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PART IV.—HOSPITALS. I have the honour to submit the annual report of the Division of Hospitals. Military Hospitals. In order to cope with returning sick and wounded soldiers, the Department has planned and erected the following hospitals : At Auckland a 150-bed hospital on the Auckland Domain, with operating-theatres and other services; at Wellington a 100-bed attached to the main hospital; at Christchurch a 62-bed block attached to the Burwood Hospital. These three buildings are very near completion. In Dunedin a contribution was made toward the cost of providing additional accommodation at the Caversham Infirmary. In the cases of Christchurch and Dunedin, medical and chronic cases are to be transferred to the above-mentioned buildings in order to provide accommodation in the main hospitals for returned soldiers. In addition, the Department was consulted about the hospitals for various military camps and the military hospital at Suva, and consultations were also held with Military Authorities on the fitting-out of the hospital ship. Tuberculosis Accommodation. A 32-bed institution has been planned and should shortly be erected sit Cashmere Hills ; and the Waipawa Hospital Board is about to erect at Pukeora Sanatorium additional buildings for th treatment of returned soldiers, the charges on part of the loan for this being guaranteed by the Government. Gymnasia and Plaster-rooms. A new gymnasium and a new plaster department have been provided at Wellington and Christchurch Hospitals. A new gymnasium has been built at Dunedin Hospital. Departmental Military Hospitals. In addition to the above buildings, which will be staffed and administered by Hospital Boards, the Department is prepared to take about 150 convalescent soldiers at the Queen Mary Hospital, Hanmer ; and plans have been prepared for the erection of a 150-bed convalescent hospital at Rotorua. The nurses for the latter institution will at first be housed in Arawa House, which has been generously loaned to the Government by Sir Ernest Davis. The first contract has been let for the construction of a permanent 120-bed hospital at Rotorua which will eventually replace the Government Sanatorium, but which will, if necessary, also house convalescent returned soldiers. A clearing hospital of 300 beds is rapidly nearing completion on Aotea Quay, Wellington, in which returning soldiers may be examined and boarded and held for a few days pending transfer to other institutions. Maori Tuberculosis. Recognizing that Maori tuberculosis presents a special problem in certain districts, the Government has offered in some cases to pay the cost of, or, in other cases, to contribute to the cost of, the erection of buildings to accommodate Maori tuberculosis cases in the following Hospital Board districts : Mangonui, Whangaroa, Bay of Islands, Kaipara, Hokianga, Tauranga, and Waiapu. The Government's offer has been accepted by all these Boards except the Bay of Islands Hospital Board. Sites have been selected in each case, and the preparation of plans is in hand. Civilian Hospital Accommodation. There is still a definite shortage of hospital accommodation in the majority of the Hospital Board districts in New Zealand. While some Hospital Boards are making commendable efforts to overcome this shortage, others are showing some reluctance to meet their obligations. The following are some of the principal schemes undertaken or completed during the year: — North Auckland District. The Whangaroa Hospital Board hopes shortly to proceed with the building of a new hospital at Kaeo. A new ward block has been planned for the Kawakawa Hospital, for the Bay of Islands Hospital Board. Progress with the urgently-needed building programme for the Kaipara Hospital Board has been held up by a controversy about the site for the new buildings.

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