THE HOSPITAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 422, 7 December 1868, Page 2

THE HOSPITAL CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the Editor oftlie Wesiport Times and Charleston Argus.)

Sib, —I have now some hopes that the subject of the Hospital may be publicly discussed in your columns without provoking any further resort to personalities, and as I think such discussion very desirable at the present moment, I will, with your leave, make a few further remarks on the subject. I cannot help believing, from the statements so persistently made in vai'ious quarters, that the Provisional Committee, or some of them, in collecting subsciptions, must have induced, or at all events allowed, the subscribers to think that a guinea ticket conferred a right to admission to the holder and to any one recommended by him. If so, it is to be regretted that any such misunderstanding should have arisen, and all that can be done now is to point out that the realization of such an idea is simply impossible. By what process of reasoning any one could have persuaded himself that the payment of a guinea annually could entitle him, whenever and so long as he might be ill, to board and lodging, nursing, medical attendance, comforts, and medicines—and that upon the West Coast —appears perfectly inexplicable. The absurdity may be somewhat diminished, but by no means removed, by taking into account the Government subsidy of two-thirds, and regarding every guinea subscribed as representing three. Would the sum of three guineas be sufficient to insure the bene-, fits above enumerated, upon this coast; or would auy benefit society which proceeded upon such a basis be long solvent ? The thing is too preposterous for argument, and yet there are persons not ashamed to say and to write that any one who is ill ought to be admitted at once to the Hospital, without any questions asked, if he can only show a guinea ticket belonging either to himself or any one else.

I do not believe that these views represent the true spirit of the mining community. I have no doubt that many diggers have been misled by mischievous misrepresentations iuto the belief that the Hospital is a sort of ingenious engine for the extraction of subscriptions from their pockets, instead of a beneficent institution, established solely for the relief of sickness and suffering. I, however, have sufficient faith in the manliness and candour of the miners, as a body, to think a fair statement of the real ends at which the managers of the Hospital aim is all that is necessary to secure their sympathy and co-operation. The firstand most important function of a hospital is cleai'ly to provide for cases of great emergency, whether in the shape of accident or disease. That the doors should be always open to cases of severe accident or urgent disease, without losing time in applying to members of Committee, or in asking questions of any kind, is an essential part of the duties of a public hospital. Now for all this the Westport Hospital fully provides by lequiring the Hospital attendant to admit such cases at once and without referring the matter to any one else. If any charge of failure in this respect can be brought against the Hospital, I grant that it is time the subscribers should look into it; but if not, then I ask if any miner can be found who grudges a guinea as a free gift to an institution which insures relief to himself or his fellow-miner in the extremity of suffering and helplessness.

With regard to cases of less urgency, the medical officer can always admit ' any which he thinks sufficiently serious, hut in ordinary cases the rule is this: i —that the applicant shall obtain a letter of recommendation from a qualified subscriber, and that furnished with this he may go to the Hospital and : see the doctor. The latter may then either require him first to see the : Visiting Committee, and satisfy them as to his ability or inability to pay anything for maintenance, or if the delay involved by this step would be inconvenient or objectionable, he may admit the patient provisionally, subject to any arrangement which the Visiting Committee may make on their arrival. Of course, no case can be admitted unless the doctor considers it a fit one. With regard to the much vexed question of payment, the present rule is simply this: —Tbe Visiting Committee are expected to satisfy them selves, as far as they can, as to the means of applicants for admission, and to obtain from them such payment as appears proportionate to their means. Those who cannot pay are net required to pay; those who can; are required to pay a moderate sum towards expenses, a far less sum than they would have to pay for far smaller advantages outside the Hospital. It is this system of payment that seems to have given the greatest offence, but I think it will be time enough to defend it . when anyone gives what can be called a plausible reason why a man who is in receipt of a good income should get all the benefits of residence in the Hospital without paying anything for it. It would be well if those who are doing their utmost to disparage the Hospital would endeavor to acquire a little knowledge of the facts; but of course this would not suit their purpose. Those, however, who desire not so much to injure the Hospital as to improve it and increase its usefulness, I would ask to wait a little until the time arrives for the Committee to lay some statistical information before the public. They will then be able to see how many and what kinds of cases have obtained relief, how much each case has cost', and what proportion of the working expenses has been reimbursed by the payments of patients. Tbey will then perhaps be able to form a better opinion whether or not the Hospital is a useful institution, and whether or not it deserves support. I fear I have trespassed, sir, at two great a length upon your columns, but I have done so because I do not suppose I shall write anything more upon this subject, and because I am very . desirous tbat some plain statement should go forth to the diggers, amongst whom we are constantly being told ajreat dissatisfaction exists, and with the cessation of whose subscriptions we are threatened by those who profess to be their champions in your columns.

I have only to say, in conclusion, that when the diggers are again asked for their guineas they will be asked for them not as insurance money, nor as a subscription to a benefit club, but as a free gift to au institution which offers free relief to the worst physical evils wbich can befal human nature. It will be for them to decide whether they will contribute or not. If they will give, the Hospital will be maintained and may be enlarged. A female ward may be added, and the general resources of the institution increased. If they will not give, the Hospital will not be supported on its present scale. It will fall back upon the hands of the Government and become merely a small institution for the temporary relief of very urgent and destitute cases only. I cannot bring myself to doubt which view the miners generally will adopt, and I have every confidence that the mischievous perversity of a few persons will in the end prove no match for the freely expressed gratitude of those to whom the Hospital has brought ready and effectual relief at the time of their greatest need. I am, Sir, Yours, &c, Joseph Giles. Dec. 5, 1868.