A HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 35, 10 August 1905, Page 2

A HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN.

IS IT NEEDED ? DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. INTERVIEWS ON THE SUBJECT. Something over a- week ago a meeting of persons interested in the movement in favour of establishing a Hospital for Children at the Hutb, was held iD the Town Hall. Those .who attended that meeting seemed to take it for granted that Wellington should have such an institution, DUt Several, thought tho timo was -not opportune for bringing the movement before the public in a practical form. It was though^ that citizens had been drawn upon sufficiently of late for subscriptions towards the Consumptives' Hospital and other charitable objects. Enquiries mado by a representative of the Post elicited the following information : — < THE PROMOTER'S PROPOSALS. Tho originator of the idea, Nurse Lee, interviewed on this subject, said that she hid had soino experience in nursing the young,' and had been on tho ataff of the Childrena' Hospital at Glebe. She was a member of the Australian Trained Nurses' Association, and had been resident in Wellington for about two years. Aeked why she thought there was need for a oliildreh's hospital in Wellington, she said she thought there was eveh urgent need because of the number of deaths that occurred amongst children. These deaths were far more numerous than should be the case in this city. , During her stay in Wellington the had' seen, a great deal of tho troubles -of infattile i life, and u'n* less they had really .experienced it, the people of Wellington would bo sui prised at tho largo number of young sufferers there were here. She had given much thought to this subject, and her first Idea had been to have a hospital ereoted at Kelburne, with a convalescent homo at tho Hurt. But there had been developments, and now it was proposed that tho Kelburne idea should be dropped, and that the hospital should be erected at the Hutfc. Personally, alie preferred her original idea. Siie did not see toy difficulties in the way. Tho hospital should be a selfsupporting institution, as was the cuse in Sydney, where the Glebe Hospital for Children had 300 cots that were supported by public subscription. The capital city of the colony, at any rate, ought to fight against this high mortality amongst children. „ Her idea was to provide a hospital in which children who were suffering .would receive the very best care and treatment, the patients ranging in Wte

from infancy to 19 years. In the Wellington District Hospital only surgical cases were taken in. She would have all kinds of ailments treated. The institution should be free, absolutely free, to the children of tho poor, and the other people's children could also be received by the payment of a fee, but all patients should receive the same treatment. Thero should be two large wards containing 50 cots each, an operating room, a reception room, etc. The institution should also be used for training nurses, who should not be less than 19 years of age, pass a given standard of education, and pay a premium for their training. , „ „ t Nurse Lee did nob like the idea of the Children's Hospital being placed under Government control. The funds should be raised by public subscription, and it should be maintained by voluntary contributions, and governed by a committee of citizens, tn Sydney there were very many people who assisted towards the up-keep of the Glebe Hospital by regular contributions of one penny per week. Asked if she did noto think the institution could be more economically maintained if it was run in conjunction with and situated close to the general hos-" pital, Nurse Lee said she did not think the up-keep would be expensive, and she emphatically protested against a children's hospital being located within a group consisting of a hospital for adults, , another for chronic invalids, a fever Ward, and a hospital for consump-> tives.