HOSPITAL BOARD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16312, 30 December 1920, Page 8

HOSPITAL BOARD.

THE YEAR'S WORK.

During tho year the North Cantor- , y Hospital Board’s institutions hare X'ou fully occupied. Iu tho main Hospita tho actual number of patients in’ immhf ° nsuicrabl y> owing to the i umbu ot soldiers requiring treatment diminishing practically to a minimum. A lather extensive building programme that the board mapped out in Ainu last has largely been held In abeyance owing to the continued increase m the cost of building supplies HoL-M° Ur ' Tho °f fonl and Wa&ari Hospitals wore completed and opened.. A new clmtiuey stack, connected with > *™ s aJso completed. This en f na'inn 1 10 was . €sfcll «ated would coat ~dioo, was earned out by tho boards staff, under the supervision of i^J9 erk 01 Work!ij tbo actual cost being Tho military section of tho Christ church Hospital has ceased to exist; tie patients having been handed to tho board s care. A proposal was made !,? ti , ans , i , er . th ° , military sanatorium aLo to tho board s control, but owing doiic CU tl ° S W UCI aroso uotl ung was i lie increased cost of maintenance, adianco in nurses' salaries and higher to domestic and other labour Mfh ! Ui t th<3lr C i. ect on tho fiances. some difficulty has been experienced m getting domestio labour, there lias been no shortage of nurses suci as some centres have encountered, m applications from probationers arc getting fewen Tho ago limit has been lowered, provided applicants can'pass the physical tests. Miss Muir, the Indy superintendent, J las had a strenuous year. A feature of tlio Hospital life is the cordial feeling between members of the nursing staff and their superintendent. ‘A real happy family,” was how one male authority summed up tho situation, and the letters feceived from ox-Lhnstchurch nurses who aro now engaged elsewhere testify to the friendliness existing during their terms at the Christchurch Hospital. The following statement shows tho number of persons dealt with in tho board-s institutions from January 1 to December 22 • HOSPITALS. Christchurch . . , 57.jp Akaroa . . . . 57 Lyttelton casualty ward . Kaikfiura .' . . 202 Oxford. ■ • • ‘ "'.'so Waikan 30 Sanatorium and Coronation 210 Iniectious Diseases’ , , 35s Total • • • , . 6701 INSTITUTIONS. itssex Homo. . • . . 375 Jubilee Home . , , pip Tuaraugi , . , ’ pja Orphanage . . , ' 38 Armagh Street depot , 1G total , „ „ . 7 Dross total . , 7322 'l'ho fact that iu January last then* was a daily average of J3O military patients iu the Hospital, whilst now there arc eleven, shows how markedly the requirements with regard to soldiers have i alien. So soon as the wards can bo fully renovated, it is proposed lo use the Chalmers building for the purpose for winch it was erected, namely, the care and treatment of chronic and incurable cases.

When the military authorities derided to close down that portion of the Hospital under their control, the board elected to continue the phyao-therapv department that had been established and it is anticipated that this will bo ot inestimable benefit to tho North Canterbury district, 01 Ul During the year a conference of Ho= pitai Hoard?j was held in Wellington, hut the result has been somewhat d'isanpoin mg, especially as the rccommeiidations with regard to subsidy were not agiced to by Parliament. The question ■bus to -bo further discussed in the coviing year. At the end of tin's year the amended Public Health Act will come into operation whereby the board will cease to be the’local authority deaing with, infections diseases, and consequently the health inspectors who have been under the board’s control for' the oast nine years will be transferred to the Public Health Department. In April last* Mr F. Horrell, who had occupied the chair'of tho board from April, 1910,' decided not to seek re-elec-tion. and Mr H. J, Oilcy was elected in his stead.