METHVEN NEEDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12718, 13 August 1919, Page 6

METHVEN NEEDS.

COTTAGE HOSPITAL AND MORGUE. Mr James Carr, chairman of tho Mount Hutt Road Board, waited on the Ashburton Hospital Board and asked for the establishment of a cottage hospital at Methven and a motor ambulance for the eountv. . , Mr parr stated that the board conmdcred the cottage hospital should be established in the near future. Ho was not, however, sure whether the time was opportune for such a hospital but the other members of the board considered it was Failing a cottage hospital, he thought there should be a casual ward at Methven to deal with accidents, or a first-class ambulance to bring m patients quicklv. Only recently a man with a high temperature was brought to the hospital in an open motor-car, and died. The reason the board advocated an ambulance was to supply the needs 'of the outlving distorts beyond Methven. Mr Car r also stated that a morgue was necessary for Methven. About eighteen months" a<m a body was placed in a loose-box m the township, and next morning it was found that the rats had been gnawinoat the body. The Health Department had been approached for the morgue, but would hot entertain the request’ as the number of deaths in that locality were not sufficient to warrant the expense of building. Mr Carr said be acted as coroner in another instance where tho body bad been placed in a lumber room amidst boxes, bottles, etc The sight of that body almost made him sick. Mr J. Cairns; “Almost as bad a s the old men in the river bed.” Mr Carr went 'on to state that his board thought that a. cottage hospital could also be used as a maternity home. Mr F. W. Watt pointed out that this would entail the expense of two separate nursing staffs. The chairman assured Mr Carr that the board was now dealing with the ambulance, realising the necessity for such a vehicle. The board had not considered the matter of a morgue for Methven, but would do so, Mr Carr said it was not fair that a human being should lie thrown into a lumber room, and such a state of affairs was distressing to relatives. Tho chairman said it was not fair to ask hotelkeepers to take in the bodies He then assured Mr Can- that the board would give favourable consideration to the matters he had mentionedMr Carr staled that he thought a site for the morgue could he obtained near the Courthouse. The Mount Hutt board would do its best to assist in the matter of site. *