THE SECONDARY HOSPITAL SITE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3002, 27 September 1911, Page 13

THE SECONDARY HOSPITAL SITE.

PROTEST FROM THE EDUCATION BOARD. ' v " A deputation representing residents of Wakari waited on the Otago Education Board on the 20th inst. to protest against the proposed 1 establishment of a sanatorium for consumptives in the vicinity of the Wakari School. The deputation consisted of Messrs J. R, Wilson, M'lntyre, and Patterson. ' The resolution of protest passed at a recent public meeting in the district was forwarded to the board. forwarded to the board, and supported by the gentlemen named. The Chairman informed' the deputation that it had tihe sympathy of the board. After the deputation had wihdrawn Mr J. Mitchell moved the following resolution :—" That this board endorses the protest that has been made by the School Comimittee and residents against the erection of the, proposed' secondary hospital in continuity to the Wakari School as being fraught with .risk to the. health of the children and 1 prejudicial to the welfare of a public school. The board expresses its emphatio opinion that the creation of suoh an institution contiguously to a public school is open to serious objection, and asks that the question may receive further consideration bv the Hospital authorities." ■> Mr D. T. Fleming seconded, and the motion was carried unanimously without discussion. NO LOCALITY DECIDED UPON. A deputation representing the Maori Hill Borough Council and residents of Wakari waited on the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board on the 21st to protest ajgainst a site being taken at Wakari for the purpose of erecting a secondary hospital thereon. Messrs A. Washer, A. J. Butterfiedi (Mayor of Maori Hill), J. R. Wilson, E. S Clarke, and P. Clark Ihiavinr laid their case before the board 1 , ~ The Chairman (Mr J. H. Walker) stated that the members of the biard were reasonable men, and they did not wish to inflict a hardship on any particular locality._ Mr Washer had said it had been practically decided to erect a secondary hospital at Wakari. That statement was quite incorrect—nothing had been decided by the board in this direction. Members must recognise that the board had before it a very serious problem in securing a site which would be easy of access to the city and at the same time allow for the medical inspection necessary. It was, however, not purely a matter of medical control which actuated vhem in the selection of a site. They had also to consider that if the new hospital were erected at some distance from the city the annual upkeep must be increased over that of a more centrally-situated site. The board had to consider this phase of the question. Further, it would be a most expensive thing to have to carry natients some distance to the hospital. The Wakari residents seemed unduly alarmed in regard to this hospital question. The. Dunedin Hospital was situated in but five acres of land, and the same class of patients which it was propostd to put in the secondary hospital were treated there.- The chance of infection would be much less from a hospital situated in a greater area than five acres. He had never ■ heard , that the people of Dunedin residing near the Dunedin Hospital had had their health affected in any way from their proximity to that institution. The board did not wish in any way to be unreasonable in the matter, but it had been brought before it that provision must be maide for treating a number of infectious diseases, and chronic consumption was one of them. The speaker- went on to refer to the growth of consumption, both in the Dominion and throughout the world, and said he thought it would be a wise precaution if some provision could be made to house consumptives in a particular locality, where they would be well looked after. In going into the question of a site the board had not acted hastily, but had gone to a lot of trouble over the matter. If the members of the deputation which had waited on them that night had any suitable sites in their minds the board would bo glad to be made acquainted with them. He noticed that one of the gentlemen who had signed the petition protesting against the Wakari School site had previously offered them a section for tho sanatorium. There were four suitable sites in Maori Hill, and he did not know that objection could be taken to any one of them. It was decided that the representations of the deputation, the petition submitted, by it, and the letter from the Otago Education Board be considered when the question of tho purchase of a site for a secondary hospital is again before the board.