FIGURES EXAMINED

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 115, 18 May 1938, Page 15

FIGURES EXAMINED

SECRETARY'S STATEMENT Recalled by Mr. Powles, Mr. J. B. I. Cook, secretary of the Wellington Hospital Board, said that an examination of the statement submitted by-Mr. E. P. Norman* Town Clerk, of Wellington, revealed that in arriving at the capital cost per head of population, he liad included with the institutional land, buildings, and equipment other property which was largely endowment land; Endowment land was not a liability on the community, it was an asset, and as such had no relation to the maintenance cost of running a hospital. So far as Wellington was .concerned, therefore, the value of land, buildings, and equipment per head of population was £2.8, not £3.97, as stated. When the extensions estimated to cost £750,000 were completed, the figure per head of population of the district would be approximately £7, not £8, as;stated by Mr. Norman. "Whilst calling attention to these arithmetical points, 1 would also submit that the comparison in regard to the capital value of land, buildings, and equipment is of no particular significance," witness continued. "Such a comparison would require very extensive qualification in many aspects, but particularly as to (a) the extent to which a particular hospital provided for patients from other districts; Ob) the value of land forming the site; (c) age and type of hospital buildings provided. EXTENSIONS ELSEWHERE. The capital value will, of course, be increased wherever extensive rebuildingl is undertaken, and in this connection it is understood that very considerable hospital extensions are in contemplation at other centres. In the next few years, therefore, Wellington's position will probably have altered very materially in relation to other districts, though this in itself will not be an indication that further extensions are desirable. "Apart from the question whether the value of land, buildings, and equipment per head of population is accurately stated, there is the broader question whether the comparison between Wellington and other districts or Wellington and the Dominion is of any special significance. Hospital districts are not self-contained entities, and the board's institutions in each district serve varying proportions of the population of neighbouring districts, so that a mere comparison of the capital value of an institution in relation to the population may actually mislead." COLLECTION OF FEES. It would not appear that fees received had a particular bearing on the question of additional accommodation, said witness. The collection of fees in relation to other revenue received by boards was not regarded as having a bearing on building proposals. The year 1936-37 showed Wellington in a more unfavourable light than any other recent year, so far as fees collected were concerned. The average fees received per occupied bed for the five largest hospitals when the weekly rate in each case was £4 4s were as follows:—l 932-33, Auckland £68.1, Hamilton £55.7. Wellington £48.7, Christ-, church £80.7, Dunedin £77.8; 1933-34, £69.4. £51.9, £49.7, £80.7, £80.7; 1934-35, £545, £56.3, £44.7, £50.5, £70.1. Mr. Cook said he estimated that the cost of running the Wellington Hospital in 1936-37 was £227 4s per occupied bed, and that the cost of running the enlarged institution would be £272 Bs. It would appear that any method which based costs on meeting loan repayments was not dependable, because a short-term loan might show a very heavy apparent cost. The estimated cost of the enlarged hospital 4rae £83,883. The levy on Welling-

ton city would be £113,675, an increase of approximately 34.8 per cent. SAVING IN EXPENDITURE. loans other than the loan required for the enlarged hospital maturing at an early date, considerable saving will be effected in expenditure," concluded witness. "This, together with a modern institution with centralised services, improved and highly efficient equipment, will result in further saving in working costs. These, with other factors, would, it is submitted, mean a considerable reduction on local body levies at a later stage."