COTTAGE HOSPITAL.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XL, Issue 5775, 28 February 1912, Page 6

COTTAGE HOSPITAL.

(To Ciyc Editorj* Sir —r have mast carefully read, an.l considered the Uader in your j.ssue dated 10th inst., and as it re(vVh to a iiwucr of great public importance, and is a reply to my, lettor published on the l'lth. I crave permission to vn.tilate the subject through \i>ur columns irom my standpoint oi" \i<*vv. _ Vol. start \our leader under the words •Cottnue Hospital" ami prorml to slate : "Within the past month wr have t.i-rscmil knowing*: of Ui«' furl that a iminL-r <>i p*u.ntshave been put to the expense of gTring to Auckland lor the purpose of 'undoing operations whieii would have l>fen pf-n'oniu-i! by local UlfdicitJ im n if a hospital were n.vailaljle " (1) So far as I am aware, not a.single application has been made to the Hospital and Char.ital;le Aid .Hoard—which m future will I \ the Hoard—for assistance in ihese cases. \\v must, tlU'lvlore, iMfcr that, the p«ti<->rit.s referred to are possessed of independent means, con. htqiKiilly tlu'.v are place:! outside the- .sphere of the Board's operations. (~) I must pin you to the words "cottage hospital" You have in Tauranga most able medical men and r believe. tW,, private IIOSPI tlll.S; therefore the pat.it nis referred to i-«_— quiring (irst aid, as the term "cottages hospital" implies, have the opportunity of obtaining all the treatment, they require quite independent of a collage hospital established by The Hoard, while in. necessitous cases, the Hoard has already l>een most liberal in granting" prompt relief and, assistance. Such cases of the; latter description can therefore be ,-x.t, present I oca My treated under oxisting arrangements. (8j 1 then, fore submit you are advocating the esLahlisliiaient, not of a. "cottage hospital," but what I termed -'a fullfledged hospital" and 1. ask you, can the ratepayers, who have to pay the piper, afford the luxury iof maintainin-g such an expensive tune, and this is the crux of the entire question at issue between us. So far as 1 am personally concerned, I have for years ad\ ocateil, through your paper and on Me Hoard, the eslabJishiiiout of «_ "cottage hospital" at Taurauga, imt to this modest proposal 1 did not. receive t'h-e slightest support, from the Press or the Public, the only response hay my been two Letters from .anonymous correspondents denouncing my proposals.

1 fully recognise the responsibility to the ratepayers and the general public resting on the Hoard's representatives, and consider that in outJyiiiig districts the service^ of»a certificated nurse should be secured by an annual retaining fee. while in those districts possessing a resident medical practitioner, house accommodation for nurse and first-aid pafients be provided- by local subscriptions, aided by Government subsidy of 24s for 20s subscribed. But, with reg-ard to Tauraivga. my VIGWS Ol late have been considerably modifi-ed and r Can justly plead. "Tempora mutantur, et nos muiantux in lllis,1' great changes have taJken place. We have in Waihi a hospital "fully as well cquipired in every respect both in ro- j yard to a.pplian<-es tinrl medical suj>erintendent us Auckland. With the prospects of early com- j tnunication by rail with Waihi, and with two private hospitals at present existing in your township, I consider the most satisfactory, and the most economical course to adopt would be to make arrangements with these hospitals for reception of patients tit schedule rates, but failing such business arrangements being made—a most unlikeiy event—then by all means let us establish it (ii-st ovil or coitage hospital under the auspices of the Hoard t The remaining portion of your leader commencing '■•The local repre- i sentatjves on the Board, etc.,'" to th« j close, is in my opinion built onj false premises, therefore, your de- i duction therefrom falls to tne ground. I 1 desire to thank you in anticipation for the -insertion) of this, letter, which, needless - perhaps to state, is sent 'solely in the interests of what I consider to 'be a matter of public policy, animated by the most kindly personal feelings towards yourself with the recognition of your constant cntleavours t-o promote the w<?Lfaro of our district by every means in y o ur power. So far, therefore, as you are concerned, 1 haAX! had my say on the subject. an<l this letter closes the correspondence.—-I. am, etc., c:ko. vkskv -stkwau'L'. Martray, February 'Jlst, IWL2.