ONE HOSPITAL OK TWO?

Northland Age, Volume 1, Issue 20, 1 May 1929, Page 6

ONE HOSPITAL OK TWO?

(To the Editor)

Sir, —R re ntiy, at both Ho.-pita* H id and Council meeting a motion has b' < n tabled asking that a referendum ot ratepayers be taken on the quest'o.i of one hos pit. 1 nly, and that hosptjal to be-it! Kaitaia. On Loth these occasions the motion w.is !ud oi th 3 casting vote of the Chairman Titr only reason that I heard advan ■ d against the motion at the Hospital Boaid meet rg, was, “VYi ~t will the iVLngonui people do f eon take away the hospital ? There are not e nough people to support a resident medical practice ter and thev should be left without medical attention ot any s rt.” In reply to this I want to

say li'.tt it is the duty of the Ho‘spiia! Board to see that every pari of ti e County is provided for. Everything reasonable must be do ;e to give the best possible seivii'e,but surely it is not reas on able to say t tat it a place lias not sufficient people to warrant a resident doctor, that it doer warrant a whole hospital. Whai

about Herekino and other outlying districts ? This Countv cannot afford two hospitals. It is a fair statement to say that the hospital should be in a central position where it will give the best service to the most peop’e at the least cost to the community generally. If we had no hospital in this C runty to-day and were going to b tild one, should we build at should not. We should build it at Kaitaia where it would give the best service at the least cost. Consider what it costs to convey a patient from Herekino, the far North or Ahipara and also Kaitaia. Then add to this the cost ot the anaesthetic and you have a bill ol anything from £lO to £ls b lore tl;e patient is treated for his or her trouble. Again consider what it costs relatives to visit their near and dear ones. Front August 1924 to July 1927 the unpaid hospital accounts amounted to no less than £707232. This ,money is shown as all owing by people who have been

treated at the Mangonui Hospital. Now this County can do better tl an that, 1 believe that the bills are so big owing to the h spitai being located in such an isolated position, that the people ate disheartened they feel that the amount is beyond them, and give up trying to pay. In conclusion I think it most probable that the Mangonui peo pl will continue to have a doctor with tkem because when the hospital comes to Kaitaia the Gov: rnment will take over the bu 1 ling at Mangonui and use it as a Sanatorium for which puri ose it is so eminently suitable. B fore the corning elections we shall have figures put before us; but no matter what those figures are made to show, the facts remain that the upkeep of two hospitals is much greater than one, and tin- longer we operate under present conditions the more money will be wasted, the more we shall be called upon to pay, and we shall be losing both in cash and e'hciency. 1 am etc Geo. Cosson