NOT ENOUGH BEDS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20957, 9 November 1939, Page 8

NOT ENOUGH BEDS

WAIKATO HOSPITAL PROBLEM BECOMING SERIOUS HUTMENTS SUGGESTED NEED FOR INFIRMARY Accommodation at the Waikato Hospital is becoming inadequate for the requirements of the district and a problem is arising which may reach serious proportions, in the opinion of some members of the Waikato Hospital Board. .The need for new buildings, even if they are of a temporary nature, was commented upon at a meeting of the board today, when the suggestion was made that the time had come for the establishment of an infirmary in Hamilton.

The shortage of accommodation for patients was referred to by Dr. R. S. A. Graham, acting-medical superintendent, when reporting to a meeting of the House and Finance Committee of the Hospital Board which was held on November 2. He said it would be necessary to consider the erection of temporary hutments to relieve the position. He suggested that a committee be appointed to consider the matter as soon as possible, and the meeting decided that the purchasing committee and the board’s architect, Mr J. H. Edgecumbe, should consider the question of building hutments to provide additional accommodation. Nurses’ Accommodation Short Mr J. Banks, a member of the visiting committee which inspected the hospital this week, said he considered the possibility of new buildings as it was apparent that sooner or later they would be necessary. He contended that the time had ’ come for the establishment of an infirmary in Hamilton. At the present time there were 100 patients at the Waikato Hospital who could be transferred to an infirmary if one were established. They were permanently occupying beds at the hospital which could be used ten or 12 times over during a year, thus making available accommodation for more than 1000 additional patients. Another factor which the board would have to consider, said Mr Banks, was the provision of additional accommodation for the nurses. The building formerly used as the nurses’ home and now occupied by the domestic staff could be used as hospital wards if additional accommodation were made at the nurses’ home.

The lady superintendent of the hospital, Miss D. Menzies, had informed Mr Banks during his visit that the hospital could take from 20 to 25 additional girls for nursing training if accommodation were available. There was provision for instructing additional nurses but no room for them to live.

“During the war,” said Mr Banks, “nurses will be going away and we will need to train more to keep the hospital staffed adequately. I think this board, with its reputation throughout New Zealand for the value of its training of nurses, should take as many girls for tuition as finances will permit.”

Site for Infirmary

“ I saw sufficient at the hospital to impress upon me that the accommodation problem was serious,” said Mr D. B. Livingstone, the other member of the visiting committee. “If only temporary accommodation is provided, we must have something to relieve the situation as it Is at the present time.”

Mr Livingstone added that Dr. Graham had informed him that nearly all the main centres in New Zealand had an infirmary. There were hospital board land endowments In various parts of Hamilton which could be used as a site.

The board is now awaiting the report of the special committee appointed to consider the provision cf additional accommodation.