PLANNING OF SMALL COMMUNITY HOSPITALS

BY

B. EVAN PARRY, l\/I.R.A.I.C., Supervising Architect

PART I

INTRODUCTION

“Without theory, practice must be a blind doing of What somebody else—tradition, authority or accident—has directed.” " -—M00re.

It has been computed by an eminent hospital authorit-y that there should be five t-o seven beds. for every thousand population for general hospital purposes, whereas in the ye-ar 1923 the number of beds availab-le throughout the Dominion averaged but one to every 347 of p-opulation.

Fifty-six per cent- of the population of Canada live in the rural districts, many of which are located at a distance from hospital service, incidentally making it costly and detrimental to acute physical conditions to transport the patients. to large hospital centres. The question, therefore, of distribution of hospitals throughout rural districts ‘is o-ne of msoment and urgency.

The following communication received from the chairman of a hospital bo-ard aptly describes the small to-wn community hospital problem throughout the Dominion.

“The average community hospital to be found in the small town generally originates through some good soul getting the idea that the town should have a hospital. The rolling of the ball is started and, in a comparatively short time a fund of ten to twenty thousand dollars is raised. This individual is con- fronted with the problem as to what should be done, with no more idea than the man in the moon as to how to go about it. Sometimes a house that is already built, but vacant, is used and added tofrom year to year as the requirements of the hospital increase. In other cases the local contractor 1s called in, who prepares a set of plans, tenders on the work, and usually gets the contract. Possibly no fault may be found with the contractor as a con-

tractor, but when it comes to laying out the internal part of a hospital he is.

usually as green as grass. However, this is not admitted by the contractor, but

a journey is made to a neighbouring town to find out how the problem is tackled there and with some minor alterations of his own builds a hospital that; may look all right as a building from the outside, but is a regular jack-pot.

inside.

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