NEW WING AT DUNEDIN HOSPITAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 18

NEW WING AT DUNEDIN HOSPITAL.

OPENED BY LORD PLUNKET. The opening ceremony in connection with the new wing of the Dunedin Hospital was , hold on the 10th inst. in the main hall of the Hospital m the presence of a very large gathering of ladies and gentlemen. Among those present were members of the trust, ex-members of the trust, members of the hon. medical staff, the City Counoil, Harbour Board, Charitable Aid Board, ministers of various denominations, members of Parliament, and many leading oitiezns. The hall was tastefully draped with bunting, whioh gave quite a gay appearance to the place. The nursing staff was grouped about the staircase, and the gallery above them was thronged with medical students, who at intervale gave vent to their feelings in the manner peculiar to students. Punctually at 3 o'clock, the time appointed for the commenoement of tlhe ceremouj', his Excellency the Governor, accompanied by Lady Plunket «wid attended by Mr Solomon, K.C. (chairman of the Hospital Tru/stees), the Mayor (Mr J. Loudon) and Mayoress, Sir James Mills, Mr Peter Miller, and others, entered the hall and took their «eat# upon, the ulalform. erected for the occasion. Mr Solomon, who occupied the chair, mentioned that a number of letters and telegrams of a congratulatory nature, and also of apology for absence, had been received, and he proceeded to read three or fouT of these. Tli» Chairman then addressed those present He commenced by expressing the high honour which his Excellency and Lady Plunket had done the citizens in being present on this occasion. It was satisfactory to bo- able to say that they had an excellent hospital ; indeed, after the generosity of the public i' would be a grave reflection on the management if it were not so. At the same time the medical staff assured them, and they quite agreed, that further improvement was essential, notably in the matter of accommodation for out-patients and facilities for op* rations. His stating this implied no reflection on the past management of the hospital On the contrary, he was glad to say that the public had every reason to be grateful to the trustees for the excellent work done in years gone by. More especially were their thanks due to Mr P. Miller, who had devoted nearly 25 years of hard, earnest work to the improvement of the 1 ospital. But conditions changed, and! though thi3 hospital was equal to any in the Dominion, there was good reason why it should be the best in the land. For this was the home of the medical school of New Zealand. It was in this hospital that the medical men of the Dominion received 1 their practical instruction, and, in his opinion, it was a most important matter that the medical school should be kept up to a standard of the greatest efficiency. — (Applause.) He had pleasure in asking his Excellency to open the pavilion. — (Applause.) His Excellency the Governor said he had to thank the trustees very sincerely for ha% r ing arranged the ceremony on an occasion when it was possible for him to be present. It would have been the greatest possible disappointment to him to have missed the present occasion, the most imKortant of the three ceremonies in whioh c had been privileged to take part in connection with the Hospital. The opening of the new wing meant a successful conclusion to long and arduous efforts. He had inspected the out-patients' department, and he considered it was beneath contempt. That department, whioh was bo muoh to the poorer members of the community, . would have to be remodelled and other 'detail work attended to. But those, after all, were minor matters, and ho felt sure that the efforts of the Hospital Saturday collectors and the generosity of the public [ on those occasions would be sufficient to I provide the necessary funds for that pur- | pose. He considered he could say with I confidence to the people of Dunedin that j there was- no Hospital beneath the I Southern Oroes better prepared to fight the baffetle against weakness and suffering. Dunedin was not alone to be congratulated. It was of vast assistance to the whole of the Dominion as a Medical School. Anyone who wished to adopt the medical profession need not suffer anything from being a New Zealander. If lack of means prevented his going Home, he could obtain a degree here whioh gained him respect in any part of the world. He himself had been advised to consult a s-pecialist, and that either meant going Home, which he did not care about doing, or going to Dunedin ; and each time he had come to Dunedin. It was now about 30 years since those men who ruled the Otago University decided that there must be a medical school. To-day those of them who were living saw the completion of the up-to-date Hospital, which in turn had assisted and been assisted by the Medical School. They thanked those who were alive for their foresight, and on the tombstones of those who were not alive they laid a laurel leaf. Dr W. Marshall Macdonald, on behalf of the medical staff, said he wished to say that they were exceedingly pleased with the way in which the recent addition to the Hospital Buildings had been carried out. He went on to enumerate what remained to be done before the Hospital was complete. They hoped that the day would come— and that it would coinp soon — no consumptives would be treated in the general Hospital, where they were a menace to the other patients. — (Applause.) They would like to see the Government take steps to establish an epileptic colony on the lines that had been so successful at Home. They would also like to see provision made for early cases of mental disorder, and to see the reproach removed from Dunedin that it treated ite cases of acute alcoholism in the police cells. — (Applause.) They would also like to see the doors of the Hospital opened to children under two years of age. Infants were occasionally admitted, but they were admitted in defuunoe of a resolution passed in the early Calvinifltio days of Dunedin. There wae an urgent need of a second operating theatre and sterilising room, and there were other essential improvements that were required 1 . That might seem a formidable list, but modern science and modern medicine were advancing so rapidly that there could be no standing still for thia Hospital if it was to keep pace with the high standard of efficiency being set by the institutions of the Old World. Only the other day the governors of the Southern Hospital in Liverpool dacided to spend no less a sum than £10 000 on the reorganisation of the outpatient department alone.. And no institu-

