THE SOUTHLAND HOSPITAL.

Southland Times, Issue 3311, 30 January 1879, Page 2

THE SOUTHLAND HOSPITAL.

The annual, meeting: of the. subscribers to the Southland Hospital- was -heldlast evening in.the Town Hail, at 8 o'clock^ ", There was a fair attendance of subscribers. '.'••'■' ' ; The President, Mi-. H. Hall, by way of opening the proceedings,, read the advertisement convening the meeting. It had been usual, he said, for the President; of the Hospital Committee, to take the chair on these occasions without a formal vote ; arid he had done so. In the usual course of business, if would be the duty of those present tb receive the annual report and elect a committee for the ensuing year. Although the attendance was not numerous, he knew -a number of subscribers had been visited, and he looked upon the absence of many of the:subscribers as an evidence of satisfaction. .with the work performed by the committee during; the past yea,r — an assurance, „to fact, that the Subscribers were satisfied with the management :of the Hospita.lv As it was, there were quite sufficient present' to form a good 1 working committee for the next year. . ; *i' The annual report (including the Surgeon's report) was then read «S follows :— Ybur Committee have the honor to lay before /the subscribers, the fb^ report of the last year 4 :— . .;. . ; : 7 .7;; ;. '.. The amount received 1 during the past year from subscriptipnsTr-the reai support rof the Institutions-has in .some degree improved upon that of the previous year, r but not to an extent commensurate with the increased prosperity of; the town and district, or demands m ade: upon the Hospital^ from the "steady ihef ease; of the. population. It is therefore hoped that.all .who recognise the usefulness, and desire the welfare of the Institution will 7^m*t; whatever ; influence sthey may possess to; increase the number of /annual subscribers/ The number of in-door patients -treated was 79 arid but-dobr 307 more than the previous ;yeaiv ;; Your: : Committee have pleasure in drawing attention to the amount ' received from" Hospital Sunday " collection, which; isin : excess of last year by abbrit £35 ; thus • showing the kindly interest taken by the ministers of the various churches.- The Committee desire, also to record their indebtedness to the ladies and gentlemen who have so freely given 7 their valuable services at the different concerts arid entertainments, by which the Hospital funds have so largely benefited. ;:: ; / 7?Your; Committee invite the attention of the subscribers/and all interested, to the financial statement, which they trust will be found to : every respect satisfactory. I The completion of the repairs to the original building and the efficient draining of the building and grounds, has, ifc7 is believed, materially improved the sanitaiy state of the Institution. .7.;;; j The great advantages Tderiyed by the 7: Medical Officer in charge residing on tLe " premises have .become so -marked that your Committee have taken steps to induce the Government, to sanction,: the: erection of the additional building, as shown oh the pian r with {a; view of ; pro^dtog - a forthe "Medical officei-7whb 7 may then be to 3harge.; ..;' •.'77777..: '■■■.- a.aa -7.- 7 Ypur Committee have to^ express their ]ualified satisfaction with: the appbtotment >f Doctor Horace Button as Medical Officer

