OTAKI SANATORIUM

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7055, 17 February 1910, Page 8

OTAKI SANATORIUM

COMPLAINTS CONCERNING COST. HOSPITAL BOARD DISCUSSION. The cost of maintaining the Otaki Sanatorium was discussed at yesterday's mooting of the Wellington Hospital Board. Mr B. R. Gardener, representative fo* Horowbonua, said his district was vciy dissatisfied with the enormous expenditure- on tire sanatorium. There had boon an expenditure of .£16,000 on an institution which was merely erected as an experiment, and .£2OOO a year was being paid for maintenance. The institution had boon in existence for throe years, and s© far there had not been one satisfactory report to show whether the experiment was a success or not. If the .•■•auaioriuni was a success the general public would-not begrudge the cost. Individuals who had received tmvtmcm., should be traced in order to prove what benefit they bad received from their stay. He knew of a pa'tiejit who had been four mouths undergoing treatment and was not one bit better. It was time the board insisted upon the Health Department supplying a report of every patient and stating all particulars and whether a cure was effected or not. He thought it very wrong of the Health Department to allow different hospitals to erect shelters wherever they chose. A fund was being raised in the Manawatu district to build a consumptive wing to a hospital within forty miles of Ota Id. Hospital expenditure was getting very large and the board did ? ot oare twopence. There should be a law to compel them. Mr Luke objected to such a statement. CAUSE FOR COMPLAINT. Mr Gardener said that members would admit there was some cause for complaint. The expenditure had increased by nearly 150 per cent in twelve years, while the increase in population was only 200,000. The Otaki Hospital, and Sanatorium were overgrown. There was not sufficient use made of them to justify the expenditure. The new board should take into consideration the turning ot one of them into a convalescent home or something of that sort. It was high time some protest was made by the ratepayers'. In regard, to the Wellington Hospital there had been 24,000 out-patients attended to in two years, while only 6000 had received treatment In Auckland for the same period. ; It seemed that the Wellington Hospital was becoming a charitable institution. i NOT 'JUSTIFIED. Mr J. Smith, while admitting that there was ample room for improvement, was of opinion that Mr Gardener was not justified in placing the onus on tho boards. It was only natural that hospital expenditure should increase as th© years rolled by. The chairman said he was pleased' that Mr Gardener had a seat on tho board; but what was the use of harking back on the question now? The system had been in vogue since ISBS, and they were now cm the eve of a general change. He paid a tribute to' the work done by the hospital trustees, who were always actuated with a desire to do right. In regard to the increase of hospital expenditure throughout th© Dominion , it- Rad to be remembered that the franchise had been widened since tho Act came in. Charitably inclined people would not make donations to the hospital and charitable aid boards because they had to contribute by rates. The voluntary system was in rogue in th© Old Country and had been in vogue in. New Zealand; and more bequests were mad© under that system.