RE-OPENED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8690, 16 October 1913, Page 4

RE-OPENED.

THE COUNTY HOSPITAL

AN .-.INTERESTING FUNCTION.

LARGE CROWD PRESENT,

During the last few mtfciths a. large number of _ important alteration's, additions and improvements have been carried out to the Ashburton County Hospital and certain portions of the institution have been ■ closed during the progress of the work. To-day the formal re-opening of the Hospital took place in the presence of a large concourse of people. The weather wars simply ideal for the opening function, which took place in front of the main . entrance to the Hospital, a number of seats having been placed there for the convenience of visitors. The members of the Ash burton Hospital and Charitable Aid Board and Dr. T. II A. Valintine (Inspector-General of Hospitals and Charitable Institutions), who officially declared the Hospital open,^ and a.' number of prominent local citizens, together with many ladies,' occupied seats on the terrace of the main building. The contributing bodies—the Ashburr ton County Council, Ashburton Borough Council, Hampstead-Town Board,. Tinwald Town Board, . South Rakaisi " Road Board, Mount Hutt Road Board, -Mount Somers Road Board, Anama Road - < Board, • Rangitata Road , Board, ' Coldstream Road Board, Wakahui Road ' Board, Upper Ashburton Road Board. and Longbeach Road Board—were all represented, and several members of the Christchurch Hospital and Charitable Aid Board and of the South Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid -Board .were also in attendance.

Apologies for absence were , received from Dr. H. E. Finch (district Health Officer 1), Messrs W. .T. Dickie. M.P., and W. Noswortby, M.P., and numerous others. C MR FRIEDLANDER'S ADDRESS. < The Institution's History. The Chairman of the Ashburton Hos-' pital and Charitable Aid Board (Mr Hugo Friedlander), who presided, prefaced a history of bho erection of the Hospital and of the additions to the institution since it was first built, by extending a hearty welcome to Dr. Valintine and to the assemblage generally, which, lie said, was a very repre- , sentative .one. He hoped that the interest which they were now showing in the 'Hospital by their attendance would be the forerunner of that which;, they would manifest in it in the future. Mr Friedlander then outlined the institution's, history and aims as follows :— " Up to the year 1879 Ashburton had, no Public Hospital, and in that year Mr J. C. "Wason, a member of the Ashburton County Council, moved that . steps shoiild be taken to provide this , necessary and useful . institution. In this ho was strongly supported by the late Mr John Grigg, of Longbeach. A - committee was then set up consisting of Messrs J. C. Wason, John Grigg, E. Gr. Wrightv and CX Walker" (Chairman iof the County Council). The committee's v report and recommendations having f been approved, Mr J. S. Bruce, architect, was instructed to prepare plans • find specifications. The contract was "Li let to Mr ,W. Carlton, and the jrork^ immediately taken in hand, and the „ building was handed' over, early in^ 1880. -Amongst the first appointments' . made was that of the late Dr J.. E. Trevor as Medical Superinten'dentr^a ' position he held for over 25 years and , up to a short time before his defath — Mr and Mrs Maddern being appointed - Master and Matron. Since that time many alterations ,aud additions have t boon in ado to the buildings and equip- ,■ moat, the total cost of which amount- - . fd to £8."3i2 up to 1901, the first .part of the fever ward being slsn built. In ' 1897 the Convalescent "Wnrd was builtin eommemorai ion ' of the Diamond Jubilee of her Majesty the late Queen. „ Victoria. Mr Ti . Bird being architect. In 190G two new >,wards were,added to the Fever Hospital, a legacy/^ having been left the Board by the late,;^ Mr R. S. Drummond. The control of -_ the Hospital remained with the Ash- .•' burton County Council until the year ' v 1885. when it was handed over- to the*.-. join! authority of the Ashburton \ County Council and the Ashburton-'" Borough Council, the former sending six. the latter two members, who con- ■ stituted the Board. In 1910 a further . change took place, and at the. 1 same', times the old United Ashburton and 1 *■ North Canterbury Charitable Aid\ • Br.ard ceased exist, the Ashburton County arid the Borough being given, in addition to the control gf the-Ash- ■' burton Hospital, the potter to deal with :"■ ♦ ritJ distribution of its -own charitable aid. Shortly after^ powers under the ; Public rfcultU Act/ dealing., with infec- '. bions diseases, were added -to ,the Board's adminislivit^ou, all the 1 local bodies within fclto County having 'wisely ", delegated their powers in this cocnee- ,- fcion to the Board. ' The separation. ' from North Canterbury has, as' anticipated, prove J a good thiug .for this '- district, as the combined levies .for both hospital and 'charitable aid under •

