NELSON HOSPITAL.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18668, 17 April 1926, Page 4

NELSON HOSPITAL.

NEW BUILDING AT NELSON. (PKISS. ISSOCUTIOS TELEGRAJI.) ' NELSON, April 16. The new public hospital at Nelson, a fine brick structure, costing' £65,000, providing 109 beds, fitted with the very latest equipment, was officially opened to-day by the Hon. J. A. Young, Minister for Public Health, in the presence of a large gathering of the public. The chairman of the Hospital Board, Mr George Rout, referred to the late Mr Thomas Cawthron's generous gift of £15,000, which carried a Government subsidy of £IB,OOO, making the burden of taxation correspondingly less. In the new hospital there were one, two, three, and four room wards, in addition to public wards. The smaller wards would be used by those in a position to pay. Mr Rout acknowledged the work of the contractor, Mr W. Williamson, of Christchurch. From the commencement of the work, over two years ago, the Board had had no reason to' make a single complaint. Mr Young said the opening of such a magnificent building marked a milestone in the. progress of the community. He referred to the munificent bequest of the, late Mr Thomas Cawthron. The Government recognised its responsibility by subsidising this sum to the extent of £IB,OOO, which came out of the consolidated revenue. A further £27,000 had been raised by the ratepayers, of which amount the Government paid half, so that the contribution by the Government was really £31,500. If there were any in the community who sometimes thought the levy too much, he reminded them that the Department kept a close check on expenditure, In 1914-15 fhe Board had provision for eighty beds, now it had provision for 109, including ten for maternity service. The number of beds per thousand of the population in 1914 was three; in 1924-25 it was 4.1, and in the new hospital 4.3. The average number of beds for the Dominion last year was 4.4, but the average occupied was 3, whilst Nelson's average of occupied beds was 2.3. The deduction was that Nelson was evidently a very healthy community. After the official opening, the building was inspected by a large number of the public.