COUNTRY NURSING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22484, 13 November 1947, Page 4

COUNTRY NURSING

TE KARAKA CLINIC COOK BOARD’S PLANS HOSPITAL AT TOLAGA Among the matters which members of the Cook Hospital Board have not been able to finalise, owing to the necessity for discussion with Health Department experts, are plans which have been maturing for some months for nursing services at Te Karaka and hospital extensions at Tolaga Bay. The managing-secretary of the board. Mr C. A. Harries, who is attending a conference of statistical experts on hospital administration in Wellington, was authorised by the latest meeting of the board to take up with the deparmental offmers both these issues. The board determined some time ago to provide a clinic in Te Karaka* which would serve the population of that area in conjunction with the district nursing scheme. Plans were prepared for a three-room unit comprising a waitingroom, surgery and dispensary; but the decision of the Health Department to station a resident medical practitioner at Te Karaka, and provide him with a dwelling, brought a new factor into the situation. A Question of Location Mr Harries will endeavour to secure from the department some guidance as to whether tne new clinic should be attached to the nurses’ residence, as was originally intended, or whether it would meet the convenience of the public more fully if it were associated with the practitioner’s dwelling. . Representatives of the Waikohu County on the Cook Hospital Board agreed at the last meeting of the board to have the matter submitted to the department, but urged that no time be lost in having the question determined. , . Substantial alterations and improvements have been planned by the board for the Tolaga Bay hospital and approval for the new work there is being sought from the Health Department. The proposals include additional accommodation for patients and nursing staff, and the installation of additional facilities for handling patients They have been evolved as a result of several discussions on the best means of meeting the need for improvements at Tolaga Bay.