HOSPITAL FINANCE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21947, 15 February 1946, Page 2

HOSPITAL FINANCE

RATE GOING UP WARMING "TO COUNTY “I don't want to put the wind up the council, but I think it wise to give a warning that the hospital rate will be going up again,” said Mr. S. T. Gray at yesterday’s meeting of the Cook County Council. He stated that with all the economies the board could eflect —and he believed all the board members were endeavouring to be economical —the expense of operating the hospital and its institutions continued to climb. The increases in costs above the estimates was almsot entirely due to wage rises which became effective after the estimates for the year were framed. Mr. Gray mentioned that loan services represented only a small proportion of the board's total operating expenses—about £IO,OOO as against £140,000. He did not know where the county's liability would finish unless the recommendations of the Select Committee on Local Government were put into effect. In any case, he did not think the reforms proposed would operate in the coming financial year.