The Hospital Requirements of Sydney. 45 



The windows of the front building would also require enlarging 

 upwards and new ones would have to be formed. 



Finally, the roof and flooring must be substantially repaired. 



These alterations and additions must be accepted as the least 

 that are necessary, and they will cost not less than £14,000. 



Their adoption would not, in the opinion of the committee to 

 which the duty of considering and reporting upon them was en- 

 trusted, be in any degree satisfactory. 



The new St. Vincent's Hospital, now in course of erection near 

 the Darlinghurst gaol, will, I am informed, provide accommodation 

 for eighty patients when complete ; but only one-half this number 

 is included in the present contract. 



Judging of the structure by the portion already build, I am un- 

 able to understand how it can be made to fulfil the requirements 

 of a modern hospital. The site can hardly perhaps be considered 

 a bad one, but it appears to me that the recreation ground is very 

 insufficient. The bath-room and lavatories are good, and provision 

 is being made for excellent verandahs. 



The accommodation will be available, more especially for the 

 surrounding locality and the members of the Roman Catholic 

 Church. 



I am not aware of any other existing hospitals which require 

 our consideration, but the building upon the Quarantine Ground 

 deserve notice because it has been objected that if the front In- 

 firmary building were taken down, the difficulty of providing for 

 the patients during the erection of a new structure would be a 

 serious evil. This objection is a valid one, but I think that the 

 suggestion of " Civis " would relieve us of any serious difficulty 

 in the matter. 



The various cottage pavilions upon the Quarantine G-round 

 appearwell suited to receive temporarily 200 chronic and sub-acute 

 cases, and convalscing patients, if a small sum of money were ex- 

 pended upon them, and arrangements made for conveying the 

 patients from Sydney. The spot is undoubtedly salubrious, and 

 if the Government would cansent to the temporary use of it as a 

 hospital — great expense and inconvenience would be avoided by 

 the arrangement. 



There is still one more point which has not yet been dealt with 

 I allude to the topographical features of the locality. 



Sydney stands upon the edge of a harbour unrivalled for its. 

 beauty and the number of its arms and bays. This characteristic 

 feature, together with the general distribution of the sandstone 

 formation, must always render the city comparatively healthy, and 

 materially lessen the propability of any large extent of dense 

 population. The tendency of the residents to diffuse themselves 

 through the suburbs would appear at first sight to be a reasonable 



