HOSPITAL LEVY.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1920, Page 3

HOSPITAL LEVY.

TARANAKI'S HIGH RATE. LOCAL BODIES CONFER THE BOARD'S DIFFICULTIES EXPLAINED. i An important conference of delegates from contributing local bodies to the Taranaki Hospital, Board was held yesterday for the purpose of discussing' the question of finance and ascertaining the Board's reason for increasing the levy from Is Sd in the pound omthe capital value to 2s 9d. Mr. M. Eraser (chairman of the Hospital Board) occupied the chair, and there were also present: Messrs F. J. Hill (Hospital Board). J. S. Connett and A. J. Morton (Taranaki County), A. G. Brooker (New Plymouth Borough), J. Sutherland and G. Olsen (Inglewood Borough), W. R. Wright (Egmont County), C. Musker and 11. Foreman (Clifton Countv), A. Corkill and D.Todd (M*a Road Board), and R. Morgan (Waitara Borough). The chairman stated that the Board was entirely in accord with the delepates in holding the conference. The Board realised that the local bodies found* the money and desired to meet th.m in a cordial way because they had much in common and owed a duty to the ratepayers. Mr. Connett said that he wished it distinctly understood that the Council was in no way hostile to fjhe Board, and the meeting that day was being held with the idea of being helpful to each other. The immediate cause of the conference was the raising of the levy to 2s 9d in the £ 100 on the capital value, an increase from Is Sd, or, in other words, the contribution had jumped from £6,200 to over -£IO,OOO. This had been regarded as the last straw, and they decided to confer with other local bodies and find out the cause- The levy would represent a third of a penny in the £ on the capital value, which, in addition to the very heavy rates levied for other purposes) meant quite a big thing for lociil bodies. The Council was looking at it from the ratepayers' point of view, and desired to ascertain whether this levy was necessary or not.

FEES NOT PAID. Touching on the Board's balancesheet, Mr. Connett said that on the revenue side he could not understand the estimated reduction in revenue of £1240. There was also £5,500 in fees outstanding .for last year, which was regarded as an altogether excessive amount, and it appeared that other accounts were outstanding for previous years. He recognised that <there were some people who could not afford to pay, but it also seemed that a big number who could pay were evading their liability. His council would like to have "supplied to it a list of people owing money to the Board with the idea of getting in a large portion of the outstanding amounts. It was also probable that some of the outstanding amounts were owing by natives, and it was only-right tliat the-natives who could pay should be compelled to pay. New Plymouth had a fine hospital whicli they were very proud of, and the treatment of patients was particularly good, so it seemed only right that patients should be prepared to pay for what they received. Kcgarding the farm owned by the Board, Mr. Connett said that possibly the farm was too small for the requirements of tlie hospital, and it appeared that too much was being expected from it .with not altogether satisfactory results. He thought that possibiy it might be advisable to sell the present farm and secure a larger one somewhere eke. He thought the conference could serve a useful purpose in supporting the Board in its endeavor to get a larger subsidy from tlie Government, nnd also by enlisting the sympathy of the local members of Parliament in regard to the matter.

NO PUBLIC SUPPORT. In conclusion, Mr. Connott said that there was a very strong feeling that the., local, bodies were being called upon to pay a good deal more than they ought to pay. Unfortunately lie had not been able to get all the data lie had expected, but a reply had been received from the' Palmcrston North Hospital Board which showed one very striking difference, their levy being only about i)d in the X., as compared with the Taranaki levy of 2s Od in the £• Replying, to a question, Mr. Connett said that the levy was for last year, and should be compared with the Taranaki levy of Is Bd. The chairman mentioned that whereas Taranaki's voluntary contributions were only £.i, Palmerston North's amounted to £05,000 last year. Taranaki had to build its additions, and Palmerston North got their new buildings for nothing, which made a big difference. Furthermore, Palmerston North had heavy endowments. The chairman explained the difficulties which had confronted the Board during the three years he had been connected with the Board. When lie first joined the Board it was £*2400 to the bad. The first thing the Board had to do was to build a nurses'home, for which they had to borrow £2200. Next they had to borrow more money for a laundry. Soon after that, the epidemic .came along, necessitating 22 temporary hospitals being established, and they had been misled by believing that the fiovernment was going to hear all that expense. As it happened a good, number of the influenza patients were treated in the main hospital, and when the settling up time came the Government generously paid for the temporary hospitals without one penny for the main hospital. This left an expense of £2OOO for the Board to meet.

A HEAVY OVERDRAFT. Then the soldiers commenced to eome to New Plymouth Hospital from far and near, and had beeu an additional expense. The Government would only pay 5s per*dtiy for them, wherear, the actual Co3t of each soldier patient was Ss 3d. The Board had beta negotiating with tlic Government for a larger amount, but so fan had been unsuccessful. The Board had .been carrying a heavy overdraft, which had been of much concern to thorn, and they had decided to wipe this out, which really war, the secret of trie levy of 2s I'd". Possiblv next year they might be able to reduce the 'levy, but tiiav could not promise anything definiteKegarding the collection of fees, the members of the Board had been supplied with a list <of patients who ought to pay, and these had been placed in the solicitors' hands, but only about £2OO had been received, and this without suing. The Board last year had

collected 5.1 per cent, of its patients* fees as compared with only 20 per cent, which was the average for New Zealand, some hospitals being as low as 12 per cent. He explained that the collection of fees was a difficult matter, for frequently a calamity came upon a family, and the people could not pay. It was surprising the number of poor people there were in the district, and it was against human nature to ruin a family by demanding payment because the bread-winner had been ill. Hospitals were supposed to be able to assist people when they were distressed. Of course there Vas a goodly number of people who could pay the'fees, hut the bulk of the patients could not payi It had been found that the actual cost of each patient was fls od per day and the Board intended raising the fees to 9s sd. However, this might have the effect of frightening many people from paying, but the wealthy people who made use of the hospital should be made to pay the full amount. In Palroerston North the fees were only 3s Cd per day and in consequence nearly every patient paid-

