Suggests Maunu Camp As T.B. Sanitarium

Northern Advocate, 12 January 1948, Page 2

Suggests Maunu Camp As T.B. Sanitarium

THERE is a pressing need for a tuberculosis sanitorium in Northland. This was shown by the report of the tuberculosis officer for Northland on the Joint Specialist Committee (Dr Adrian Webb), stating that, of the 510 cases inspected in the last four months of 1947, 59 were in urgent need of hospitalisation.

Of this number 25 were children under 18 and difficulty was experienced in finding accommodation for these urgent cases. In Dr Webb’s opinion the Maunu health camp would be eminently suitable for a sanitorium. “The Department of Health is not sympathetic to the Joint Specialist Committee, taking every opportunity to belittle its efforts." said the chairman of the board (Mr J. A. S. MacKay). AWAITING AMALGAMATION .“The department takes the stand that no facilities can be made available except under amalgamation of the northern hospital boards.” Mr W. Jones said the time was long past when a sanitorium should have been provided in Northland. He urged that immediate application be made to the Health Department for erection of a sanitorium capable of providing for all the patients in Northland. It was gratifying to find that the T.B. officer of the Joint Specialist Comittee was held in high esteem by his colleagues, and that Northland had his services available under the committee, Mr Jones said. Dr Webb told the Whangarei Hospital Board today that there was a ward at Kaitaia capable of providing for 14 patients. ■ This was vacant because staff could not be found or accommodated. The Whangarei Hospital grounds would be a suitable site for shelters, he said. Children responded remarkably well in another health camp with which he

had had some experience, and he felt that, even if the children returned to insanitary conditions, they would have increased resistance to infection. Rather than a number of scattered smaller shelters Dr Webb preferred one large sanitorium, near Whangarei to cope with the problem in Northland. The hills of Maunu. in particular, were ideal, and in his opinion. a s well suited to the treatment of T.B. as any other part of New Zealand. He drew the attention of the board to the fact that there was no running water at bedsides in the Whangarei shelter, and was assured that installation of handbasins and taps was under way.