AN INTERESTING SITUATION.

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 41, 29 June 1907, Page 3

AN INTERESTING SITUATION.

Northern Wairoa Hospital Management.

THE Northern Wairoa Hospital, which has, during years, furnished an interesting study in itß methods of administration, appears to he rapidly approaching a crisis in its history. The Hospital Trustees, who are the residuum of a changeful, tiresome, and chequered personnel, have reached the borderland of possible existence, and the ultimate fate of the institution under the present directorate is foreshadowed by the retirement of Mr John Stallworthy, who, with dogged perseverance, has determinedly clung to .the reins of power. It is said that if a detailed enquiry into the workings of the hospital from its infancy were held, some startling revelations would be made. One by one, the leading Wairoa men have in turn essayed to improve matters in the capacity of trustees, only to find that things were too unsatisfactory, and one by one they have resigned their connection with the institution, and interestedly awaited the course of affairs.

The amount of bad blood, bad language, and enmity that has been caused between the subscribers and the general ratepayers, who are represented by the North Auckland Charitable Aid Board, has been prodigious. A certain section of the community determinedly fought for the subscriber system, and until the intervention of l3r Valentine, Inspector of Hospital?, a few months ago, succeeded in keeping that system alive. But the Government authorities, recognising the faults of the administration, insisted- upon a change, involving the abolition of the, subscriber system, so that those individuals who, by payment of some £20 odd, assured medical treatment for themselves, wives, and families till the end of time, must be refunded what has been called their " donations," and on which Government subsidies have been obtained. One life member openly assesses the present capital value of his donation at £2,000.

The medical staff draws an annual pay of £500, whereas other small hospitals north of Auckland are fairly served by a payment of £100. Of course, the subscriber fairly revels in benefits. As a rule, a month's subscription of 2s 2d is paid, and at the expiration of four weeks, Mrs Dooley, who has paid that amount, becomes entitled, without further fees, to all the medical attendance, physic and care which the medical faculty can supply within a radius of eight miles from the hospital. Cases have been alleged where people have derived attendance at their homes, and free medicines from the dispensary for three months, on payment of a single monthly sura, and it is this abuse of the privileges which has hastened the tottering state of the hospital to-day.

Time after time, rumours have reached the public ear which have caused wonderment and uneasiness. The trades discounts affair, which, in the eyes of Mr Stallworthy and his

coterie, was " the clean potato," was condemned by the. majority of the trustees. The printing and advertising concession, whereby MrStallworthy was elected to the board of trustees, was a surprise. The appointment of secretaries without the guarantees required by the rules, and other d.c- -, cidedly loose methods were further causes of the demand for a change in administration.

The North Auckland Charitable Aid Board has determinedly resisted the claims of the Hospital Trustees, and though the latter have now abandoned their claim of £500, the Board is now threatening them with another public enquiry into the methods of their administration. It is wholesome to note that of every £14 raised on behalf of

the 'hospital, the subscribers furnish £3, the Hobson ratepayers^, and the general public, from the Bluff to the North Cape £7 This latter item excited the indignation of the Hon. Mr Fowlds when he discovered that the amounts raided were being subsidised £ for £ by the Government, and hence the present crisis. The funds are exhausted, creditors threaten to sue for the amount of their accounts, Mr Stallworthy suggests the discharge of all employees save the matron, Mr Webb, the new chairman, hints ai the institution beiug closed to all except subscribers, the trustees hint at a wholesale resignation, and altogether, froru the point of view of the large majority who have ever looked askance at the hospital control, " everything in the garden is lovely."