HOSPITAL STIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 118, 21 May 1938, Page 14

HOSPITAL STIR.

ECHO OF ELECTION. STRONG DISCLAIMER MADE. QUESTION OF NEW BTTIIJMNG. (By Tel«gTaph.—Own Correspondent.) DARGAVILLE, this day. At the recent Kaipara Hospital Board ilections in the Hobson County, block noting at Awatapu and Te Kopuru •esulted in the return of four candidates ipparently pledged in favour of the retention of the Northern Wairoa Hospital at Te Kopuru, in preference to a scheme adopted by the board some months ago authorising the erection of ei new hospital on a site purchased in iwakino Koad, Dargaville. The latter scheme has the approval of the Department of Health, and the board has authorised its architect, Mr. A. P. Morgan, to prepare plans for a 50-60 bed building at a cost not exceeding £80,000. During the election campaign a circular was issued by the Te Kopuru committee seeking support for its candidate*, in which it was claimed that for £15,000 the Te Kopuru Hospital could be remodelled, whereas it would cost £125,000 to build at Dargaville. At the first meeting of the fcoard this afternoon, three of the four candidates who were elected on the "ticket," Mrs. A. E. Harding and Messrs. K. N. Taylor and J. H. McCarfoll, emphatically disclaimed the circular. "I want to make it quite clear," said Mrs. Harding, who is the first woman to sit on the Kaipara Board, "that ] knew nothing about the circular until it was delivered to me by post. Anyone reading the /circular would infer that the major proposal before the board was whether the hospital should be rebuilt at Te Kopuru, or a new building erected at Dargaville." For herself and those associated witl her, Mrs. Harding would eay emphati cally that the major purpose of the election of the board was to attend tc the needs and comfort of the inmates and to favourable conditions for the staff. As regards the figures quoted ir the circular, she wished absolutely tc disclaim any responsibility for them. The board has decided to hold a specia meeting next week, when the whole proposals for the future of the hospita will be discussed after members have made a personal inspection of the Te Kopuru institution. The board's engineer recommended the installation of electric radiators at Te Kopuru, and the board adopted this recommendation, spending about £62 oi the immediate needs of the institution