Taking Over Of Services Hospital At Middlemore

Northern Advocate, 29 September 1943, Page 2

Taking Over Of Services Hospital At Middlemore

(Special) AUCKLAND, This Day, A recommendation from the buildings committee that the hospital board should (take over the 300-bed servicemen’s hospital which is to be built at Middlemore as a complete unit when the hospital and all services are in satisfactory working order, was adopted at a meeting of the Auckland board last night. It was decided to ask the Health Department to pay in advance for the cost lof equipping J.he new hospital after an estimate of the cost had been prepared. The Director-General of Health wrote stating that unless the board proposed to use the new hospital solely for Service (patients, there did not appear to be a case for the equipment to be provided from the War Expenses Account. The War (Cabinet had decided that additional beds would be provided at Auckland for Service patients, and it was not necessarily intended that the Middlemore hospital should be retained lor Service patients only. It was the duty of the board to make such provision as necessary for such patients, and it was for the board to decide at which of its permanent hospitals beds would be made available. If, however, the board decided that Service patients only would be admitted to the new hospital, it would be necessary to seek approval of the cost of equipping and maintaining the institution being met from the War Expenses Account.