Opening the New Block at Waipukurau

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XIV, Issue 2, 1 April 1921, Page 75

Opening the New Block at Waipukurau

A dull, cloudy morning, with occasional showers and a bitter wind, did not promise well for the official opening of our new block for the isolation of infectious cases. Furthermore, the Minister of Public Health, for whose convenience Monday, January 31, had been arranged as the date of the ceremony, had been obliged to disappoint us and ask Dr. Valintine to take his place. The morning was a busy one for the acting-matron and the staff. The building appeared to be swarminig with committeemen, their Avives, and all kinds of volunteers, some of whom were cutting sandwiches, others fixing tables and carrying garden seats to and fro m the grounds, m which it was designed to serve afternoon tea to the public after the speechmaking and inspection of the building were over. But the buttery, crumby chaos of the morning was reduced to an orderly readiness by the time the public began to arrive, soon after 2 p.m. Tndeed, by the time the official party arrived, even the weather had begun to amend its ways. The little squally showers ceased, the wind abated, and the sun came out. Quite a number of people had turned out, many of them coming some distance to be present. Probably many more would have come m from the country around had it not been the week m which the local agricultural show is hold. As it was, about

170 people attended the ceremony, and were afterwards entertained at tea. Mr. Bickford, chairman of the Waipawa Hospital Board, made the first speech, explaining the unavoidable absence of the Minister and introducing his substitute, Dr. Valintine, who made a very interesting speech and flung open the door of the new building at its conclusion. Mr. Burnett, a member of the board, spoke briefly, thanking the Doctor for his presence among us; and the ceremony was at an end. The new building was thoroughly explored by the crowd, who were keenly interested and expressed themselves iv terms of great approval. I heard only one dissenting voice, that of "Peter," who is quite an old identity m this hospital, and his plaint (which he asked me to include m my notes) was: "They have forgotten to put a back door. The butcher will have to deliver the meat at the front door, because there isn't any other!" Personally I do not think butchers come and go freely when one is m quarantine, but I was too busy to argue with "Peter" on this point. There certainly is not a back door; otherwise the building is very excellent, with its four wards, each having a wide verandah outside it, and all its modern appliances and conveniences without and within. There it stands, finished and equipped ready for use — and empty! Long may it remain so! A. F. W.