FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 869, 22 November 1916, Page 3

FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS.

THE CASHMERE SANATORIUM. NEED FOR MORE ACCOMMODATION. A report on the proposal lo enlarge the Cashmere Hills Sanatorium, to provide for more patients, including patients taken in under agreements with other boards, and returned soldiers, was presented to the North Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board this morning, by Dr G. J. Blackmore, medical director of tuberculosis institutions. Dr Blackmore pointed out that for some considerable time it had not been possible to lake in patients as fast as they have applied. In several cases applicants iiad to wait from one to three months before there was a vacancy. The pressure had lately been greater on the women's side than on the men's. The present institution was apparently never intended to deal with the number of patients now in residence. The only way it had been possible to extend the shelter accommodation had been by cutting terraces out of the hillside at considerable cost. Many of the shelters were now- a long way below the dining room and administration block, which resulted in a lot of climbing having to be done daily, both by patients and nurses. Some of the shelters also were now so far from the administration block that proper supervision of the patients was by no means easy. The chief difficulty, however, that was now being experienced in working the sam;L)i iuiu was due to the inadequate ... eommodalion in the administration block itself. The patients' dining Tobm had to serve not only as a dining room.but as a recreation room. When the room was used by all the patients on wet days they were crowded together in a way which was certainly not in accordance with sanatorium precept. There was no separate sitting room for women patients- The washing and bathing accommodation for pa-

tients was now-u, quite insufficient, especially on the women's side, j There are 35 women patients at the! present lime, and for these there I were only three wash-hand basins' and three baths. The men were bet-j iter oil', having six basins for 33 patients, but this number of basins was also inadequate. The nurses' dining room in the main block is too small to allow all the nurses to dine together. The board had entered into an agreement with two of the West Coast Boards and with the Wairau Board to lake in patients from their districts, providing the hoards pay for the erection of the necessary shelters, but in the agreement no provision was made for providing dining room, bathroom, boxroom, and lavatory accommodation for these patients, nor for providing accommodation for the nurses who look after the patients. The Wcstland Board had applied for six more shelters in addition to those it had, and an active canvass was being made in the Grey district for subscriptions to enable several more shelters to be put up for the Grey Board, but as he had shown, the administration block was already insulhcient for the present patients, and more room was urgently needed. If more patients were to be admitted the enlargement of the administration block before such patients come in was imperative. The placing of more buildings on the ground on which the administration block stands was practically impossible. l)r Blackmore was of opinion that it would be a mistake to attempt to deal with more patients on the present site, and he thought the only practicable way of overcoming the difficulty was to build an extension of the sanatorium on the land recently purchased by the board above the sanatorium. This extension would have to take the form of a complete set of buildings—that is, of both administration block and shel-ters-—for about 50 patients. It would also be necessary to provide accommodation for four or live nurses. The cost would probably be about £12,01)0. No special provision had yet been made for returned soldiers. This

provision would undoubtedly be •* urgently needed in the near future. I Dr Blackmore added that if the I scheme he had recommended for extending the sanatorium were adopted he would suggest that the new institution be reserved exclusively for women and children, the present buildings being used for men only. By moving t'n? women and children 4(i additional beds for men would be available, and these could, of course, by arrangement with the Government, be reserved for soldiers. When the present extensions to the nurses' home were decided upon an influx of consumptive soldiers was not contemplated, as the Government had expressed its intention of making provision for them elsewhere. The board decided to hold a special meeting next Wednesday morning to discuss the report.