normal conditions "amount to less than '' was formerly paid to the old United' - Charitable Aid' Board for charitable aid only. For various reasons, to which ' f will refer shortly, the question -, of.:,:": bringing; this Hospital 'moro up-to-date-"1"' had to lie taken up and, Messrs Collins^ and Barman were employed' to prepare!^ plans and specifications for altcratiosf? -": and additions; the formal opening of Hiese we are. celebrating to-day., Mr .- V\~. Roir] v.'as t!K> contractor, at a cost' 1'; of C')2o7. ' This, with the furnishing'"nr.d modern equipments in the- Opsra- '\ ting Theatre, will bring up'the total "' cost to_ about .C7OOO. The total nrmber j of patients; admitted up to September.' .'3O, 3913, a.s shown in the Register, is \ 6754. ?

"Coming back to tlio question of. bringing the institution and its su'r-' -' rountlings more up-to-date: there were ,» several reasons why tins had to be v done. Fir&L.—The Hospital members o found that a largf* number of residents-^ from tlii.s County requiring hospital -,>,< treatment preferred going to Christr-;: church, and this Board was held respon- -i siblo for their keep while there... ' Second. —The first building, ' while „ perhaps suitable and largo enough when \ it was built, was no longer so. At the"V>st a Hospital is not a place where,' itoople go to for choice, so that it was-; iii the interest* of the Comity to make, ; I.he institution as attractive {impossible, suid provide further accommodation tp,^ yieet the requirements of the steadily!.' increasing population of,the County,l--j.id the cotisr.quont larger number re--quiring llos-nital treatment. Third.— ' 1, The principal reason, however, was -for V,

'better sanitary .organisation. I use the word sanitation in its widest sense, including under' the term everything which tends to reduce the sickness andmortality of human beings. An effective administrative machinery is necesbary for the prevention and treatment oi' disease. I admit that power is granted to municipalities and city corporations whereby almost unlimited control is bestowed on them to deal with the lives of the people.. Now,'this may be expedient from a political

standpoint, but from a sanitary point tho medical service should'not be subordinated to tJi© sanitary service or vice versa. They should work hand in "hand .with each other. We have in this country our Public Health Act, which is being ably administered under, a • -.separate ;iml efficient Department, with: a Minister for Public Health for its head. The Department wants waking up now and thra (as in the case of the | smallpox epidemic up north), but that is by the way. Now, this Ashburton .Hospital Board is doing its best to Avork with the sanitary service of the Dominion. . It has adopted the Health Department's recommendation re supervision of infectious diseases to prevent ■ their, spreading and is helping the service by having, erected these new additions with modernequipments for . treatment of diseases. •:'": Having done'all this in a consider-

