"WALLACE" WARDS,

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 221, 17 September 1924, Page 8

"WALLACE" WARDS,

« ■ ITHE NEW HOSPITAL BLOCK. ' JfATVrED AFTER BOARD CHAIRMAN. i n OPENED BY SIR M. PO_l______ 1 ~ , j __DV__NSI_.GE OF BIG HOSPITALS. ■' Tt was a graceful acknowledgement of j the splendid -work he ha 3 done for the } ! sick and Buffering in Auckland when , the Auckland Hospital Board decided j ■to call the new G.U. block at the j ) Auckland Hospital ''The Wallace ( I Wards." No man has spent more time ] j and energy in the work than Mr. Wil- ■ liam Wallace, the indefatigable onair- ' ! man of the Board, and it was eminently , fitting that his name should be asso- . i ciated permanently with tbe magnificent ' institution that looks out over tbe \ city from its ideal site on the edge of | the Domain hill. The new block, stand- , ing on tbe (Park Boad front, is a handsome addition to the group of buildings ' which has grown up in a comparatively few years round the old original block which faces the harbour and still forms the "corps de logis." Six storeys high in Ted brick and concrete, the new . building fit 3 in admirably with the rest of the group. It will give the hospital . 140 more beds, making the institution the largest single hospital in Australasia. In spite of his arduous Parliamentary duties the Minister of Public Health ■ (Sir Maui (Pomare) found time to accept the Board's invitation to make a trip to Auckland to lay the foundation gtone. Owing to circumstances, . tbe ceremony is being performed somewhat later than is usually associated : with such an event. • The sbell of the building is complete aud workmen are ■ now busy upon the interior. On these occasions it is usual to present the guest of honour, laying the foundation stone, with a silver trowel, but the present contractors have prepared something quite uncommon. The ' souvenir, which was manufactured by Mr. A. Kohn, of Queen Street, includes silver level, silver -trowel with -greenstone handle, ivory rule, and silvermounted mallet, in "a handsome case. There was a representative gathering at the Hospital this afternoon to witness the ceremony of laying the stone. Mr. William Wallace presided, and most of the public bodies in Auckland were represented. Largest in Australasia. In welcoming the Minister and ' • referring to ' tbe important building programme of the Hospital Board, Mr. William Wallace said people had asked him from time to time, "Do you not think the Board is putting too many, buildings on one site!" His reply to that, said Mr. Wallace, was an em- . phatic "No." ' The "Board had considered the matter from, every point of view, and after full deliberation bad decided to erect the new block which would make Auckland Hospital the . largest single hospital in' Australasia. Witlj the 140 beds in the new building the hospital would now have- approximately. 655, beds. In passing, Mr. Wallace said it was not always realised how tremendously the hospital had grown' and kept pace with the phenomenal spread of the Auckland district. . In the year 1860 the number of patients treated at I the Auckland Hospital was 241; in 1870 it was 511; 1890, 1047; 1900, 1626; 1910, ■ 3143; 1920, 6887, and 1924 6545. The exceptionally high figures for 1920 were '. accounted for by tho large number of soldier cases treated,, r As far as large and small hospitals were concerned there was no question . that the large hospitals had many advantages over the small,' and the key to i the whole problem was good roads and. i modern means of transport. That was so, not only in hospital administration, but also in education administration. . It had been found that better results could be obtained, in education by hay- • ing central schools'of a high efficiency and bringing/the scholars to them. With a large. hospital thoroughly equipped and staffed the system could be administered more economically, and the efficiency was higher,,than if the Board dissipated its energies in the direction ' of having little hospitals dotted about the district. -_ Scattered small hospitals ■ meant leas efficiency, and they were more expensive to run, because such a system meant duplication of staffs and equipment. It was quite .impossible ,to . get in smaller hospitals the complete equipment and skilled staff that had given the Auckland Hospital the deservedly high reputation it had won for itself. No, said Mr. Wallace, there could be no doubt as to which sj_ste_a was the more economical and efficient; the only.thing required was,good roads and modern means of transport. As an instance of the efficiency of the up-to-date ambulance he mentioned that on one occasion an urgent case of diphtheria which oecurre*at Onehunga, was Drought into tbe Auckland Hospital by ambulance in ten minutes. ,' a Caging" theX-Kays. Mr. Wallace explained that what the , guests saw that day was the shell of the new block, the interior fittings I being still in the hands of the worki men. He paid a tribute to the skill of j the Board's architect, Mr. G. W. Allsop, : F.RJ.B.A, and commended the work J done by tbe contractors, Messrs W. J. ■ Grevatt and Son, who had put up that ; fine building in eleven months without i a hitch.of any kind. Tbe original esti- , mate was just oyer £70,000, and the , tenders received ranged from £76,372 > up to £91,708. Certain alterations had J been found necessary afterwards, and ; the total contract would now run into , close upon £90,000. j .Some interesting, facts were men- . turned by Mr. Wallace in describing the inside of the splendid new block. AU the walls were being, tiled up to a height of as feet and- that work, -which- was in the hands of Messrs'.-Briscoe and Co. was costing £10,000. A feature of the plumbing which was in the hands of Messrß. Morton and Collins, and" was costing £16,000, would be the use of copper pipes _or the water system. It had been found by experience that tbe water corroded the ordinary iron, and so copper had ibeen substituted. Beferrlng to the X-TaV equipment, which is ttf; be -very complete and up-to-date. Mr. Wallace mentioned that the three rooms concerned -were to vie encased in lead; not merely the walls, but the floors and ceilings were to be covered. It had been found necessary to do so in order to protect -the [■ attendants and the patients outside the '"rooms. Originally the intention was to -;line the rooms with, a special plaster, hut on * test being made it was found that ther rays penetrated three inches and a-half of plaster and a brick wall. The only satisfactory means of dealing with the rays was io completely line the rooms with sheet lead.