VANCOUVER'S MOVE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 750, 24 August 1929, Page 8

VANCOUVER'S MOVE

CITY DISEASES BLOCK WAS DESTROYED OUTSIDE SITE SECURED 111 view of Mr. W. Wallace’s claim made at Tuesday’s meeting of the Hospital Board, that Dr. Gould had endorsed the board's proposal after visiting Vancouver, particular interest is attached to the following letter from a Sun correspondent thoroughly acquainted with Vancouver: — In view of the present discussion concerning the infectious diseases block which the Hospital Board proposes to erect on a site adjoining the main hospital, it may be of interest to learn something about the situation in Vancouver. There the infectious diseases hospital adjoined the general hospital for many years. At the time of construction both hospitals were some distance from th=3 main residential districts. With the growth of the city, however, homes were constructed all round the hospitals and the infectious diseases block Boon became a menace. As an early precautionary measure it was cut off from the two streets which it faced by a seven-foot fence. The area soon became more thickly populated, however, and it was necessary for the Hospital Board to take some definite steps toward the removal of what was termed a “public menace.’' This resulted in the Hospital Board obtaining a new site some distance out of the City and early last year the old infectious diseases hospital was burned to the ground by the order of the Hospital Board. This set at rest what was rapidly becoming a serious menace and also a growing resentment in the minds of Vancouver residents. A new structure was put up on the new site and now “everybody is happy again." The remarkable similarity between the cities of Vancouver and Auckland should make a good comparison for citizens to work upon, and I feel sure that Vancouver’s experience will be an object lesson for Auckland. TRAVELLER.