MANIOTOTO HOSPITAL BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21640, 10 May 1932, Page 11

MANIOTOTO HOSPITAL BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING. ■; The monthly meeting of the Maniototo Hospital Board was held on .Monday, May 2., and was attended by Messrs. H. W. Davis (chairman), T. A. Lewis, W. Strong. R.' Scott, M.L.C., T. Dowling, N, Nicolson, E. Morgan and P. Aitken. Dr Eudey also attended the meeting. • - The Health Department wrote stating that the Minister of Health had granted the board authority to appoint Miss. 1. B. McDonald, of Palmerston North Hospital, as matron of the institution in place of Miss J. M'Donald, who had resigned. -• . A letter was received from the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association Stating that an ex-patient who had been sued by the board for maintenance was a returned soldier. Mr Nicolson stated that had he known the debtor was a returned soldier he would not have agreed to the issue of a summons. It was not known by any of the members of the board that he was a returned soldier, and it was resolved to" withdraw the! summons and write to the Returned ■ Association agreeing to co-operate witn toe association in approaching the Pensions Department in the matter. ... _ The secretary of the Waipiata Sanatorium Committee wrote advising tlie ( committee had reduced the charge for maintenance from 7s to 6s as from April 1 ——Rccsivcd. v ■ The Director-general "of Hfealth wrote with regard to (he giving of, anajsthetics and also recommending that Dr Watson be appointed by the board as honorary medical practitioner to ■ the hospital. After discussion it was decided to deter consideration of the matter until, the next meeting of the board. , DOCTOR’S REPORT.. , . ;

The doctor reported that one male and eight females were in the hospital at the date of the last return and eight and 20 respectively had since been admitted, making 37 treated. Six-males and 19 females had since been discharged, leaving 12 under treatment. Six .babies were born in the hospital during the month. The doctor also that for the year ended March 31, 1932, a total of 223 patients had been treated, 66 of whom had been maternity patients. The total number of operations for the same period was 96. These figures were a substantial increase on the previous year, the number of patients thp vear ended March 31, 193 X, peine 189, 46 of whom were maternity, patients, and for the same period, a total of 61 operations had been performed. T doctor stated that numerous gifts OJ mutton, vegetables, etc., M. d^r l ceivcd from residents of the district our ing the past year.; The board exposed itself very much indebted for the gut and desired to thank all those who had so generously made the donations. The report was adopted. ESTIMATES.

It was estimated that the total maintenance expenditure for the year would amount to £4408, while estimated mamten-, ance receipts amounted to £l9/0 l» s /a. leaving a net estimated expenditure of was contributed by the local authorities and £1209 2s 4d by the The estimated capital payments were £ll6lloa Id, including;£so(l repayment of instalment of loan to the Bank of New South Wales, and £SOO for the purchase and installation of an X-ray plant. Estimated capital receipts were £532 19s lid, mcldcfing the sum of £SOO donation and subsidy for installation of the X-ray plant,.deaying 5s Id to be contributed by the Ipcai® authorities and £309 5s Id by the Governm<fhe above estimates -were approved t»y the board and forwarded to the Healtli Department for approval. • ‘ s NOTICE OP MOTION. -\t the previous meeting of the hoard, Mr Dowling gave notice that he intended to move the following motion That the following recommendation be sent to tne Minister of Health, that in .view of tljo present economic depression the Maniototo Hospital Board 'in future consist 6f. three members to be elected -the ratepayers That the county be divided into three wards (including the borough,oLNaSeby), and that one member be elected from each of the three wards.” ; u . Mr Nicolson stated that , he was iagreement'with the motion and seconded

Mr Scott said he would; support. the motion if 'the' number were increased to f °Mr Aitken was of opinion: that the number should not be reduced below five, and Messrs Morgan," Low is, and Davie were iu agreement with, this opinion, the^, lastmentioned stating that even 'With; a bpar.d of five meeting every month, the saving of expense would be a very small sum., Mr Strong was not in favour of a board consisting of fewer than eight; The opinion of members from outlying districts-Was often valuable in a 1 review-of outstanding accounts to determine 1 the ■ methods to adopt to secure payment. _ .: . After further discussion the motion was put to the meeting and lost, Messrs'Dowling and Nicolson voting im favour of it; i ACCOUNTS AND FINANCE. • The secretary reported that the’total receipts for the month of April were £265 8s 9d, and the credit balance at the bank on May 2 amounted to £lO5 0s 2d. Accounts and salaries amounting to £3l3' 10s 3d were~passed for paymeiit. ; The business of the meeting _being concluded, the chairman, Mr Davis, said, in view of the forthcoming election, he would like to take the opportunity of thanking the members of the board for their attention to the business .of the board and also for the support given to him during his , period. of office. He also expressed the hope that the members would be returned on the board;;Mr Davis said he would also like to thank Dr Eudey.. the and the staff foi the manner in which they had all carried out their duties. Every member of the hoard replied thanking the chairman for his remarks and endorsed the chairman's words with regard to the work done by the staff of the hospital. It was also resolved that a letter be sent to Miss J. M'Donald expressing the appreciation of the board for the manner in which she had carried out her duties as matron.

A hearty vote of thanks to the chair terminated the meeting.