A BRUCE-CLUTHA HOSPITAL.

Otago Daily Times, Volume 13696, Issue 13696, 12 September 1906, Page 4

A BRUCE-CLUTHA HOSPITAL.

There is bavdly matter for a great deal • of surprise jn the' decision of (ho Clntlin County Council to join the Brueo County Council in the movement for the establishment of a separate hospital' and charitable aid district—a district over which the Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board shall have no authority. Tfio attitude of the chairman of the Brueo County Council towards Dunedin City has been palpably antagonistic, for some time, siiid the Bruce County Council has now succeeded in infecting the Clutha body to some extent with a sense nf injury. The Clutha. County 'Council k certainly to be congratulated on its return to reason and independence in the v'econ-' sideration of its attitude towards the position of the Otago Harbour Hoard, and its decision to do all in its power to .assist tho Board to obtain its rights. It is almost superfluous to cinphasiso the need that all parts of the province should work together for the general welfare.' In the mutter, however, of a separate hospital and charitable aid district, .tho"Bruce and Clutha County Councils are adopting a course which they appear to think will bo in tho interest of those counties, and if their opinion is justified they are/hot acting unronsonably. We confess that wo have not been greatly impressed with the arguments that have been advanced ih favour of the change; these arc somewhat vague and do riot lack the element of prejudice'against l the city—a regrettable resuscitation to a certain extent of- that seemingly ineradicable bogey, the cry of country versus town. It is contended that tho amount of 'the Bruce and Clutha"contributions for charitable aid is, under existing conditions, altogether out of proportion to the return these counties receive in the distribution of charitable aid. Objection is consequently taken to the present control. lii order, however, that those districts may'''control, their own system of charitable aid a separate hospital;and charitablo aid district has to be created. If tho opinion of the chairman of the Clutha County Council may be taken as representing the general fooling In his district, there is Mio desire there to sopnrato from the Dimcdin Hospital (listriet; but, as the Act apparently makes no provision for half-measures, the erection and maintenance of a hospital by the dissatisfied counties seem to be u sino qua iton if they would control the administration of charitablo aid within their own borders. It was very natural that, at the-special meeting held last week, at which tho Clutha County Council discussed the matter, a good dealof doubt should have beeii expressed as to the desirability of the establishment of a separate hospital, oven though, from the standpoint of Balclutha people, the site suggested.should givo the proposal some popularity. The chairman of the Bruce County Council has snip 11 misgivings, however, as to the advantage.of a local' Hospital for Briicb and Clutha, and ho has apparently no gre# reluctance to cast reflections' on the < Dunedin Hospital. There is no necessity to take seriously any vague reflections of the kind on an admittedly capably managed institution, to which splendid additions are. tbcing made with a view to 'greater efficacy. If the chairman of the Briico Council contemplates a still greater measure of efficacy in a small country institution he is indeed an optimist. That he is a discoverer is indicated by his remark that " Dunedin was narrow and selfish—it aimed at getting all the money sent there and tho great bulk of it spent there."' The case was very clearly and fairly put by Dr Fleming when, in conversation with our reporter, lie expressed tho opinion that a strong argument had to bo presented before anything should be dono to interfere with the advantage's to be gained by country'people through their having an institution like the Dunedin Hospital, with its staff of specialists, to which they may be admitted. Nor, did Dr Fleming overlook an important point whon he observed that tho clinical material available in the Dunedin institution is already meagre, and that any further reduction in it is to be doplorod/.for the sake of tho Medical School. There will also be the quostion of the cost to the counties concerned in connection with the maintenance of patients from their districts who will corno to the city Hospital despite the creation of a now district. In his report last year upon the hospitals and charitable institutions of the colony, Dr MacGreg'or,'while condemning alike the system under a which our hospitals are managed and that under which our charitable aid is dispensed, remarked that throughout the colony " the undue multiplication of hospitals and other institutional foci of charity " is going on. His contention was that "only cottage hospitals should be maintained in many places, where fully equipped modern institutions am aimed at." Tho Inspector-general's opinion is at least interesting in tho present- connection. All things considered, whilo there is no particular reason why the Brueo and Clutha Counties. should not be con-

stituted into a separato hospital and charitable aid district jf they desire it, the action of the County Councils in deciding in favour of such a course seems to be founded on a somewhat unconvincing, not to say prejudiced, reasoning, while the support of the country residents, is somewhat doubtful. It may, however, at least bo said that tho Bruce-Clntha distinct fairly respectable claim to a hospitnl from'lito standpoint of area, that tho medical men of the district will support the institution, and that it will serve some purposo if it allays that sense of injustice that for some unfathomable reason or other appears to ranklo in the.'ininds of the chairman of the Bruce County Council and a few of his colleagues.