si hie cost, I ..hope that the Board's ac ' tion, after ; what I have just said and sifter you have seen how the money haf been spent, will meet With your entire approval.'l And I wish hereto add thai I hope everyone unfortunate enough tc • require treatment will remember thai the institution is open to all. Let them remember that no more efficient treat- : ment, medical or otherwise, can he obtained in any other public' or private hospital than m this. Let it be reniembered that since the days of "Simpson, Lister, Pasteur and others,'a public ' hospital is no longer a place of filth and ,-.?- dirt where once you .have entered you . had little chance of leaving again; but -rather that one receives there now the ■„,/; careful;attention from the best medical men available and the most efficiently trained..nurses at a cost quite inadecjnato ■• for services rendered, and are ■practically certain of ultimate recovery. \" Yo/i will probably ask why this'ridiculously low charge, and why is every . public hospital carried on at a tremendous loss. There are several reasons. '.First.—To induce well-to-do people to .-:.. '.remember these beneficient institutions ; when they make their wills. Second.— iFor the benefit of those in 'poor circumstances. Third.—For economic reasons, because every life saved is of the average economic value to the Dominion of ' .-£ooo. I . think. this is .the- " estimate ■ given by Sir Joseph. Ward. . Let me give--you an illustration of what this really means. In the Congress of .Medicine hoid in August last "in London, .the head of the administrative-de-partment" in. Great Britain which deals with;the problems of hygiene, devoted liis address to a survey of the relation- . .-ships which exist between iredicine and pablic health and the work done notably .'in.-Great Britain by methods of State intervention. In the three years, ±d~r *. Burns says, between 1909-11," 1,529.060 deaths occurred in England and "Wale;;. ■; This? number was 774.811 fewer than! would have occurred had the avera e;e < death-rate of 1871-80 held good. The | largest share of this saving occurred in i the working years of life, and the gain j thus secured to the economic capacity] of ■■'the' nation, -was '-gigantic. If we took j the whole of the 32 years, 1881 to 191.2, I arid cbnsidei'od the saving of life during 1 that .period, the .figures were, truly i colossal. During these years in England, and Wales 17.083,751 deaths occurred. Had the relatively higb i - death rates ' of 1871-1830 continued, 3,942,000 more, deaths" 1 would have occurred. . Now, if we only took the average- economic Value of life saved,; i.e., prolonged to an older age, at half the hmount of Sir Joseph Ward's figure," xay- £150, we ' have the enormous economic gain to the nation mentioned of £591,300,000. _ What capital outlay, I ask, .would be justified to attain such an enormous economic.result ? "Ladies and gentlemen., what has been done in England and Wales in this respect' can be proportionately achieved here, and it therefore behoves every-Hospital Board to co-operate , with the Health .'Department, and any reasonable expenditure to attain here . similar satisfactory' results' to those, in England and Wales is, in my opinion, absolutely justified. I fear I have already kept you, ladies and gentlemen, too. long, and I will therefore only add, that the Board considered that the surroundings of ;: hospital should also be made as"'bright and pleasant as possible, so that a.patient in the early convalescent stage should receive the stimulus that this world is still worth living in, the mind thus helping the body to-a riiore speedy recovery. I now .liaye pleasure in introducing Dr Valixitine, and to ask him to. address you. "But before sitting down, I desire on fcehalf of the- Board to thank the Hos,'pitnj- Med't<-al Suiv?rint'Mnlont, the Matron* and every other member of the staff for tlio 'great- patience exercised 'during the trying t.imo\the olterations were in progress. They have done well. and the Board appreciates the. splendid work done by them. • Last, but not least, the Board wishes, me to thank Mr Young, the Curator <*of tHe Christchurch Domain..- for the very generous and,, practical assistance he has given the members in laying out tho Hospital grounds.",-. (Ipplanse). THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH. Some snte?esting Facts. Dr Valintine. who was received with -applause, said he ha.i been requested to apologise for the absence of the Minister, of Public Health. (Hon. R. H. Rhodes) who was kept m Wellington by his Parliamentary/duties. lhe speaker wished to convey his congratulations to the people of Ashburton upon the very complete hospital building which they now possessed. Proceeding, Dr Valintine said that the chairman had referred to the multifarious duties which he (the speaker) had to perform; but; lie could assure them that the present was one of:the pleasantest of duties. It was good to get away from the north, and from the smallpox epidemic there, to a pleasant spot like Ashfcurton.'was' this afternoon. He supposed that a great many people had not realised the seriousness of the epidemic, or the fact that it was really one of smallpox. Unfortunately, there was no doubt about that, and no medical man of repute had the slightest ■doubt about it. Fortunately it war, now abating, and there was every reason to Hope that it would not come to the South Island. Continuing, the speaker congratulated the people-. of Ashburton and the As'tiburton Hospital Board on tne carrying out d? the improvements to the institution. Since he had been here last many excel lent additions had been made, and. besides the new wards and other offices the grounds had been materially improved. Beautifully aidout grounds were an important tlnng arid reflected beneficially on the patients, who could look -out and seethe pleasant surrpundmgs. No doubt the iltoratiois- which had been car'ned out

