HOSPITAL COSTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19918, 21 April 1939, Page 7

HOSPITAL COSTS

LEVIES UP BY £IB4O ESTIMATES FOR 1939-40 TOTAL OUTLAY £62,619 RECEIPTS OVER £15,000 The total expenditure faced by the Cook Hospital Board for the 1939-40 financial year will be £62,619, according to estimates placed before the •board at this afternoon's special meeting to deal with the year's finances. The receipts from sources other than levies or subsidies were fixed at £15,400; and the amount to be found by contributing local, bodies was shown at £25,586, including maintenance and capital costs. The allocation of levies on the respective contributing bodies was made as under, the previous year's figures being given for purposes of comparison:— 1939-40 1938-39 ■ £ £

The estimates were framed on the expectation that there would be an average of 145 occupied beds' throughout the year in the Cook Hospital, as against *136.4 for the past financial year; and that there would be a slight increase in the average number oi patients in the Cook Maternity' Home, which last year had 6.6 patients. Subsidies from the Department of Health will provide £26,980 for the coming financial year, as against £25,511 for that just closed. Of this year's subsidies, £3262 will be by way of capital expenditure. Maintenance Expenditure

The principal items in the maintenance expenditure estimates for 1939-40 are as under: —

Cook Hospital.— Total estimated outlay £38,720 ,(1938-39 estimate £37,530, actual £36,109). Provisions, £4090; domestic and establishment. £9763; surgery and dispensary, £2545; salaries and wages, £21,697; bacteriological department, £303; X-ray working account, £322.

Tolaga Bay Hospital. —Total estimated outlay, £722 (1938-39 estimate £654, actual £562). Cook Maternity Home.— Total estimated outlay, £2691 (1938-39 estimate £2613, actual £2615). Salaries and wages, £1340. Memorial Home.— Total estimated outlay, £4673 (1938-39 estimate £4656, actual £4174). Domestic and establishment, £2133; salaries and wages, £1660. .

"Miscellaneous.— Dairy farm working account, £1066; outdoor relief, £3500; maintenance in sanitariums and other institutions, £2750; interest, £1890; administration, £3700; superannuation £500; district nurses, £916; unauthorised expenditure, £640. The above does not set out the full list of items, all of which, however, are included in the figure £62,619 mentioned as the estimated capital and maintenance expenditure. Maintenance receipts include £II,OOO, estimated to be the return from patients' fees in the Cook Hospital, this figure being the" same as ■was estimated for the last financial year. The actual receipts from this item last year were £10,346. Recoveries of old age pensions are estimated to produce £3250, as against £2652 actual recoveries last year. The total estimated revenue from fees, pensions recoveries, and other sources is £15,400. Increase in Salaries In an explanatory report on the estimates, the managing secretary, Mr. C. A. Harries, said that a net increase in salaries of £938 would be accounted for by the following items: Nursing staff, £650; engineers and porters, £708; laundry, £53; dispenser, £350. The medical salary list was subject to a reduction of £405, as compared with the previous year, when the board had to make special arrangements for relief of the medical superintendent and the registrar during their absence abroad.

Gisborne Borough Cook County Waikohu County Uawa County 7,601 9,690 5,972 2,323 6,993 9,033 5,557 2,163 Totals 25,586 23,746