THE COUNTY HOSPITAL.

Waipawa Mail, Volume 5, Issue 505, 17 July 1883, Page 4

THE COUNTY HOSPITAL.

The following description of the I County Hospital, by the Government! Inspector, will be read with interest: I —“The county hospital is at Wai-I pukurau, a short distance from the I town. It stands in an estate of about I five acres, and commands a view of the 1 surrounding country. The grounds I are surrounded by a belt of coniferous I and other trees, and a large portion is I cultivated as a kitchen-garden and I orchard. There are four wards in the I building, a dispensary, committee-1 room, dining-room for convalescents,! kitchen, three rooms for the resident! staff, store-room, bath-room, &c. Ini front is a verandah. The wards con-1 tain respectively five, five, two, and! two beds. They are comfortable! rooms, well lighted by sash-windows,! and ventilated by vertical tubes. The! floors were originally oiled, but are now scrubbed in the ordinary way. The walls are plastered with Keene’s cement, and t he.se, with the ceilings, have not yet been finished by coloring. Wood is burned on open hearths, and kerosene-lamps are in use. A portion of the floors is covered with cocoanut matting. Iron bedsteads, of good pattern, are furnished with straw palliasses, and mattresses, bolsters, and pillows filled with flax. Good bed-clothing is kept scrupulously clean. There are small, low bedside cupboards ; an iron painted washstand in each ward, Windsor chairs, commodes, and a very cumbrous reclining chair. A few texts are placed ou the walls, but there are, at present, no pictures or other ornaments than a clock. Daily newspapers are supplied, and there are a number of illustrated papers, and a few books. At present there are six male patients and three females. One of the former is aged and partially blind ; he might very properly be an inmate of a refuge. The wards have a comfortable look about them, are very clean and orderly, and their inmates are quite satisfied with the treatment they receive. There is a small bath-room on the male side, fitted with a lead-lined bath, to which water is not laid on. Out of this room opens an earth-closet, very clean and emptied daily. A similar arrangement exists on the female side, but there are a lavatory basin and a lumber-closet in place of the bath. The kitchen is a very good room, but a portion has been temporarily partitioned off as a store or pantry. There is an excellent range, with two ovens and a boiler. Next to the kitchen is a dining-room, where eight convalescent patients can sit at table. The room is used as a sitting-room also at other times. The two rooms provided for Mr and Mrs Putman, the steward and matron, are very suitable for their purpose, and kept in the best possible order. A room is also provided for a servant, and next to it is a neatly-kept store-room. There is a good and sufficient stock of linen and blankets, and the crockery in use is of a very neat pattern. The dispensary is remarkably well fitted up, and is well furnished with drugs and all necessary surgical instruments and appliances. It is to the left of the entrance-door, and opposite to it is the small committee-room. Here I saw a very good and light couch, with adjustable seat, for the use of patients. A detached building, behind the kitchen, and placed in a fenced yard, contains coal-house, mortuary, and a good washhouse. A washerwoman is employed here one day in each week. In course of erection near the hospital building is a good fever-ward, with nurses’ room and domestic offices; on the other side of which another ward can hereafter be placed. The drainage from the hospital runs through an open gutter over the land at the back. The contents of the earth-closets are buried. Water is obtained from an underground rain-water tank, and conld be used to extinguish fire by means of a force-pump and hose, which is also used for filling the bath. Admission to the hospital is free to subscribers of 10s annually, without any further payment. From non-subscribers 3s a day is exacted, where practicable. Supplies are ordered by the steward, and the tickets sent by the contractors are compared with their accounts when presented. A diary of occurrences, admissions, and discharges, is kept by the steward. The medical officer being from home l could not ascertain particulars as to any books kept by him. Before leaving L had the pleasure of an interview with the treasurer, who evidently, with other members of the committee, takes great interest m this institution. They are certainly fortunate in their choice of steward and matron. The whole establishment is well arranged, and kept in excellent order.”