A FINE STRUCTURE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 1701, 17 April 1926, Page 16

A FINE STRUCTURE.

NELSON'S' NEW HOSPITAL. OPENED BY HEALTH MINISTER, j ;Ptsr Press Association./ NELSON, this day. | Nelson's now public hospital, a lino j brick structure, costing £66,C€O, provid- < in a 109 hods, and fitted with (he latest equipment, was officially opened yestor- | day. hy Mr .1. A. Young, Minister of I Public Health, in the presence of a large gathering of the public. The chairman of the Hospital Board, Mr George Bout, referred'to the late Mr Thomas Cawthron's generous gift of £15.003, which carried' a. Government subsidy of £IB,OOO, the burden of taxation being thus correspondingly less. In the new hospital there were one. two, three, and four-room wards, in addition to the public wards, that will he availed of by those in a position to pay. MY Rout acknowledged the work of the contractor, Mr W. Williamson, of Ohristchurch. Prom the commencement, over two years ago, the. P,oard had' had no reason to make a single complaint. MILESTONE IN PEOPLE'S PROGRESS. Mr Young said the opening of such a magnificent building marked a milestone in the progress of the community. He referred to the munificent, bequest of Mr Thomas Cawthron. The Government recognised its responsibility, subsidising this'sum to the extent of £IB,OOO, which •came out of the consolidated revenue A further £27,000 had' been raised by the ratepayers,, of which 'amount the Government p.iid half. Thus the contribution by the. Government was really £31,500. If there were, any in the community who sometimes thought the levy too much, he reminded them that the Department kept a close check on the expenditure. In, 1914-15, added Mr Young, the Board had provision for 80 beds. Now they had provision for 109 beds, including ten for maternity service. The number of beds per thousand of the population in 1914 was three, in 192425, it was 4.1, and in tho new hospital, 4.3. The average, number of beds for the Dominion last year was 4.4, but the average occupied was 3.0, whilst Nelson's average occupied bed's was 2.3. The deduction was that Nelson was evidently a very healthy community, therefore he congratulated the community. Nelson's sunshine, although not apparent just then (laughter) was famed throughout New Zealand. PROVISION FOR MATE UNITY CASES. Referring to the fact that tenders provided for maternity cases, the Minister •said it was beyond the ability of the" average working man to provide, his wife with the proper service. The Government recognised this. The Prime Minister had remarked that tho best immigrant was the little immigrant who comes into the home. Mothers should be offered everv facility and hospital boards should develop the maternity side of their services. The Minister also congratulated the architect, Mr A. R. Griffin, of Nelson. and the builder, Mr W. Williamson, of Ohristchurch, for their splendid work. "After the official opening, the building was inspected by large numbers of the uublic. It will remain open for public inspection for one week, to enable people i to see what has been provided and to- I wards which they contribute. I