OPUNAKE HOSPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1921, Page 6

OPUNAKE HOSPITAL.

EGMONT COUNTY’S ACTION). WRIT FOR SUBSIDY RECEIVED. COUNCIL DECIDES TO PAY., At the last meeting of the Egmont County Council a resolution was passed statitig ‘That in view of the further delay in the construction of the Opuuake hospital, a delay which the council thinks unwarranted, tlxis council herewith stops its monthly contribution of money until such time as the work of construction of the hospital is commenced” At yesterday’s meeting of the council the matter was again under discussion, whan it was decided to at once forward a cheque for the amount, it being considered that the desired, end had been achieved

The matter arose from a letter written on June 20 by the secretary of the Taranaki Hospital Board acknowledging receipt of the resolution of the council refusing to pay its monthly contributions on account -of hospital levy, and stating that he was instructed to inform the council that if all contributions now due were not paid on or before Monday, June 27, the matter would be placed in the hands of the board’s solicitors. The clerk stated that on July 4 a writ for £707 5s had been received from, the board, together with costs £lO Bs.

The chairman said that it was no use fighting the matter, as all would agree, and he moved that the money be paid. Cr. Ferguson said that he was pleased to second the resolution. When moving the resolution withholding the subsidy he knew that it could not be legally done, but he had done it as a protest, and now that it had served its purposei the money should be paid. Cr. O’Brien said that at the previous eight’s meeting he had found an extraordinary state of affairs, in that the chairman Mr. Fleming) told them that he fully believed the council intended to call upon the Hospital Board to erect a hospital at a cost of £6OOO, and the majority of those present were of the same opinion. He did not blame them for protesting, but he blamed the individual who put that impression about. They were, he said, going to move a resolution against the hospital, but after they had heard the members they not only withdrew that resolution, but passed a resolution endorsing it. The hospital, he pointed out, would be built and. run by the Taranaki Hospital Board, and the Opuuake people would' have no more to do with its management than thev had with the New Plymouth hospital. Gr. Tosiand said it now behoved the. residents of the district to get public contributions and the Government subsidy on these, and go ahead and build. The Minister thought that. £3500 would be an adequate sum. If thpy could get assurance that there would be no further delays. after the lesson all had had, including the Hospital Board, the council should be quite willing to pay the costs.

Cr. Green said that no one in the north end was opposed to a small hospital for Opunake, but they were opposed to spending £5OOO or £OOOO on a hospital that should cost £3OOO. They knew that the board would erect the hospital as soon as they could get a reasonable tender.

The chairman said that they wanted fresh tenders called now that prices were coming down, and they were met by the bogey that the land could not be transferred. This bogey could have delayed them another 17 months. Cr. O’Brien, in the course of further distussion, paid a tribute to the support received from Mr. Holcombe. He alsc pointed out that there were other ways of building than by contract. The work could be done by day labor, and ho instanced that the Opunake school, a bigger building, had cost under £3OOO. ° After further discussion, in which the clerk stated that as the resolution at last meeting was illegal there was therefbre no need to rescind it, the resolution was carried.

The secretary of the Hospital Board forwarded a letter, dated June 11, from Dr. T. H. A. Valintine, Director-General of Health, stating that the matter of the hospital site was referred to the Lands and Survey Department, who replied that so far as they were concerned there was no objection to the Hospital Board entering into occupation of the land recently set apart for the purpose of a public hospital, provided the board made the necessary arrangements with the Police Department, who were at present in occupation of the area. The title to the land, however, could not be granted to the board until after the necessary legislative authority was passed in Parliament, but in view of the purposes for which the land was required he did not think there would be any objections raised to the clause being passed. Dr. Valintine remarked that pending the passing of the necessary legislative authority, it would be noted that the z Minister was not in a position to give the legal protection asked for, but at the same time, as this matter was merely formal, it was considered that it would be quite safe for the board to' enter into negotiations for the purpose of erecting the building.

The assistant under-secretary of the Public Works Department also notified that.the resident engineer’s estimate of the cost of the proposed hospital was £5OOO, although, as they were doubtless aware, an estimate of cost prepared under present conditions was somewhat unreliable. The department had no regular staff of building workmen in the district, and it was quite probable that under existing conditions (which from a price point of view were showng signs of improvement) a reasonable tender might be obtained.

Mr. O. Hawken, M.P., asked for information as to the number of patients for the Opunake district that had been sent to the New Plymouth hospital. No doubt, he said, the last had not been heard of the dispute, which, after all, was quite a usual one between towns and the outlying districts in hospital management. He understood there were cases wfcere outlying districts were paying more than ten times as much per patient as the towns were. It was resolved to ask the secretary of the Hospital Board to supply the information.