had caused criticism, arid the officers of the Department had been considerably perplexed as to how to alter the buildings for the best, "ft was desirable that the building should have a northern aspect, and unfortunately the architect who had been responsible for the plans had placed the sanatoria annexes, the ward for infectious diseases, and the laundries on the wrong side. But he did not wish to blame the pioneer hospital, builders: they had done a great work in the Dominion . . . The fact that the' Ashburton Hospital had accommodated over 6000 patients since it was built spoke volumes for it and was ample-justification'for its erection, j

i Hare were many people who were growing concerned with the increasing expenditure on hospitals in the Dominion—(hear, hear)-—but there was an old saying that you could not make an omelet without breaking eggs. If peo: pie insisted on 'havinginstitutions up-to-date they would have to pay a little as compensation. Until recently the cost on the capital expenditure of the Ashourtpn Hospital had been onebwentioth of a.pound to the Ashburton people; he believed it wotdd be the same next year. The rate for the Dominion was one-sixth of a pound, so /hat they.would see that the people in

--„ %""-, ■""" ■«">' «j^,ii j^ijing lo excess. ■ the; questionl was were they getting any return for the is crease in expenditure? He-need only say that the Dominion's present general "death-rate was the lowest of any country in the world; the death-rate .by" consumption by infectious diseases, and lnst but not knst, that from infantile.disease, was also the lowest ;in the world. (Ap-1

piause;. Ihe iniantile death-rate was now one-half of what it was 10 years ago. (Applause). The .diminution of the death-rate mis one thing to be appreciated. The expenditure on' hospitals and charitable aid c" >vas going ■•on and would increase: but there were two ways to limit it. The first was by the patients paying .extra' fees, and the second was by limiting tire institutions ..lh£« nTOoimt paid by patients", met-only one-fifth of the expenditure. That was not enough, and he pers6hally, thought that the fees should meet one-third of che expenditure. lies• hoped Hospital

!.:- u'.' l'l> »voi"u npv ue sentimental about | that matter, for he, was convinced that there were .plenty of people using the hospitals who could afford to pay more and the Boards should insist that they di d,P°?;. moro' dealing with the question of limiting the institutions, Dr Valintme said that the. civ.li.sed world was institution .mad." .There was a demand for separate-institutions; and with the increase of specialising work this could not be wondered at. There were some demands for institutions in the .Uominion which hvere in excess of the requirements.-. Wha/ was wanted was more general .and -:fe ss local patriotism, eople should consider the interests of the Don.mion. ;.beforo local interests, tie hoped the people would resist the

; inordinate demand for institutions, especially for cottage hospitals. ... Dr j.Valmtine then spoke on the question of the increasing number of operations, some-of"which he justified and others he said were the fault'of patients themselves. He also very briefly referred to the question of race suicide, and he spoke m ho uncertain terms of the danger of a declining birth-rate. He concluded his address by congratulating the people upon the work that had been (lone.—(Applause). FURTHER PROCEEDINGS. Speeches were also delivered \by Dr -j1 ■Kugh Hunter (Medical Superintendent'l or tne Hospital), and Messrs G. J Harper and.Henry Davis; and .afterwards the institution was formally reopened by Dr. Vaiiutine, and those present inspected the various buildings and adjuncts. Afternoon tea waiSV-diE-pensed by the Matron and staff. "•'■'•: ■ (The function, was proceeding as wo went to press).