tion had a greater right to the assistance of the public than those which cared for the sick poor. It was not only a duty, it was, moreover, a matter of good policy, for the people and the State to keep its poorer citizens in good healtk. And if care were taken to avoid hospital abuee, then, he repeated, their hospitals had the very highest claim on the sympathy and the assistance of the public. — (" Hear, hear.") But the Dunedin Hospital had a further and a special claim on public support, because it was the home and the nursery of their medical men. — (Applause.) Over 25 per cent, of the doctors now practising in New Zealand were trained at this Hospital. The proportion was always increasing, and if the people of the Dominion wished to be well doctored they must be kind and generous to the Dunedin Hospital. The interests of this Hospital and of the Otago School of Medicine were inseparably wrapped together. . It was generally recognised that the standard of medical practice was highest in those hospitals and those cities where there were schools of medicine. The patients in teaching hospitals had no doubt to put up with a certain amount of inconvenience, but they could console themselves with the reflection that no class of patients in the land had their cases so thoroughly and minutely examined and studied as the • patients in those hoepitak that had medical students attached to them. Mr Peter Miller, who for many years took a very active part in the management of the institution, said it afforded him very great pleasure to be present upon the occasion of the opening of the new wing. He regarded the invitation to be present not as to himself individually, but as to one representing a number of trustees who had worked with him, and who had now retired. He recognised the work done there had been very good work, and did not think there would be any great need to go further for a number of years. He proceeded to deprecate proceeding with any works too hurriedly, saying that he always believed in taking them seriatim and carryIng -them to a conclusion. The Mayor (Mr J. Loudon) said his part in the day's proceedings was a very pleasant one, and one they would cordially agree with, and that was to move their heartiest thanks to: (his Excellency the Governor and Lady Plunket for their presence there that day. The chairman of the trustees had asked him to present to his Excellency a small memento of the occasion in the shape of a golden key, and he had much pleasure in asking him to accept the gift.— (Applause.) The Mayor condueled his remarks by calling for three cheers for Lord and Lady Plunket, whioh were lustily given. This concluded the function, and an inspection of the new wing was then made before the visitors departed. ! The new pavilion has been built with a view to utility rather $han ornament. It is of two storeys, with a basement, and accommodates 64 patients. There are two large ', wards 100 ft "long by 26ft wide and 15ft high, two wards 24ft long by 25ft wide, and two small separate wards, eaoh 15ft by 14ft. There is also a. small sitting and dining room for convalescent patients, a ward kitchen, and linen and store room 6 The lavatory and conveniences are situated at the end of each ward, and four towers at each end of the building. At the north ' end of the building are two sun rooms, 35ft 6in by 10ft. A hydraulic lift is pro- | vided. The heating is by the hot water 1 direct system. The architects were Messrs ' Mason and Wales, and the contractor was Mr J. E. White.