PUBLIC HOSPITAL

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 124, 19 February 1935, Page 4

PUBLIC HOSPITAL

Additional Accommodation Needed at Palmerston “FAR BEHIND OTHER BOARDS” Dominion Special Service. Palmerston North, February 18. The opinion that the time was not far distant when an expenditure of £40,000 or £50,000' would be necessary to provide additional accommodation at the public hospital in order to cope with the needs of the district was expressed by the chairman, Mr. J. K. Hornblow, at this afternoon’s meeting of the Palmerston North Hospital Board. On the suggestion of Mr. Hornblow it was decided to discuss the question of capital estimates and the provision of increased accommodation for patients at a special meeting on March 14. Mr. G. A. Monk asked if a return could be prepared showing the ratio of accommodation required to the population of the district. Local body members became frightened, lie said, when it was mentioned that £40,000 or £50,000 would be necessary soon for additional patient accommodation. The board should also ascertain if the increase in the number of patients receiving treatment was a temporary trouble. Mr. Hornblow: I do not think the £40,000 will cover more than seven or eight years, . Mr. Monk considered that the present conditions under which people were living were t responsible" for more sickness. . ' ; ’ Mr. J. Hodgens asked the board to reconsider its decision not to erect a second story on the new administration block. The block was being designed to carry a second floor to be erected at a later date. The problem facing the board was an immediate one. Ho did not approve of any more money being expended on the old wooden block, which he considered was now unsuitable for the purpose for which it was being used. The chairman said that the Palmerston North Hospital Board was far behind other hospital boards in the Dominion as far as hospital accommodation was concerned. The hospital was designed for ISO beds and was providing 210 beds. In the past the board hau been too careful. The board was faced with a growing population in its district, and would have to meet the situation. Mr. J. Boyce suggested that the money required for the provision of additional accommodation should be raised by means of an art union. Money was being raised by this means for many far less important purposes. A proposal of his that permission should be sought to conduct an art union was held over. The committee which recently inspected the wooden buildings at the hospital recommended that air estimate should be secured of the cost of renovating and repairing the roofs and that, in its opinion, the centre block should not be occupied for more than three years. “The committee finds that the hospital is at present overcrowded, and the question of patients' accommodation should, in the opinion of the committee, be considered on a planned scheme over a period of years. Apart from ■ the chronic wards at Awapuni, it seems necessary that the following should be provided for in the next few years: The replacement of the present ward 4 accommodation with a' 20-bed block, the provision of special ward accommodation for the present children’s ward, which is inadequate and overcrowded, the provision of accommodation in a new building for a dispensary, outpatients’ department, and a mortuary and post-mortem ward.”