THE HOSPITAL

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 284, 4 November 1925, Page 15

THE HOSPITAL

QUESTION OF ACCOMMODATION. * ADDITIONAL WARDS NECESSARY. The urgent need for additional accommodation. at the Palmerston North Hospital was stressed in a circular letter received from the managingsecretary of the Palmerston ' North Hospital Board at yesterday’s meeting of the Manawatu County Council. Under the existing conditions, explained the writer, the principal section of the building contained five wards, the standard accommodation of which was as under ;—Men, surgical: Prince of Wales ward, 24; McHardy ward, 4 ; medical, ward IV. 17, Wilsher ward 4 ; total 49. Women, surgical: Princess Mary ward, 24; medical, Royal Alexander ward, 16; total 40. Children: Main ward, 17; ward 11. 6; total 23. The total general accommodation apart from the consumptive annexe and infectious diseases block was 112, but the number in the wards had frequently exceeded 140 and to accommodate these extra patients, beds had been placed permanently on the ward verandahs and extra beds in the wards themselves. A table on a population basis revealed that Palmerston North, with a district population of 52,000, possessed 112 hospital beds, whereas Hawke’s Bay, with a population of 40,000, had 186 beds and Wanganui, with a population of 51,000, had 155 beds. On a basis of number of beds per 1000 population, Palmerston North had an averago of 2.1 as against 4.6 and 3.0 of the Hawke’s Bay and Wanganur institutions respectively. The Dominion average was 3.2 and it would require 166 general beds to bring the Palmerston North Hospital up to such average. If two wards were erected within the next year they would accommodate 40 patients and would be only 10 beds in excess of the actual requirements at the present time. Relative to other additions which were considered essential, it was mentioned that there were about 100 operations performed per month and it was with the greatest difficulty that the work was carried out in one theatre. It was proposed that a new theatre be erected and to use the present theatre for minor work and outpatients. The nurses’ home had 40 bedrooms and 12 nurses were at present accommodated in a wooden building in another part of the grounds. With an additional two wards, accommodation would be required for 78 nurses and two masseuses, and it would thus be necessary to add considerably to the present nurses’ home. Additional wards as male staff quarters and a bulk store were also included in the scheme, the total cost of the buildings being estimated at approximately £45,000. A later letter dealt with the overcrowded condition of the wards, pointing out that it had been found necessary to warn medical practitioners in the district that, in sending in cases for treatment, the medical superintendent had to bo communicated with to ascertain whether there was a vacant bed, and a waiting list had at times been in vogue. At one time during the infantile paralysis epidemic there had been 190 patients in the hospital and every ward and section had been overcrowded. Had a serious accident happened at that time, necessitating several cases being sent in, it would have been most difficult to make satisfactory arrangements.

The county chairman (Sir Jas. Wih son), who is also chairman of the Hospital Board, in reviewing the position as outlined in the circular letters, stated that it was proposed that each year a levy be made for capital expenditure of £2500 which, with the subsidy of £2500 from the Government, would pay the loan off in ten years, while interest would be taken out of maintenance. The interest would be on an average somewhere about £IBOO for the first year, but would thereafter rapidly diminish. Provided no further building additions were carried out during the 10 years —the term of the proposed loan—and even if £2OOO per annum proved necessary for non-recurring items, the capital levy need be only approximately £IOO per annum more than the present capital levy which was £3725. The levy of £2500, together with the £337 necessary to pay the sinking fund on tho existing loans (sinking fund was £673 per annum, half of which was paid by way of subsidy) and together with £IOOO levy for contingencies, would mean an annual levy of £3B37—practically the same as the current year’s levey for capital purposes. 'The members concurred with the chairman in that the short period loan was distinctly preferable and it was decided to endorse tho managing secretary’s proposal.