HOSPITAL AT TE KUITI

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1926, Page 10

HOSPITAL AT TE KUITI

THE OFFICIAL OPENING. PROGRESS OF THE DISTRICT. Te Kuiti, Nov. 25. The Te Kuiti Hospital was opened yesterday afternoon by the Hon. J. A. Young, Minister of Health, in the presence of 500 people. Mr. Campbell Johnson, chairman of the Waikato Hospital Board, said that when the movement for the establishment of a hospital was first started it was not dreamed (hat such a fine building would result. The intention was to conduct the hospital with the assistance of the local medical men, but no pains had been spared to make the institution as modern in its equipment as the base hospital. Mr. J. C. Rolleston, M.P.; in welcoming the Minister, referred to the manifold hardships which the people of the backblocks suffered through lack of proper medical facilities. A great deal could be done to relieve those suffering by establishing cottage hospitals in the remote areas. He expressed the hope that increased subsidies would be given to country medical associations. If they could not support a doctor they could maintain a district nurse, whose ministrations in the backblocks could not be over-valued. Mr. J. W. Warren, architect to the board, then presented the Minister with a handsome inkstand, remarking that he was departing from the traditional gift of a key. Tl»e Minister said he was particularly pleased to be present, because he was personally acquainted with the district and growth of the town, which he had known as a Maori settlement 32 years ago. He paid a tribute to the persistence of Mr. James Boddie, as a member of the Waikato Hospital Board, in urging that medical facilities should be provided for the district. Referring to the need for economy in public expenditure, Mr. Young remarked that while the local people had provided a large sum for this hospital, it was only a small portion compared with the total cost of the institution, £20,000. He appealed to the people of the district, not to try to have major operations performed in the hospital, but to go to the base hospital at Hamilton. Major operations should be performed in the branch hospital only with the sanction of the Hamilton cuperintecdenv. In order to provide medical facilities for the country d : stricts it was necessary to have a number of small hospitals scattered about, .and the people had the right to expert medical and hospital services. While it was necessary to economise, the Government did not believe in economy at the expense' of efficiency.