NATIVES EVADE FEES. The native question had been discussed at the conference, and it was a very difficult matter io deal with. At one time natives were frightened of hospitals, but this was not' the case now, and in proportion to population there were just as many Natives as Europeans in the hospital. He assured them that the Board used every effort to collect fees from natives, and did collect a few, but he thought that flic best way to get at the natives was after thep-had had a sale and received some money. In regard to the farm, this had been a source of trouble during the past year, and Ift believed that if the farm was worth £2OO an acre as stated they should certainly sell it and get a larger farm elsewhere.

The heating system of the hospital was bad, and the coal hill amounted to £SO a month. He hoped that the difficulties which had confronted the Board during the past few years would not continue for very much" longer and that the levy of 2s *od could ba reduced. The present Government subsidy was 16s 3d, and if this was raised to £1 Os lOd. as they expected it would, the Board would be in a much-better position. No one was more shocked than the Board members themselves when~tlioy fonnd.it necessary to raise the levy .to 2s Od. Ho eoiild assure them that the Board was not anxious to make the levy as high if it could have been avoided.

Mr. Wright said that lie did not blame the Board for their present difficulties, but he blamed the system, and considered it 'quite wrong 'that they should lose 3s GJd a day on each patii ent. At the same time, he would not say they should claim on the working men who went to hospital, because when those men went into hospital their incomes stopped. After hearing the chairman's explanation regarding the extra expense the Board had had to meet, and that the increased levy might not be recurring, he did not think anything further could be done. He would ask the Board to give consideration to the suggestion of the Christchurch Hospital Board to have two hospitals, one a charitable institution and another where people had to pay the full amount.

TWO HOSPITALS NOT FAVORED. The chairman said lie did not like the Christchurch suggestion. He said that to provide one hospital for the poor and another for the wealthy would destroy the glory of hospitals. At the present time there was only one occasion in which a hospital could refuse a patient, and that was when no bed was available. If there was only one bed available and a rich patient and a poor patient came along, the latter would be taken in, and the rich man told to go to a private hospital. The Christchurch suggestion had come from the medical men, who did not wish to give honorary treatment in' hospitals to patients who could pay, and they wanted one hospital for the poor and one for the rich who would pay for medical attention. He did not favor the idea. Mr. Wright said that he did not wish to see any differential treatment in the two IJispitals, but what he was concerned about was the 3s OJd a day whicli the Board was losing . on every patient. Mr. F. J. Hill said that the increasing of the fees would meet the difficulty. The chairman remarked that the idea of having two hospitals would not be satisfactory in New Plymouth, where everybody went to the Public Hospital. The hospital should do its best for rich and poor alike. The chairman referred to the great increase in the cost of medical supplies. He said that during the war the whole stock of supplies was used up, and now the Board was faced with increases in prices as high as 400 per cent. The domestic supplies had also gone up very considerably, and the increased prices

had hit the hospitltl - harder thatn {lie rest of the community. RE -VALUATIONS FAVORED. Replying to Mr- Connett, the chairman said that the question of revaluation of contributing local bodies to hospital boards was brought up at the conference, and it was recognised that an '.injustice was indicted upoit local bodies, who had recently been re-' valued, while others in the same district had not been re-valued. This was brought to the notice of the Valuation Department, which replied that the department was so short-handed that it was a very difficult matter to value the whole of a hospital district at the same time, and a half promise was given that this would be done. Ho urged all the local bodies to constantly bring this matter before the Valuation Department because the counties might achieve more success. It was a gross injustice, lie said, hut unless the counties and boroughs brought the matter before the department he was afrai'd little satisfaction would be obtained.

Mr. Connett expressed his satisfaction at the manner in which' the chairman had explained the position to them with reference to hospital fees. It certainly appeared after the chairman's remarks that there were a good number of poor people in the district, and he was glad to have the matter cleared up. He was satisfied that the conference had'resulted in good, and the delegates would go away fully convinced that the Hoard was dealing with its difficulties in the only possible manner.

The chairman expressed his pleasure at the spirit in which they had accepted the position. The work of the Hospital Hoard was a thankless task, and lie assured the delegates that he and Mr. Hill were down at the office 'practically every day on hospital business.

Mr. Connett moved tlie following resolution: "That this conference of representatives of local bodies in the Taranaki Hospital district, strongly urges the Valuer-General to have the lands comprising the different hospital board districts re-valued at one and the same time, failing which, that the revaluation of any one local body should not be used for hospital levy purposes until the remaining, properties in that district have been re-valued.'' This was seconded by Mr. Brooker, and carried unanimously.