Annual Meeting of Hospital Subscribers.

Thames Star, Volume XVI, Issue 5071, 16 April 1885, Page 2

Annual Meeting of Hospital Subscribers.

The 16th annual meeting of subscribers of the Thames Goldfields Hospital was held in the Naval Hall, Brown street, lant evening. There were about 150 sab* scribers present. ' ;: Mr J. McGo wan,' President, occupied the Chair, and opened the proceedings by reading the advertisement convening the meeting. According to' Eule 3, whi»h he quoted, the election of the Committee had to be proceeded with by ballot, and in order to facilitate the appointing of the ballot papers, he would invite nominations for the various offices to' be filled before proceeding with the usual routine buai* ness. • . The following gentlemen were then re* turned unopposed:—Mr E. T. Wildman, President; Mr W. S. Greenville, VicePresident; and Mr J. Eonshaw, Trea« surer. Eighteen nominations for seats on the Committee were made (five more than were required). While the ballot papers were being prepared, and the minutes of last annual meeting having been read and confirmed, the Secretary read the annual report, an abstract of which is as follows:— -v;

Your Committee beg to report that during tbe past jear they have used their beat endeavors to obtain the additional accommodation which was pointed out by the Com* mittee for the previous year-as being so urgently required, with tbe result that the " building has been increased by the addition of another wing, containing a large aargioal ward, operating room, and am isolating ward, with commodious passages dividing the apartments, and dividing all from the other portion of the hospital, access to whioh it obtainable from the dividing passage by doora into the dining-room and the other wards.. The work has been completed under the super-' vision of E. W. ffoUis, from plans prepared by him and approved of by Government, the builder berg Mr W. Twentyman, and the contract price—paid by Government—being £420. Upon completion of the building, application wai made to Government iot furniture, and at the request of the Colonial Secretary an estimate of the cost of tbe various items asked for was sent to Wellington, the cost of furnishing the new wing being estimated at £236 16i Id; and at the same time authority was asked to procure new -. bedsteads throughout the hospital; also liaoleuin for the floors. The additional cost of those thiogß would be £100 18s 6d, the total expenditure asked for being £337 14» 7d. To ~ this request tbe Colonial Secretary replied that be must first obiain a vote of Parliament. The delay arising from this decision is that the . new wing, with its advantages of increased accommodation, is lying comparatively" use- : less, whilst the doctor has to make shifts for the propbr disposal of the patients. Tbe whole of tho exterior of the main building of the hospital has been renovated and painted; The first rule of the hpspital provides that " the hospital will afford, gratuitously^ surgi> cal and medical aid to any person requiring it," but; it also provides that "any person who shall be admitted under my' cvrewnsUmedt, and shall be found able to pay, will be required to do so, according to his meant, a, sum not exceeding £2, per week." This rule, which is considered by tbe Committee a gcod one, provides for gratuitous aid to those entirely without the means of procuring treatment, and for small payments from those who are not destitute, but still have not the meant .with which to pay for the services of a doctor ; and also provides for the accommodation of those,who are well able to pay for aceommo* - dation they cannot obtain in lodginga else- .' where. It has been under tbe consideration of your Commifcree that far too many people/ f : who are not such' aa should take advantage of tho charity of their fellows, and should feel a delicacy in becoming the recipients of charitable aid, make use of the hospital under various pretexts without paying anything for suc'i assistance and medicine they receive. "Your Committee therefore desired the surgeon to report on tho beat means for bringing about an alteration, and his report will be - brought before tbe next meeting of the General Committee. The amount received for donations and subscriptions, including collections at tbe Baptist Ghuroh £4, and Church of England £5 12s 7d, whioh will be shown in the financial statement. At the commencement of our term of offioe the Bank overdraft was £1045 6s Id. This over* draft has been paid off by the Government less £30 19s 6d, which sum represented the cash balance in hand. And according to instructions from Government all claims for : expenditure have been forwarded to Wellington for payment, which claims hare, so faraa ' the Committee are aware, been paid, with the ~ exception of fire iniuranoe, and mtertit to the .

