SOUTH OTAGO HOSPITAL BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3523, 20 September 1921, Page 6

SOUTH OTAGO HOSPITAL BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the South Otago Hospital Board was held on the 8th — present: the chairman (Mr A. North) and ; Messrs A. Rennie, H. M. Driver, 11. Simp j son, J. Camming, J. Mosley, \Y. A. Blair, I and Jasper Clark. Ihe Finance Committee reported the re- j ceipt of £44 10s in fees during the month, j The expenditure for the month totalled i £402 8s lid, including salaries £56 12s 10d, i Otago Hospital Board (patients) £269 11s lid, and Charitable Aid £2s.—The report | was adopted. The report regarding outdoor relief showed that there had been only one fresh application during the month. j The matron, Kaitanguta Hospital, re- I ported in regard to that institution. .She ' mentioned that an additional isolation ward, accommodating five patients, has had to be hurriedly provided to receive cases from Owaka.—Reporting on the diphtheria outbreak at Catiins the chairman mentioned that several more cases had occurred, and four of the worst hud been removed to the Kaitangata Hospital on Saturday. This had been made possible largely by the manner in which the matron ot the Kuitangata Hospital had hurried up the arrangements. —Gratification was expressed at tile prompt manner in which the position had been met, and a special vote of thanks was accorded to thj chairman for his energy in the matter. '! lie chairman mentioned incidentally that fire hud overtaken the house at Ratanui in which the original outbreak had occurred, and if had been destroyed with all its contents. A communication was received from the Medical Officer of Health in regard to measures considered advisable in the event of further outbreak of infectious disease. — Chairman to take such steps as might be necessary. Nurse Pasooe, the recently appointed district nurse at Clinton, wrote stating that she would be unabio to continue the duties, and would like to be relieved at the earliest convenience.—Resignation to be accepted at the end of the month, Nurse l'ascoe to be: thanked for her services, and the matter of filling trie vacancy left in the hands of the chairman and secretary. The Department of Health forwarded information regarding the appointment and /

duties of district nurses. Nurses were appointed either by the Department or the board. If the former, the nurse was paid the salary of a health nurse (£220 with one certificate and £240 with general and maternity qualifications) by the Department ! in order to secure for her the benefits of . superannuation. In that case her .salary j was refunded by the board under which | the control of the nurse was. This was i done in order to assist the boards in pro- ! viding the services of district nurses. It i was the duty of the board to piovide ; suitable accommodation and means of trans- : port.—The chairman said that the board : had been paying only £2OOO, and it was j suggested that: if the board was going to ! experience trouble it would be best to appoint the nurses through the Department.—The matter was referred to the | Finance Committee. ! The Secretary, Department of Health, advised that the Minister had approved of tlie amended estimates of the board. The amount to be raised by levy on local authorities for maintenance purposes was £4902 Is 5d and the subsidy thereon was £3982 18s 7d, being at the rate of 16s 3d on the above mentioned levy, capital levy and subsidy was £4674 9s 6d each, and in this connection 1 have to advise you that the Minister has approved of your board establishing a building fund of £5668 19s.— Mr Rennie said that statements had been circulated in regard to the striking of the levy that the board hud made a false step in making the rate so high. It was, ho maintained, a wise step and a businesslike step, in making their new arrangements to strike the levy as the old rate. The money would not be squandered, and if required it, would be there. It would have been a greater mistake to strike a levy too low than one too high.—The Chairman endorsed Mr Rennie s remarks. The rate seemed high, but it had to be borne iu mind that part of the levy was to meet the South Otago share of the Otago Board’s overdraft. As careful business men the board had simply made a levy at the same rate as last year. Actually he thought it would be found at the end of the year that the ratepayers had been saved 11101103', as, instead of an overdraft under the old conditions they would find a credit balance. —Mr Clark said the levy bore heavy on the ratepayers. It should have been made clear from the start that part of the levy would go to the establish-

ment of a building fund. He had no objection to the establishment of such a fund, but unfortunately man3' ratepayers were under the impression that the whole of the levy was for maintenance. —The letter was received. The Director-General of Health (Dr Vaimtine) wrote stating that he had been advised with regard to the two sites deemed best for the hospital, that drainage to the river without the introduction of a septic tank was desirable for the Campbell site, but for Wright’s property a suitable septic tank installation would be necessary. On the general question of septic tanks for hospital use, he had to say that wherever possible septic tank installations should bo avoided. He did not mean to imply that there was necessarily' any sanitary objection, to a well-designed septic tank installation, but referred rather to the difficulties which might - arise by reason of the tank having to be regularly attended to and cleaned out from time to time. In the case of Wright’s property he had directed the Medical Officer of Health, Dunedin, to supply him with further details to enable the boa I'd to be advised how best a- septic tank installation might be carried out.— Held over pending investigation regarding sites. The Director-General of Health forwarded a circular in regard to the proposed establishment in Central Otago of a sanatorium for consumptives. It was recommended that the Hospital Boards of Wairatt. Picton, Nelson, Puller, Inangahua, Grey, Westland, Ashburton, South Canterbury, Waitaki, South Otago, Vincent, Maniototo, Southland. Wallace, and Fiord should mutually decide to contribute a sum of not more than £IO.OBO, made up of Government subsidy and levy for the financial year 1922-1923 as capital expenditure towards the acquirement of Dr Byres’s sanatorium near Waipiata, and for the provision of necessary alterations, additions, and improvements, the contribution to be made up on the basis of relative rateable capital value. The South Otago quota would be £612. Other conditions suggested provide for the management of the institution by the Department of Health, future capital expenditure on the basis of the original proposal and payment for the maintenance of patients.— To stand over till next meeting. Two applications were received for the position of district nurse at Tahakopa.- It

was decided to appoint Nurse F. Shaw (Wellington) I On the motion of Mr Mosley it was decided to again write to the St. John Ambulance Association with regard to getting branches of the organisation established in 1 South Otagp, and to seek the co-operation |of the public bodies in the matter. Mr Mosley urged the extreme value it would be to the district to have trained ambulance nurses, particularly in the event of an epidemic or untoward happening.