Auckland Institution's Record Of Steady Progress

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 31, 6 February 1943, Page 4

Auckland Institution's Record Of Steady Progress

Completion of the new hospital unit at Epsom, which will be officially known as the Green Lane Hospital, is a notable advance in providing more hospital accommodation in Auckland. Present plans are to build a companion unit of similar size, the two units to provide accommodation for over 500 patients. The new Green Lane Hospital, for which £200,000 was provided, is but another step in a general plan of development and extension of services, as further extensive works are contemplated. The beginning of the Auckland Hospital can be traced back to the infancy of colonisation in New Zealand. In the 'forties, on a date which does not appear in the official records, as they were lost while being sent to Wellington when the capital was transferred, certain areas of land, mostly in the then town and suburbs of Auckland, were marked as a site and endowments for the support of a hospital or hospitals at Auckland to provide for the relief of the sick of all classes, and the care of poor and destitute persons. In 1850 Sir George Grey, then Governor of New Zealand, issued Crown grants in respect of the lands, and vested them in trustees. First Building The first hospital was erected on the site of the present Costley Wards about the year 1845. It was constructed 6*f wood on a rough scoria foundation. The first medical officer was a military officer on the staff of one of the regiments stationed in New Zealand at the time. There was a notable advance in 1875-76, when the main block of the present Auckland Hospital was built by the Provincial Government to become a conspicuous feature of Auckland when viewed from the harbour. The plans provided for three storeys and a basement, and the contract price was £19,249. The building was fashioned on the lines of St. Thomas' Hospital In London, and the best of material was used. The first notable additional building was the Costley Wards block, erected on the site of the first hospital in 1898 at a cost of £5600. This was provided for out of the Costley Bequest, and the furniture by public subscription, the full equipment of one wa"rd with 12 cots and necessary adjuncts being provided by the Freemason's' Lodge Ara No. 348 1.C., in commemoration of its jubilee celebration. Greatest Development The years of greatest building development were between 1922 and 1928, When Mr. William Wallace was the chairman. New buildings in this period included the Franklin Memorial Hospital at Waiuku, the Wallace Wards, additions to the hospital nurses' home and the female Infirmary wards, and a kitchen block, laundry and boiler house at Green Lane. Time has brought many changes. Until 1883 the institution was conducted by the general government, and then a hospital committee, consisting of Auckland citizens, was appointed. In 1885 the members of the committee gave up office to give place to representatives of the local bodies of the contributing districts. The Auckland area comprised at first the counties extending from Hobson and Whangarei in the north, to Waikato, Raglan and Waipa in the south. In later years the united district system was abandoned, the outlying counties took over the

administration of their own institutions, and some of them were constituted separate hospital districts. The present Auckland Hospital district extends from Rodney county in the north to Franklin county in the south, and includes the Gulf islands in addition to 'the Auckland metropolitan area.

There has been a record of steady progress associated with the Auckland Hospital Board. It was the first board to establish a dental hospital, and another activity has been the establishment of nursing services throughout its district. After the last war the large building used for the Auckland exhibition of 1914 was converted into an annexe for soldiers, while a recent development has been the staffing, equipping and management of the new hospital for soldiers built in the Auckland Domain. The greatest call for organisation came in 1918 when the influenza epidemic was at its height, and a number of buildings in the city had to be converted into temporary institutions.

Generous Bequests Over the years Auckland citizens have been generous with bequests for hospital work. Notable gifts were made by the late Mr. Edward Costley ~an early citizen of Auckland, who divided his estate of £92,000 between various Auckland institutions. He made bequests of £13,226 to the Auckland Hospital, and £13,239 for building a home for aged people. Thus the Costley Home came to be erected.

It is interesting to recall that Auckland's main hospital is on a site which marks the last remnant of the once large county of Eden, and it is not actually in the city of Auckland.