TKE NEW ADDiTiONS AND ALTERATIONS.

Amongst the buildings which form the; new .alterations'and additions to the Hospital will be found an up-to-date surgical: .ward, with a verandah facing two sides. / This ward is fitted up witiT | a ward kitchen, linen presses, ' etc., while across the corridor are the lavatores, bath, and sinb-roonis and other conveniences. There is also a private ward provided in this part of the extension, which forms the northern wing of the building. Further along the corridor, which extends the full length of the new part, is the Female and Chil-'i dren's Ward, the latter having been ! considerably enlarged, and on the opposite side of the corridor is a waiting room and Matron's sitting room. Abutting the Children's Ward, on the opposite side of a transverse passage, are the maids' and nurses' dining rooms, and at the far end of this passage is situated the operating theatre and instrument room. Opposite the maids' dining room, on the other -side of the main corridor, is the kitchen.

a large room 2/ft. 9m. by 19ft., flanked on the right by a-linen storeroom, pantry, larder, and coal repository. Further along the corridor, on the lefthand side, are lavatories, sink, bathrooms, etc. There is a one-bed ward on the extreme left. On the opposite side of the main corridor from these latter is a private ward, with a ward kitchen. attached, to serve-.both this ward and a large medical ward 56ft. Gin. by '28ft. 4in. Still .further along the main corridor, and divided from the last-named ward by a passage, is tne Convalescent Ward, With a broad verandah on one side. At the end of the main corridor is a wardsmari's room 12ft, by 12ft. The Hospital throughout has been practically ■refurnished> !iu uniform style/ The bedsteads are .of the Lawson Ta-it pattern, fitted -. with rubbertyred ball-boar ing castors. At each bedside is a neat "little combined locker and table, with chair to match, whilst in the centre of each main 1 ward stands a substantial and ornamental wardcliest, together with the necessarytables, invalid chairs, etc. Each main ward is heated by dullnose fire places, designed for burning big blocks of wood or coal. In the operating theatre and. instrument room the flooring is of the Faraa patent, which is specially designed for the purpose of minimising danger from the harbouring of microbes, as it presents a perfectly smooth and '■ unbroken -surface. The theatre, in regard to surgical appliances, is otic of. the most up-to-date in the Dominion, outside the four big centres. ' . ' ■ The re-arrangement of ;the Hospital generally has been carred out with the object oV minimising labour and giving the most efficient treatment to patients. The lighting throughout the main building ,i« V electricity, gas being used for beating, cooking, and stenhsino- purposes only. The hot-water service has received special .attention, one boiler, situated in a convenient position just off .the kitchen, supplying the whole of the'main building and fever ward, The' Matron's mmrters are situated in the main building, thus enabling hoi to bo' within touch with those on duty

fat all times. The domestic staff also [have their quarters upstairs in the main building formerly occupied by the i "urses- The Convalescent Ward is a jlargo room comfortably furnished, for | the use of convalescent male patients, .and adjoins the library, to which donations of books and magazines are always welcome. It has a spacious verandah on its western side. !? .luvr s^ng staff is now accommodated m anew detached building, comprising s i x bedrooms, .sitting room, bathroom, linen press, etc. The hotwater supply for the home is obtained trom the kitchen in the main building, and,, the home is lit by electricity throughout. • As the drainage system is one of the. most important items in connection with the remodelling of the institution, it has been carried out under the sole direction of the Public, Health Department, which was given a free hand. Plans and specifications for the work were prepared by Inspector M. Kershaw, of the District Health, Office, Christchurch, and the whole of the drains, etc., have been, laid under his personal supervision. The -water supply is. now taken from the Borough ■ .high-pressure service; the old pumping station haying been completely dismantled. This will ensure an ample supply of pure water being always available for all purposes.