Bay Hospital Needs Discussed By Minister And Board

Northern Advocate, 21 November 1941, Page 4

Bay Hospital Needs Discussed By Minister And Board

[Special to "Northern Advocate"] KAIKOHE, This Day. The hospital needs of the whole of the Bay of Islands district were thoroughly discussed yesterday at a meeting with the Minister for Health (Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer), who was accompanied by Dr. McNickle, of the Health Department, and the Bay of Islands Hospital Board, Mr. C. W. Boswell, M.P., was also present. Financial Difficulties The chairman of the board (Mr. H. T. Atkinson) explained the financial difficulties under which the board was labouring, and its. inability to collect rates from more than one-third of the population, who were now carrying a burden than could not be increased. He recognised the serious need for additions to the building at Kawakawa and further accommodation in other parts of the district, but said that the ooard was firmly determined that no increase in the hospital rating could be contemplated. The negotiations between the Health Department and the board were reviewed and (he minister reiterated the Government’s offer, which the board had rejected, to provide the whole cost of building accommodation for Maori tuberculosis patients. The point was raised that any increase in the number of beds in the hospital would entail the provision of more accommodation for nurses and domestics and greater boiler facilities, and the minister promised that every assistance would be given to the board in meeting these needs. Kawakawa Plan Adapted After a long discussion on these topics, the board finally agreed to go ahead with the plan that had been forwarded to it by the department last April, and to enter immediately upon the work of building a new men’s ward, additions to the boiler house, and further accommodation for nurses. The department's suggestion for accommodating Maori T.B. patients was also accepted, although the question of whether this should be a 10 or 12 bed unit was left for further discussion. It was arranged that Dr. G. J. Frengiey and also the chairman, if possible, should proceed to Wellington at an early date to make final arrangements for all these matters. Maternity Hospital Postponed The need for a maternity hospital at Kaikohe was fully discussed, and the general feeling was that while such a building was urgently required, it would have to be postponed until the additions to the Kawakawa Hospital vvere completed. The minister said that after seeing the buildings and hearing of the difficulties under which the medical superintendent Hvais operating, he was satisfied that unless the work at Kawakawa was put in hand without delay, the efficiency of the institution would be seriously impaired. He stressed the point that the duty of the board was to look after the health of the people in the whole of the district, and if to do this satisfactorily it was necessary to provide hospital facilities at more than one place, the board should have no hestatlbn in incurring : capital liabilities. Difficulties Realised He said, however, that he fully understood the difficulties of carrying on a building programme at both Kawakawa and Kaikohe at the same time. He concurred in the suggestion that the actual work at the latter place should be deferred until the additions to the main institution were completed, but he advised the board to keep Kaikohe’s need steadily in view, and to bear the needs of the future in mind when planning a building programme as a whole. Minister Approves Before the conclusion of the meeting, when the various sites for additions to the Kawakawa Hospital were examined, the minister expressed satisfaction at the board’s decision. He said he had felt before coming to Kawakawa that the needs of the district had tended to become disputes between different parts of it, and that there was a danger of the problem being viewed in separate parts rather than as a whole. He felt, however, that the discussion that had taken place had gone a long way towards clearing the air, and he hoped that any differences that had arisen in the past would be forgotten and that the co-operative spirit that had made itself evident in the afternoon would be carried on in the future.