AMALGAMATION OF HOSPITAL DISTRICTS

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXX, Issue 8451, 11 April 1933, Page 3

AMALGAMATION OF HOSPITAL DISTRICTS

Sir, —In a recent issue “Sound Facts” wrote on hospital amalgamation —Waihi and Thames —giving as his reason for making the Waihi hospital merely a cottage hospital (thereby reducing the staff), with the main hospital at Paeroa, that we would prpbably save £IOOO per year in maintenance costs. I, however, contend that this reason is not consistent with your correspondent’s nom de plume and is not sound business, because if a business man of any ability cuts down expenses by reducing his customers then very soon he will have to close his doors. This applies to our local hospital; if we cut down overhead expenses by reducing the status of the institution we would be largely closing its doors to the great majority of patients, and incidentally reducing trade necessary to the welfare of the town. . . .

Apart from the fact that amalgamation would reduce the number of patients that could be admitted to the Waihi hospital, thus sending a large sum of money out of the town annually, there is another aspect calling for consideration. The male adult population of Waihi is made lip. mainly of miners, many of whom have suffered in health from their calling and all of whom are more liable to sickness or, accident than those in other classes of work. In these cases there would be the additional cost of travelling to, say, Thames, a cost they could ill afford, seeing that apart from their ailments quite a number' have broken time. This would also apply in the case of sickness of members of their families, as the fathers and mothers or the children as the case may be, could not go to the expense of going to Thames frequently to visit the sick ones. This would indeed be a hardship as sufferers in hospitals always look forward to seeing their relatives from time to time. —I am, etc., CATHERINE GRACEY, Gladstone Road, Waihi.