THE Daily Telgraph. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED -THE WASHI MINERMONDAY NOVEMBER 3, 1919. INCREASED HOSPITAL FEDES.

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XVII, Issue 5751, 3 November 1919, Page 2

THE Daily Telgraph. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED -THE WASHI MINERMONDAY NOVEMBER 3, 1919. INCREASED HOSPITAL FEDES.

Here shnll the Press the People's Right maintain Gnawed liy influence and uubribed by ga'n Hero Patriot Truth her glorious precepts ilraw. Pledged to Religion Liberty and Law

That tho representatives of the various Friendly Societies should have entered a protest against the decision of tho "Waihi Hospital Board to increase, the foes charged for treatment o? society members and the members of their families in the district hospital was not unexpected, but an analysis of the financial position ot the Board, and incidentally of the Borough Council, indicates that no other course could have been adopted. "With the diminished gold revenue accruing to the the Borough, tho ever-increasing cost of supplies and foodstuffs, and the increased wages of tho staff, the cost of maintainin, r the institution has advanced enormously during the past few years, and has proved an almost unbearable tax on the local body, which is largely responsible for Its upkeep. Though loth to. take such action as y/onld mean adding to the burden of the community and the societies the Council and the Board were compelled to move owing to the •acute position or their finances. To show that the U<«:-i.fcipn reached was necessary we rieed only jpipte a few figures. It may surprise the majority of our readers to learn that the. upkeep of the hospital, Including the medical officers and staff, has now reached the vicinity of £7OOO per annum, as compared with approximately £SOOO a few year's ago, when the Council's revenue was much greater than to-day, Putting the staff down at an average of twenty.fjye and the patients at thirty-five, we thus find that the total cost per capita for maintenance works out at rather over £ll6. This is an astonishing advance | on tho cost per head compared with pre-war times, and will, we feel, conI rinco the public that the long-deferred fiction was forced upon" the authorities [by thii abnormal conditions now preI vailing. Of 1 the £7OOO the Council has to contribute close on £2.500 annually, which amount will he readily recognised as a. VPJ'V heavy drain on its ue* pie ted revenue. That the Board should, in view of its increasing financial obligations, have succeeded in keeping the scale of charges to patients below the intes charged in any other district with, corresponding population's, is a matter for commendation, and shows clearly 'that there has been no desire to pass the burden on to the people of "Waihi. This, however, it can no longer avoid, find it is to he hoped that the Friendly delegates who waited upon the Board ai ijs last meeting will find themselves in a position to convince £]io members of their respective lodges a-nd headquarters that no alternative to an increase «!' fees remained open to the Board. There h«s always in the past been a mutually pleasant relationship and understanding hetwoeri -the Friendly Sociotic« OT> this district- and the Hospital Hoard, and right along i from the inception of the hospital the Board lias had the steadfast co-opera-tion of tho societies, find the la Iter have always been prominent in promoting functions in aid of the funds of the institution, with results 100 well-known to call for repetition here. Let us hope that, these hapfur relations will, not now be dWufbrd.