H.—3l.

APPENDIX lII.—TE WAIKATO SANATORIUM.

Memorandum for the Chief Health Officer, Wellington. Department of Public Health, Te Waikato Sanatorium, Cambridge. I have the honur to submit the report of Te Waikato Sanatorium for the year ending 31st March, 1909. At the end of the preceding year there remained under treatment at the institution 41 patients, of whom 27 were males and 24 females. The number admitted during the year under review was 105 cases, consisting of 71 males and 34 females. During the period referred to there were discharged 52 male and 34 female patients, while in addition to this, 20 males were transferred to Karere Camp at Whakarewarewa. The deaths during the year totalled 9, consisting of 4 males and 5 females. There remained under treatment on the 31st March, 1909, 26 males and 15 females—4l cases in all. Incoming. Males. Females. Total. Remaining under treatment, 31st March, 1908 .. 27 24 51 Admitted during year . . .. .. 71 34 105 Totals 98 58 156 Outgoing. No sign of active disease .. .. .. .. 9 10 19 Greatly improved .. .. .. .. 27 12 39 Improved . . . . • • • • . . 22 8 30 Not improved .. .. .. •. .. 14 18 Died 4 5 9 Remaining under treatment, 31st March, 1909 26 15 41 Totals 102 54 156 Of those leaving the institution, either to return to their friends or to proceed to Karere Camp, 19 C ases—9 males and 10 females—were to all appearance in good health when discharged, examination of the chest, although disclosing in some cases evidence of the past trouble, showing no evidence of active disease. Twenty-seven males and 12 females left the Sanatorium greatly improved in general condition, and in condition of the lungs, while 22 males and 8 females improved to a less extent. Eighteen patients —14 males and 4 females—showed no signs of improvement by the Sanatorium treatment, and were discharged in worse condition than when they entered the institution. The same line of treatment was followed as in the previous years, except that a few picked cases were treated with one of the numerous forms of tuberculin. The results obtained in these cases were, however, not sufficiently good to justify the greatly increased expense of the treatment. I desire to draw your attention to the apparent great need of the establishment of hospitals for consumptives, apart from sanatoria, in this Dominion. A very large number of cases are sent to this Sanatorium apparently as a last hope, and it is quite evident that such cases can only be temporarily patched up, and could be treated quite as well and more economically elsewhere, leaving the Sanatorium quite free to direct its energies to its legitimate work of endeavouring to help those who have at least a chance of receiving permanent benefit. We are constantly experiencing the greatest difficulty in inducing the friends of patients to remove them from the institution after they have been notified that there is no prospect of improvement, and this, I think, is due in a great measure to the lack of proper accommodation for incurables. Buildings.—lt having been decided to train Maori girls in the principles of combating the disease among their own people, a two-roomed cottage was built for their reception alongside the existing nurses' cottage. Lighting.—The present storage-battery having become worn out—it has been in constant use for the past six years—a new battery was ordered from England, and will shortly be installed. Water-supply. —The storage-reservoir has been increased in capacity from 8,000 to 21,000 gallons, greatly economising labour in pumping, and saving the oil fuel for the engine, as well as making more effective the fire-extinguishing apparatus, for which latter purpose 2 in. pipes have been laid alongside the present 11 in. pipes, thus giving a good head of water.

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