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THE GOVERNMENT INFECTIOUS DISEASES HOSPITAL.
387. This was originally a Police Station but was adapted as a hospital and has accommodation for 26 beds in six wards. The hospital is situated very close to the extreme western end of the Island and next door to the Tung Wah Smallpox Hospital. or less It is admirably situated for is purpose being more isolated yet convenient for access by ambulance, by bus, or by launch.
388. During the year the hospital was under the charge of Dr. G. V. A. Griffith who supervised he work there in addition to his other duties.
389. During the year there were 281 admissions and 135 deaths. The following table shows the nature of the diseases and the cause of death.
Diseases
Admission
Death
Death Rate
Cerebro-spinal meningitis
61
26
42.6 per cent
Cholera......
200
103
51 5
13
Smallpox
6
2
33.3
19
Leprosy
3
33.3
During the cholera outbreak the hospital which is normally without any resident medical officer had resident one full time and one part time Chinese Medical Officers.
THE CHINESE HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES.
390. The Chinese Hospitals and Chinese Dispensaries are institutions established by the Chinese for the benefit of the poor of Chinese nationality. Intended to be additional to, not in substitution of, the Government Hospitals they serve a very useful purpose not only in the matter of medical relief but in that of health education.
891. An enormous and ever-increasing number of sick too poor to pay a doctor's fee or to buy proper medicine, and unwill- ing or unable for one reason or another to a tend at a Govern- ment Hospital, are successfully reached.
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392. There are three general hospitals, one smallpox hospi Lal, two maternity hospitals and nine public dispensaries.
They are maintained by subscriptions from the public, by donations from the Chinese General Charities Fund and by direct grants from Government. They are controlled by Chinese Committees who work in close cooperation with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
393. In the three big hospitals the patient can choose be ween Western and Chinese methods of treatment, but in the Maternity Hospitals and Dispensaries Western Medicine only 's practised. Government Lady Doctors hold gynaecological clinics in each of the dispensaries once or twice a week,
394. Both Hospitals and Dispensaries are subject to inspec- tion by the Government Medical Department. There are four officers of the Department whose duty it is to visit the various institutions and to give advice and assistance. These officers work in close touch with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
THE CHINESE HOSPITALS.
395. The Tung Wah Hospital situated in the centre of the most thickly populated areas in Victoria was first occupied in 1873. The Tung Wah Smallpox Hospital was established in 1902. The Kwong Wah Hospital was built in Kowloon in 1911 as an extension of the Tung Wah. The Tung Wah Eastern Hospital, another branch of the Tung Wah, situated in an open space in the east of Victoria was opened in November, 1929. The Government gave the sites and with grants of money assisted
n the eréction of the buildings.
396 In administrative control of the four hospitals is the Tung Wah Committee, a body of Chinese gentlemen elected each year by the subscribers.
397. Originally intended for the accommodation and treat. ment of those Chinese whose fears and prejudices against Western medicine prevented their applying for relief at the Government Hospitals these institutions at a later period introduced and encouraged scientific methods. As prejudice disappeared and confidence grew the demand for Western medicine increased until now the number being treated by this method equals that which still pins its faith to the plasters and decoctions of the herbalists.
398. The activities of the Chinese Hospitals include .-
(a) The care of the sick and treatment by Western methods or Chinese methods according to the wish of the patients.
(b) Maternity benefits and infant welfare by Western
methods only.
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