MODERN PLANNING

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 123, 26 May 1945, Page 10

MODERN PLANNING

NEW 210-BED BLOCK

MOST UP-TO-DATE IN N.Z.

Members of local bodies who were I the guests of the Wellington Hospital i Board this week, when an explanation of hospital problems and policy was given by the chairman (Mr. H. ll''. Toogood). were impressed by the I contrast between the older construction at the main hospital, Newtown. and. the new 210-bed block. The old policy was to build hospitals to last: the present policy is to build for a limited life only, so that hospital practice, which always is advancing and i changing, may not be tied down and ! handicapped in the future. The Welj Ungton Hospital and all long-estab-j liVbcd hospitals, undoubtedly suffer | under that handicap of unsuitabiiity j 'jl' older sections for present practices. j The new block has been designed for a life of 20 years, but in all practical probability the construction will be sound in 30 to 40 years. It has been an economical building, as hospital buildings go. but all the same the figure has been high, for fitting and ocjuipment must be the same, however (he building itself may be constructed. J The first storey is in concrete and ! the second and third floors are timj bored framed, faced with asbestos i sheeting and plaster lined, a type of | construction highly resistant to fire, ; and. with adequate safeguards, much isafer from fire risks than the best of old-style construction. BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL. The great open spaces, to be crowded j with beds, which have been the chief note of the old Wellington Hospital wards, are nowhere in the new' block, which is divided into four, two, and a lesser number of single bed wards, glass partitioned, bright and cheerf uJ.. and yet with an atmosphere of privacy which was impossible in the older parts of the building. The partitioning and the form of wall construction have given, too, a quietness very pleasantly noticeable in comparison with other wards. The new block houses in one of the lower wings the urological department and the tuberculosis clinic, which may be looked on as the Hospital Board's longest, step in preventive medicine, for the responsibility of the clinic is to detect' tuberculosis in its early stages and to check the effects of treatment before the disease takes dangerous hold. The urological department, formerly cramped into unsuitable and inadequate space, is now one of the most up to date in eauipment and facilities in the Dominion. Also in the new* block are modern. lecture and demonstration rooms for the nursing staff.