Bank of New .Zealand, which accrued from the 31st March to the time of paying the overdraft on Ist July, which sum (£2B 5s 5(1) WM deducted by the Bank of New Zealand from the Committee's current eccount. The financial statement presented herewith wil 1 fatnuh particulars of the- rtueipf3 and ex- ' penditure by the Committee, Snd tho cost of the maintenance of the institution by Goveminent. The Surgeon's roporl to the Committ.e, which will he read to you in ronjunc- - tion with this wpcrt, will eiye tbe statistics of the work done during tho year. The Committse hare endeavored to carry out the recommendation ef last annual meetiog concerning efforts to increase, the income from BubMriptiona. A house to house canvass was partially carried out, with on encouraging measure of success, lut the depressed stato of business, and the anticipation that Government are intending to introduce legislation . specially dealing with hospitolo, militated •gainst the full success of this effort, The Committee tender to you their thunfes for the support afforded; also to Dr Callan, the honorary medical officer; to the Press, both Thames and Auckland, for gratuitous news.papers; and to the Naval irlillery for the use •f their Hall. The Committee take this opportunity of thanking Mr. B. W. Hollie, at. whose cost the large grata in the new.eurgical ward was provided and fitted^—Jame3 McGowan, President. Mr P, Griffin moved the adoption of the report: MrW. Sima asked whether-the upcountry districts antl bush stations had Jheen communicated with by the Secretary fe subscriptions, as suggested at tho previous meeting. - The Secretary said ho had communicated with several managers of mills and bushes, but had only roceived monies from two managers at Turua mill and Waipaheke station. The motion for the adoption of the report was carried unanimously. _ The Surgeon's report was also read and adopted. (Owing to pressure on our space we are unable to publish it.) The Secretary then read the following balance sheet, showing the' transactions carried on with the Committee's private 'exchequer, and how monies received from - ; Government had been administered :— Beceipts*: To balance 31st March, £30 ' 19s 6d ; subscriptions, £146 8s; Hospital - Sunday, £912s 7d ; patients' charges, £38 Is 3d; garden, £131Ss; fever hospital paddock,- £3 12s. Total, £242 11s 4d.— Expenditure: ,By portion of overdraft, Bank New Zealand,*£3ol9s 65; interest, .. Bank New Zealand, £28 5s od ; insurance, . £16 15s; miscellaneous expenses, £1; balance, £165 11s sd. Total, £242 11s 4d. [Receipts : To amount of .claims forwarded to Government for payment, £3,634 13s sd.—Expenditure: By salaries, £875 5s 8d ; rations,. laundry, fuel and gas, £673 15s 2d; drugs and appliances £198 8s lOd ; medical comforts, £87 16a 10d~;' bedding, £47 0s 3d ; clothing, £31 llsYforniture, £19 0s lid ; building and repairs, £5.15 6s 9d; funerals, £8 15s; printing, advertising, and stationery, £23 3s 6d; miscellaneous expenses, £45 12s Id ; garden, £4 13s 6d; fever hospital— salaries, £97 7s lOd; medical comforts, 13s; miscellaneous, £2 16s 6d; rent, £19 ; portion of overdraft, 31st March, 1884, £1,014 6s 7d. Total, £3,634 13s 5d.~ B. Honiss, Secretary. On the motion of Mr Eenshaw, Messrs H. C. Gilleßpie and D.TJ. Gellion were appointed auditors for the ensuing year. Mr P. Griffin then moved the following resolution: —"That it is the feeling of this meeting that the doctor and nil officers connected with the hospital should be appointed annually, and that the committee who may be appointed this evening, pot the same into effect." Mr R.. Wiseman seconded. Mr Benshaw opposed the resolution, stating that the system of annual election had been found detrimental to the interests of the Hospital, always introducing an element of discord, and interfering with the good performance of the duties of the officers, who always had before them the knowledge that their. positions of trust were annually completed for. In hie opinion the Committee were quite as free to find fault or discharge tlieir servants as they ever were under the system of annual . appointment; but if the resolution were earned, he would be quite willing to fall in with it. Mr W. Syms thought the competitive ■ system tended towards the satisfactory performance of the servants' duties, and contended that under thejpresent circum* - stances, it another doctor of ability were to arrive in the district, the Committee were debarred from appointing him. Mr W. S. Greenville opposed, and Mr E. Harris supported, the resolution, which' was then put and lost, the rotes being : —For, 42; against, 68. The election of the Committee was then proceeded with, Messrs Hudson arid Emerson acting as scrutineers. The following were the number of the votes recorded in favor of each of the successful candidates :—Bev. S. J. Neill, 119 ; Mr G. S. Clark, 115; RevY* P. G. Evans, 114; Bey. P. O'Beilly, 113 ; Mr M. Mulligan, 107; Mr McGowan. 105 ; Mr X. Ehren-, fried, 104: Mr J. W. Hall, 97: Mr J. West, 95; Ber. E. Best, 86; Mr T. Badford, 78; Mr W. Burton, 72; and Mr W. Bea, 67. Mr W. D. iteid. also received 67 votes, but. the Chairman, as BeturniDg Officer, gave bis casting vote to Mr Bea, and the above-named gentlemen Were declared to have been duly elected. Mr A. Bruce polled 65, Mr J. R. Stone -64,. Mr S. Hetherington 49, and Mr J. , Cocks 16 votes; A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.