PUKEORA COSTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22618, 22 April 1948, Page 3

PUKEORA COSTS

£19,000 DEFICIT ; THIS YEAR’S CLEAN-UP ] WAIAPU BOARD’S VIEWS j (S.R.) TE PUIA, April 21. j| Faced with a special levy of ,f: £750 for the current year towards jg the costs of conducting the group j | hospital for tuberculosis at l’uke- j i ora, the Waiapu Hospital Hoard at ; its meeting on Monday expressed jpj concern at the mounting costs. A letter from the _ Pukcora Snni- 1 1 torium Committee indicated that a do- i $ cision had been reached, following ad- y vice received from the Director- 3 General of Health, that the aecumu- ft lated debt of £19.000 should be paid jj off during 1948-49. The levy on the | Waiapu Hospital Board was £ iqO. § “The Waiapu Hospital Board is reeeiving no advantage from being with- g in the group of contributory boards. | said the chairman, Mr. v. G. It. c Rickard. [j “Only five patients from this hospital £ district were at Pukeroa and as the g sanitorium served the needs ot practic- | ally the whole of the North Island he ft thought it most unfair that only H boards within the group should have to R meet the deficit-Rising-Cost Risk Obviated |- “We can't refuse to pay, and we're jg committed for 10 years, -\li. Kicxaiu | added. ' jj The fees to boards with patients at g Pukeroa had been raised from 21s to 24s per day, but still the institution ft showed a loss, remarked the chairman | in reply to a question by Dr. J. L. | oimcock. v Tuberculosis treatment appeared to be a national responsibility, rather than one for individual boards, said t, Mr. H. Dudtield, who supported the | chairman's contention that the non- ; | contributing boards, too, should have i g been debited with a share of the Puke- , fa ora deficit. “The levy on this board will not j?! affect the ratepayers,” contended Dr. ! S Simcock, “for it will surely come out 11 of social security grants." j | The hospital rate would no doubt ; | remain at 0.5 d, said the chairman, but j a if the recent revaluations in Hawke’s [ | Bay were any indication of what could j | be expected when the Waiapu hospital 11 district was revalued, the ratepayers j B could look forward to paying more | than they were at present, concluded U the chairman. | The letter was received. ,