large question that lie would not care to go further into it that day. It required a great deal of consideration, and he was very glad that Cr. O'Brien had thrown light on the subject. There was no doubt that in the past the commercial side of the hospital had been neglected in favor of the medical side. He had submitted a scheme that would have made the hospital self-supporting, but it had not been considered, with the result that the rate had been increased to y 4 <l. Cr. O'Brien thought that the council, being the chief health authority of the district, should convene a' public meet;ng at Opunake, and if that meeting sent a deputation to the Minister of Health, supported by Mr. Wilkinson, lie felt tm Jfcff ywUMMHitM Ik* UMUM

had the greatest sympathy for the people in the backbloeks, The chairman pointed out that (lie ratepayers of the whole county would have to decide on the question] but he doubted whether they would agree, as they had already contributed so much to the new hospital, etc. Mr. O'Brien: We don't hope to get back anything we have paid, but we do not want to continue to pay. Make the first loss the fast. Cr. Green deprecated the idea that the people in the northern end would even consider the question of severing themselves from New Plymouth. It was decided to hold over furtherdiscussion till next meeting of the council.