Hospital Control By Local Boards

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31530, 18 November 1967, Page 7

Hospital Control By Local Boards

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON, November 17. The Minister of Health (Mr McKay) has given a “flat denial” to suggestions that Government policy was tending towards more centralisation of hospital administration at a national level.

Opening the annual conference of the New Zealand Hosoltal Officers’ Association tn Hamilton, the Minister said he knew some hospital boards feared this suggestion but said that the Govern ment was firmly committed te the principle of local body ad ministration of public hospitals. He used the example of the proposed transfer of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital ir Rotorua to the control of the Waikato Hospital Board from April 1, next year. It was also planned that mental hospitals would trans fer from departmental con trol to hospital board, Mr McKay said The department had ap proached the association on the prospect of clerical offi cers in mental hospitals be coming members of the association.

Such a proposal would facilitate the transfer of men tai hospitals to hospital board

control and expedite Integration of the two hospital services, the Minister said. The Minister said he would like to make it quite clear that when the economic situation improved the Govern ment intended to continue to restrain the growth of hospital board expenditure.