OUR FIRST HOSPITALS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21462, 8 April 1933, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR FIRST HOSPITALS

BY W. M. MACDONALD

EARLY COLONIAL DAYS

Our first little hospitals were for the most part poorly-planned and badlybuilt erections of wood, boasting only some half a-dozen rooms and practically no equipment, tho whole costing no more than a few hundred pounds. The hospital staff, which now runs well into three figures, then consisted of the sur-geon-in-charge, a male nurse or two, and a few servants. But the early days of New Zealand were rough and romantic times, when courageous pioneering in face of great difficulties was the lot of everyone, and the somewhat primitive colonial hospitals seem to have been well suited to these conditions of life.

Four of these hospitals were founded by Governor Grey in the North Island —Auckland, Wellington and Taranaki, by the year 1848, while Wanganui was delayed a little owing to the shortage of workmen following the 1848 earthquake in Wellington. Fortunately the records of their early years have not been lost entirely, for Grey at times described their progress by sending the Superintendents' reports home to tho Colonial Secretary in London, and these are to bo found in the official papers as enclosures to his despatches. A curious point about tho hospitals is that they were founded by Grey as an integral 'part of his schemes for tho peaceful amalgamation of the white and Maori races of New Zealand. By treating large numbers of Maoris in English hospitals, by our English methods, and in the same wards as the white patients, Grey hoped that the natives would be more easily persuaded to abandon their old customs and adopt European dress, diet and habits of life. This, far more than the mere routine work of curing the sick, Grey often emphasised as the main purpose which his hospitals were to serve. The Auckland Hospital . Auckland was the capital of New Zealand in early days and its hospital probably preceded that of Wellington by a few months. According to the report of Dr. William Davies, the Colonial Surgeon, the Auckland hospital was built in 1847 " on a portion of the Government domain," probably exactly the same site as it occupies at present, but it was then considered by the doctor " rather too far out of town." The building was of wood, and was criticised by Dr. Davies as highly unsuitable for a hospital, since both the wind and tho rain came in, a condition which did not improve his lung patients. Also the well had a habit of going dry in summer, a serious disadvantage, and there was no bath-house at all, either for hot or cold baths, so that it was necessary '' to employ a bath-tub in the ward in public, which was most inconvenient," and he strongly recommended a bathhouse. The hospital contained four large wards of eight to ten beds and two small wards, with a small surgery, kitchen, loft and surgeons' quarters besides. The staff consisted of Dr. Davies, whose salary appears to have been only £IOO a year, Mr. T. McGowan, assistant surgeon, who was much beloved by both natives and Europeans for his " tender care and kindness," McGuire, the principal nurse, and some excellent servants. _ . Many Maoris came to the hospital from places as far distant as Rotorua, Hokianga and Tauranga, and all seemed to feel the deepest gratitude for the interest taken in their welfare. Altogether five hundred and thirty-four natives wero treated in the hospital in a little over a year, the great majority being males. Of this number three hundred and fifteen were treated externally through the dispensary, the remainder being admitted to the wards, where they were nursed side by side with the white patients. Out of this iotal only eight deaths are reported, most of the patients having been admitted in a dying condition. Wellington

The Colonial Hospital at Wellington was opened in September, 1847, and Dr. J. Fitzgerald, the surgeon in charge, describes it as a brick building of two storeys, containing one large ward and two smaller ones. It possessed also n surperv. kitchen, storeroom and A "steam bathroom with shower bath and £>v\'oatiug 100111." it is no wonder that l)r. Davies felt a little sore on the point of his bathing facilities! On admission the patients were given a vapour bathj if they were strong enough, and if not, a warm one. They then enjoyed clean sheets, cut hair and a card above their heads. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob.? were the "tireless and indefatigable" hospital attendants. Dr. Fitzgerald was much in favour of the plan of mixing the two races in the same ward and declared that "complete harmony and reciprocal good feelings" prevailed. The natives gained confidence in the skill of their surgeons as they saw their white fellow-sufferers submitting to treatment, and brown man vied with white in the meekness and regularity with which they drank their medicine. The surgeon reports that the hospital had been full since opening and that numbers of natives, including influential old chiefs, had come from as far as Otaki, Manawatu and Wainui. Dr. Fitzgerald's first patient was an old Waikanae chief who desired the removal of a large tumour of the neck. The experiment was tried of making the patient inhale "sulphuric ether;" the operation was completely successful, and the old man, normal and shapely once more, returned to his pa highly satisfied. "Excellent is this humane system of yours," wrote the grateful patient's son to Governor Grey. Dr. Fitzgerald notes that the diseases most common among the Maoris were inflammation of the lungs, rheumatism, car and eye diseases. He remarks on the rapid improvement which is wrought by cleanliness, good food and proper treatment. A marked change in the tastes and habits of those natives who have spent some time in the hospital also takes place. They show a preference for European clothes and food, while some even declare they will never return to their own pas! Grey was indeed fortunate in his colonial surgeons, for Fitzgerald also must have been a man after his own heart. Taranaki Dr. P. Wilson writes a most interesting report of the New Plymouth hospital during its first year, 1849. Ho describes the building as "substantially and tastefully built in Anglo-Gothic stylo of riniu," and it contained three wards, a surgery, kitchen and bathroom. Unfortunately, the well again was not adequate, a washing-house had been forgotten entirely, the dead-house was unfinished and the whole needed re-painting. However, the hospital had proved a great boon, especially to the native community, great numbers of whom were treated through the dispensary. At first an over-heavy diet of fifty- ounces daily had been given to the native in-patients and they had shown a strong inclination to stay and feign diseases. The diet had since been reduced. Dr. Wilson did not think the Maoris as in-patients fell into our ways easily or pared for our restraints and rules. There had been a great smallpox scare in the district as a result of an alarming account of the disease which had been published in Maori. The hospital was at once besieged by applicants for vaccination, as though not a moment were to be lost, and the natives began to vaccinate each other in the most indiscriminate fashion, with sad results.