and also to tender their best thanks to Doctors Grigor, Cotterell, and Hannan for their valuable services as Honorary Physicians to the Institution. y'X Southland /Hospital , Invercargiii; January 3, 1879. Gentlemen,— l beg to lay before you ; the ;. medical and surgical report for the year ending 31st December. The number of freshpatients -admitted during the year was 205,*; being 79 /to excess of those admitted last year. Twelve deaths have occurred .during 7 , the-yeat-7--viz., nine males and three feriiales. ''•'' 1661 out-door patients" have been treated4making a total of 1266 patients who ; have . .-'.. received, benefit from the Hospital during the year. J The sariitaiy condition."* the Hospital has. been good;. I have touch pleasure to reporting^ favorably of thej/dispenser and alf the other servants of the Hospital.-^-I am; Gentlemen, -ybui-s obecli-/ ently, H- G. Button, Sutgeon to the Hospital. To the Committee pf the Southland Hospital. : The balance-sheet for the year showed a credit balance at the bank of £369 17s 4d. The Chairman thought they had good reason to congratulate; thefnselves upon the , satisfactoiy manner ih; which/ the Hospital stood at the present time. They had now ! £369 17s 4d to ■commence the year. with, which must bte.-regarded as a very satisfactory , balance. Another point upon which the com- I mittce might be; cbrigfatulaterl was, that though relief had been extended to 79 indoor patients and 307 out-door patierits more than last year, the Hospital had been worked at an expenditure only slightly in advance pf the -yearrprevious. Taking these facts into consideratiorii he; repeated, they might look upon the record of the year's vvbrk as highly : : satisfactpryaridencoiiraging. /.. 7 -.. :- /" Mr, Kingsiahct moved y. the adoption of ; the reportj^-aTi^^did- so with greater pleasme, iriasmuchT asr — fci»<> — «>»«t_innn during the year; just expired compared most -fATOT-ably with that 'of the year previous, it having been shown that although the patients had considerably increased,: the cost' of treating arid'atteridirig them had been verylittle additional; The subscribers might bei congratulated upon the satisfactory manner in which,year by year, the Hospital's accounts were brought up, seeing that thatdnstitution was kept clear of debt, and that there had been :no serious complaints regarding the management. The committee had had their tiffs,; and he had nb; doubt <that those little breezes occasionally did a great deal bf good. He should only be too glad, personally, if any gentleman would point out how the manage- . nient could be improved. He should like, before concluding, to point out pne matter in which he thought improvement friight be made. He thought the report appear . more satisfactory if it gave, not the number of attendances; as at present, but theriuriiberof todividuals.wbo sought relief during the year. For instance it wasstated that 1061 put-door patients had 'been treated during the year, ■ but this^did; not mean the; actual number of individual cases, but the -number of times that7-each ; /patients applied. , Itfwould be better to arrive at the number-; of ;persons in .the town ; who .were seeking aid from tha Hospital. This was one bf the points '.. in reference to wihcb the Hospital was liable to serious .abuse — that was to say," people came to the Hospital for relief to whom/ the relief asked fpf ought riot to be exterided.7 Committees to the past had experienced -some difficulty in this" way/and had done all i they could to guard against the; abuse of public charity. No doubt the system had worked well; -but he; thought it desirable nevertheless totbrow but the above He had great pleasure to moving the adoption of the reports and balance sheet. Mr T. Perkins seconded the motion, and endorsed the remark, of^the movers: Mr Tapper drew attention to what he conr ceiyed to be a clerical error ; it appeared in the, report that the number of patients dis- : charged cured; was greater than .the number admitted during the year. ;.; Mr -Perkins pointed out that-a mistakje had apparently been made in the >coiumh devqted to female patiients, which' was evidently above the mark. ; : • : The motion to adopt /the'report was then put to the meeting and carried unanimously. .. , The Chairman then notified that ithei next business before the meeting was the election of a committee; and officers foi* the ensuing year. 7. He: mentioned in cprinection.:.>Yith this the importance of the trust the; new J committee would take over. A' contract had been let at a cost o£ £255 for the connection of the two buildings of the Hospital, and the committee would have^ to undertake the conduct of the bazaar on behalf- of theliristitutibn. It;was also contemplated to complete;; the present building according to the original plan, and; -the- new ccriimittee wpidd Thkve to , see to.that. 7 TAp^ication had; already; been made7tb the Government, who had written asking for further inf pirmatibn. Mrßallance had^ visited the:7Hospital.diiring .his visit to connection with; the demonstration, and expressed himself -highly pleased with the Hospital in every^way except for its overcrowded state, which he'said was deplorable. It wrs perhaps^ aswell that.he shbuld^have seen the - ; lfospit^ ; at^ such an extensive demand upon its accomodation, as he/wbuld'be the .more likely to use his influence/in obtaining the assistance asked for by the cpmhiitteeV ThesejwOuld be the duties the new committee would have to imdertake, and he trusted they would be perfonhedto the satisfaction of the ratepayers. j Theifollbwihg gentlemen were then elected a cbtmriittee for the - enstdng year : — Messrs Hall, Perkins,- Saunders; McKay, Willoiierhby, Roche, Molfett, Jacobs, and Cheyne. The election bf officers resulted as follows : —President, Mr Hall (re-elected); Treasurer, Mr Perkins ; Secretary, Mr Willoughby (re-elected). *Mr McKay was asked fo accept the position of Treasurer, which he had held for the last two. years, but declined -on the ground that he, could not devote the necessary time to itthisyear. ; , -/ The President -returned thanks for the honor/conferred upon him, and .took that oppprttinitybf cbmpliineriting Mr Willpughby on the. active arid efficierit/manrier to- which he had filled the office of secretary. He had been/most indefatigable in- his;; exertions ori; behalf of \the Hospital^ and , deserved the' warm thanks of the subscribers. He moved that Mr Willoughby receive,; a vote of . thanks. - v: 7:.'7" •". .'■'.' V::- 7v7 ; 7 The motion was carriedby, acclamation. Mr. Wilioughby. briefly returned;: thanks, assuring them that he woiild continue to do - T»is Utmost for-fhe^institution. '..'.' XJ MisKirigsland proposed a vote of thanks to the^ committee and bfiicers of last year,- which was unanimousi^-oarried. . ' .' A vote of thanks to the ichairnmnterminated the proceedings. _:.A. : y ■-■■•;. X T 'X' X.y'i ' : ■