WELLINGTON HOSPITAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 223, 13 June 1908, Page 13

WELLINGTON HOSPITAL.

—-—» '• VISITED BY CONFERENCE DELECATES. . ' ■ '; tJP-TO-DATE APPLIANCES! Although'many of the delegates to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Conference had . already left for their homes, there was a \ goodly ,muster at. the' Wellington- Hospital yesterday morning. Tho Trustees had invited .their fellow-administrators from all parts.of tho Dominion to visit and inspect * the institution. The Chairman (Hon. C. M. Luke, . M.L.C.), Mr.. G. -T. London, and Dr. Ewart met the guests at the main entrance.; ; ' . , " ' • The party walked through several of the wards, apd were favourably impressed by tho, cleanliness and orderly conditions ob- ' . servablo throughout,and the, up-to-date character of everything* associated with tho comfort and well-being of the pationts. But perhaps tho chief objcct of the visitors was-to see'the special apparatus-in soveral departments, notably the Finsen , light and X-ray' appliances. These were put into full operation, and. explained by Dr. Ewart. Tho spectators, many of whom admitted that they had'' hot seen, these modern healing agencies' before, were not at all disposed' to question the Chairman's claim that tho installation was equal, if not superior, to anything of tho kind in -Australasia. -. - Tho operating theatre was also much admired; ■ It represents 'a branch of tho hospital work that has greatly developed durlhglthe last, few years. Cases for opora- ' tion come' here from long distances, attrac-ted-by tho reputation of tho surgical staff ■<* and; the " appliances. . /The big steam -lailhdry, the-disinfecting chamber,: whore clothing and bed linen that i have :been used for infectious cases are '. fumigated,- and the machinery . and boilor department received more than passing no-; tico." The visitors then scaled the breezy and view-cqmmanding hill, on tho summit of which : stands the Nurses' Home. Times have changid ' since Dr. Ewart fiht took charge of, the Wellington Hospital twenty * /' years ago. .There were but "fifteen nurses L -.then," and when the night staff came off duty tney. had to retire to the beds from which .the day staff had .but just risen. Nowadays, each of'the 86/ nurses has her own room, and arranges _it in her own way. The visitors spent a, social half hour in tno large,'; Bitting . room, where light refreshments were handed round. . Tho'.Seddon Ward for consumptives, and its adjacent, shelters, were then inspected. • The ' visitors : were . pleased to loarn that, although the most hopeful of the tuborculous. cases iaro! sent'to the Otaki Sanatorium, recoveries are not by any means unknown ) under tho inflnonco of "\Vellington'air and ' skilled treatment at the local annexe. Tho Victoria -Hospital for Chronic Invalids, Which - largely -owes its existenco to tho . efforts - iriade. a few years ago by a .numbo'r of • Wellington ladifcs, and Drs. Valintine ,and : Newtaan," was tie last halting place.' Forty 1 'patients'are accommodated in. tho big brick building, with its pleasant airy wards and "sun-rooms." Even .here the idea of a hospital-as a place to get woll in i.B not lost'sight of. The matron told of a couple of inmates who, after a year in the m- . Btitution. had gone out into tho wrld again, : and' wero. as well'as over. > Tho only department not visited was the i children's hospital, which is admittedly behind; tho: times. ' Little sufFerers '.are' every week refused admission for want of room. . But large additions are soon to be made, and already the" Trustees are calling for competitive designs. Many of the visitors were, of course, quite prepared to maintain tho superiority ' of their own local hospitals, in one respect or another, but their impressions as a whole were quite in accord with tho eulogies pronounced npon the Wellington Hospital dur- • ing the late Conference. ' All realised that they could learn something by seeing how • .ethers were' earrying'out .the'"important, duties in which'they were themselves engaged. ■ The .Chairman of the Trustees was hcar- • tily thanked for the courtesy extended.: