Reefton Hospital

Press, 12 October 1988, Page 18

Reefton Hospital

Sir, —To people living in the Reefton-Maruia area the proposed closing of the Reefton Hospital is the last straw. From being a fully equipped hospital with operating theatre, maternity annex and laundry, it has been stripped of all these facilities and is now threatened with being closed to save SI.SM. This would be laughable, if it was not so serious for us when we see the Government squandering money in all directions. People from Maruia with a relative in Greymouth Hospital are faced with a 250 km journey to visit daily or stay in a motel. Reefton Hospital is not an old people’s home; it is an efficient hospital catering for sick as well as elderly folk and accident victims and should not be closed at any cost. As the late Mabel Howard said when she laid the foundation stone for the hospital, “It is a necessity.” — Yours, etc., M. FERGUSON. October .8, 1988.

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