HOSPITAL COMMITTEE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 10 November 1882, Page 3

HOSPITAL COMMITTEE.

,'ljlie quar,bpriy,'meeting of- the Hospital Management .Committee tqok : place on Wednesday afternoon last in the Borough Council/Chambers. Present— His Worship., the. Mayor (inthe chair),- Ors Bell and ; Richards - (Borough Council), Cr Eidckstrowi^Manatvatu), Cr Thatcher (Chairman of Wanganui County Council), and/Mr'Bamber. ' ' •■ The minuteV of the preTJons mfeetihg were read and confirmed. ' '3S!bw" Wisps'.— The Mayor , reported th^t'JienHers had 'been called for the, two rie'wV^afy^and^tKe dead house, but the ldyeskwasi informal.- vlThe next one at £230 was .accepted. It was somewhat higher-ihahj ,t]ie Foreman of Works' estimate,- but he (the Mayors had.thought itvwelljtoi accept the i tender.- The con-' tractors -might;. be. relied' on,- and' the work would be done well; The GoveriiDlent --liai -granted •' £100 towards the amount; which would- reduce the contributions payable by' the counties. 1 ■"New Hobeitat, —The Mayor said that, he' Had not'ijjilled 'a' meeting 'of the'subco&imftee'appointed' on this subject, as he"did n'^t tffint iff desirable to go to the Gpyeminenfrfor a grant on account of a-nJßjv-.hospital so.sbon after' obtaining the £100, 7r -lQ,'-.reply,' 1 (t0 ,.Gr,, Eockstrow, his Wjorshtp sa}d that, no plans or estimates. had. .been,, obtained;— Mr Bomber said that.some-.years-agoa plan was obtained fcx-.'a 'building/ to: cost £5000,' though a portion to accommodate 60 patients could be'! gone.6ri.with- at ■ £3000. • That plan; which waS'the" 'property of the Borough' Council, was., still available, provided they had the '.finds,' and it had been conadexe.d; a very 1 Suitable . one ' byall who had;;seen lE-^Cr/Kp'cK'strow.said that the qiiSstib^ r oJ, nnmice ,was a',' minor one. liie.Slahayratu 'and-' Barigitikei Councils ■^efe,p i repated;witji i 'ab6ut; £300 or £400 each, ,and',<ie. Borough of '. Feilding ■ to a certain amount; ,No doubt- thei Wanganui; County .Council would not. .be behind, .and, -.as for the Borough Council ofiiWanganui,: they would surely contribute.<atVileast'£iOOO. This with tho Government grant would be ample for a ; new- hospital.-— CTr 'Thatcher said that rip representative;^ :■' the County had any i'Jea,"'that a ! .'project' fpr' a new hospital' ■was' ; 'on.",'foot.,' TKe. idea, was that the amount "expended "in 1 improving the old one .would '.carry-. them ever for along ' nine,' jto, come.'. The first question to con--;^der,,was,, the. necessity, for a s new hos-» - pital, anjd. whether the. accommodation at present," jras' i: inadequate.; — The Mayor said there was no immediate ■ necessity, "anewhospital,as-the existing one, . unpretending,;. ancl -.without all steth6*'roosjsrnvajpi?liances,''^Yc j uld' do very if'cotid get.to.tlie.<pTib3fch"6jise's^^^^n^^ ? -wouliLbe K6!bccasipn?;t;b'"b i 6axE i Vth'em'|&ti<is I. : -when .th'es new. .wnra^^^ojiene^.^b'r-. i ->B6cKstro*j -referringito.aciEcular sent by. • : Jthe ?Borough/ i xCpuncir v some 'time back' - Bt»tinj?'thati ? t ne hospital^ 1 was full,' said "raised a : suspicion that accident cases'frdm the country could riot be received. -' Everyone • admitted the desirability ''of a new buUding, and tho only question was one of funds. There -was no time to be lost, and they ought to keep the matter before the public. BE 1 Otner hospitals were' built elsewhere, t3i'e"W.Angamii hosjHta'l' would lose much' sUppOTt^fbut 'at present it had the sup', port V 6f "all the counties ' and boroughs, except Palmerston. — Cr Eichards said that the boroughs and counties .would never; bean a-better. position than they were" at .present, so that it was no good deferring the matter for want of funds, especially as four-years ago they had madeiup their. minds to build a hospital; and'- had. "even prepared the plans.— Mr Bamb'er'said that nothing was so needed in/Wan ganiii -as a ne w ; hospital . • Part of the ■■ present" building ' was wholly' unfit for the purpose,' and the accommodation totally inadequate. He considered that the two convalescent patients; boarded, out should' not have been discharged from the hospital. Both, of them had been' -^s'itice on' the 'Benevolent Society funds, 'and' one of them, a woman, was q'-oi'O'.Tirialjle-to wort,' arid seemed muoK distressed' at having to accept' 'charitable, relief. As to the, question of funds, the W,angamii ri County Council long ago agreed'' to!' contribute' £300, ; and the Borough' Councilthe'large'sumof £1000. The jresent' building had been; 30 years, and. was full of dry rot. The site. was not altogether a.good one, ; being too public. The hospital, should be removed, so as to ; give accomniodation foi? convalescent patients to obtain-fresh- air. The two additional wards were .only intended as a temporary/ makeshift.! Soine time back the Government agreed to give pound for. ,pound.to.£sooo, and no doubt tney, : would dp it now. If tho Borough' Council;, could see : its way to lead mii; the- '-matter, • there would be no ,-;diffloulty about ' funds. — Though he " admitted that that was • the main question after all. — The Mayor said that tbo present 'hospital .was well serving their turn just now, and necessity was'after all a question'of ways and means; He was 'favourable to a great central' hospital for the whole- of the Coast, from ]?oxton to Hawera, but con-, si.a.ering the present financial position of the' Borough Councili he couldn't see how.lie, as. Mayor, could propose to the Council to grant JIOOO, for be knew not where it was to come from. With regard to the convalescent patients, Mr Bamber was quite wrong and in opposition to' the opinion of the doctors. The woman ought not to have been oontinued in tbe hospital, and could have obtained employment since she was discharged,, but she haggled about how much she was to receive. There was a doubt whether the man was a loafer, or a suitable patient, and even the doctors were uncertain about it. It should be remembered that the hospital was not a refuge or a benevolent institution. He (the Mayor) could not pronounce upon the question of site, upon which doctors differed, but he was sure that Mr Eockstrow: would see that the question of funds was at the bottom of the matter. Mr Bamber explained that he had founded his statements as to the two convalescents upon the fact that the doctors 'sent them to the Benevolent Society, and gave them orders for medicines.— Cr Bell said that even 5 years ago the hospital was inadequate for the'district, and therefore how much more so was it now for Wanganui and all' 'the 6utl3'ing districts. But inthe present position of tho Borough funds they could not possibly entertain for a moment the poposal to grant £1000, however needful a new hospital might be. . All they could do was to help to vxako tbe present hospital as convenient and adequate 7 - as possible. He agreed with Dr. Rockßtrow that it would be desirable to have one good central hospital iu'WaDganui and not a, number of

