393
Enclosure 1.
I. THE HOSPITAL BUILDINGS.
The main portion has been maintained in an efficient state without exceptional repairs.
A much needed improvement was effected by the opening of the Maternity Hospital which has been erected on the site of the old temporary small-pox buildings.
This building was handed over to this department on the 21st April and during the rest of the year some twenty confinements occurred then.
The question of Laundry and Wash House accommodation dealt with in C.S.O. No. 1312 of 1895 is still in abeyance. I trust the necessary funds for erecting and fitting up such a building will soon be provided; it is undoubtedly an urgent need.
Lower Hospital-The ravages of white-ants in this building have necessitated considerable repairs being executed during the year.
As it appears to be practically impossible to add to the present buildings, the want of accommo- dation and the continued increase of Chinese buildings in the neighbourhood of the hospital with its consequent noisés necessitates my again referring to the necessity of reserving a suitable site for a new hospital in the vicinity of the Hospital Staff Quarters.
I have referred to this in my Annual Reports from 1892 onwards and with the probable exten- sion which will shortly occur to the frontiers of this Colony, the construction of a hospital supplying increased accommodation and arranged more in accordance with the best modern practice will be one of the first requirements.
In June à memorial stone for the New Women's and Children's Hospital which is to be built in commemoration of the Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria was laid by His Excellency Sir WILLIAM ROBINSON, G.C M.G.
The question as to how far it is advisable to build over the present hospital premises has been reconsidered by the Jubilee Committee, and the general opinion appears to be in favour of the erection of such a hospital on the higher levels.
LUNATIC ASYLUMS.
No alteration of any importance has been made to these buildings during the year with the ex- ception that the yard of the European Lunatic Asylum was concreted.
I would again draw attention to the lack of any accommodation for the useful employment of the inmates-a most necessary aid to the satisfactory treatment of such cases.
INFECTIOUS HOSPITAL AND HOSPITAL HULK "HYGEIA.”
These have been maintained in a satisfactory state of repair during the year.
During the past year 146 cases have been treated at the Kennedy Town Hospital; of these 15 were suffering from plague and 125 from small-pox, the rest being under observation.
There were 63 deaths, 14 from plague and 48 from small-pox, the remaining one occurred from "heat-stroke."
The nationality of these cases is given in Table VIId.
Of the small-pox cases-
1 arrived from the S.S. Tai Sang,..........
1
5
*
In the month of January:-
Agents, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co.
S.S. Tsinan, S.S. Idzumi Maru, ....
Butterfield & Swire.
**
17
27
17
Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
In the month of February
1 arrived from the S.S. Powan,.
S.S. Empress of India, .... S.S. Strathtay,...
.Agents, H'kong, Canton & Macao Steam-boat Co.
Canadian Pacific Railway Co.
6
17
++
}}
"}
Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
1
15
7
19
S.S. Phra Cñula Chom Klao, S.S. Hongkong,
•
}}
.Agent,
Messrs. Yuen Fat Hong. Mr. A. R. Marty.
In the month of March:-
2 arrived from the S.S. Hongkong,
....Agent, Mr. A. R. Marty.
MATERNITY HOSPITAL.
As this building now forms an important addition to the hospital accommodation, a short de- scription of it will be of general interest.
This building has been erected on the hospital compound, on the site formerly occupied by the Temporary Sinall-pox Hospital, and consists of a one-storied building, containing 2 general wards with 4 beds in each, and 2 private wards containing 2 beds each, thus supplying accommodation for 12 lying-in cases. There is also a Nurse's Room, 4 bath-rooms and the necessary out-offices; it is sur- rounded by a verandah 8 feet wide.