small establishments,' with insufficient medical attendance, scattered' over, the districts. As for the site; he differed from Mr Bamber, and thought the presmt site very/convenient and suitable, and not,as in some larger towns, right in the. centre of a populous district. The present site, also, was convenient for the railway and the bountry districts. — Cr Ro'ckstrow moved, That the Chairman be ; requested to write to the different Boroughs and Counties on the West Coast of this Island, and ascertain what sum they feel ' inclined to contribute towards the erection of a new hospital in Wanganui, the following estimates to be laid before the different bodies : — Wanganui Borough £1000, Feilding £100, Marton JIOO, Manawatu County £350, Bangitikei County £350, Wanganui; Couutjr £350, Palmerston £100. In moving this resolution, Cr Rockstrow said that he feared Palmerston would not contribute anything, as they intended to build a hospital of their own ; but it would be desirable to write to Hawera, Patea, and other places'. With regard to' the site of a new hospital, he would pronounce no opinion then, but simply say that it had better be left to the borough to decide, together withh the the. ground the better. — Cr Thatcher seconded themotion. — The Mayor asked, supposing 'the' Borough of Wanganui would not give the JIOOO, what then? r— Cr Itockstrow said' of course the scheme would then fall to, the ground. — Cr Thatcher -said that he had seconded the motion, because if it was true that the Manawatu and Bangitikei Counties had made up their minds to contribute, then-it was only right that the Wangapui County should decide at once whether 1 they' should do likewise. He was exceedingly doubtful whether 1 the money .would come in as freely as was supposed, but at any rate the matter should have a fair trial. — The resolution was carried unanimously. . : State of the Hospital. — Cr "Rockstrow^said that he had gone through the hospital that morning, and was agreeably surprised to find it so remarkably clean and cheerful. : ' After some, little discussion upon the desirability, of permitting patients in the hospital to be attended by. their own ; medical men (a matter which was held over for the present), the meeting adAdjourned.' ' .. . ' ■ t- 1 '' ■ ' '