A meeting of about 160 people gave a clear message to the Board members of the Raglan Trust Hospital last night at the Fire Station Hall. The meeting was unanimous in asking the trustees to ensure that the hospital remained open. The meeting had been called to seek public input before the Board makes a decision on its future direction.
The Board owns the Raglan Trust Hospital in Manukau Rd, Raglan. The Board purchased the building from the Waikato Hospital Board in 1989 for $565,000 financed by a $240,000 loan and the remainder from public fund-raising. In the early years the Trust had difficulty servicing this loan, but is now largely debt free. The hospital business was leased out to Cavell Lifecare, a private operator 12 years ago. Cavell sold the business to the current owner and operator of the hospital five years ago. The current business lease has 12 years to run. The hospital manager is Te Rangimarie Gray-Carter. The Trust Hospital has 12 hospital beds and 15 rest home beds.
Peter Storey, Chairman of the Raglan Hospital Trust, told the meeting that the hospital building had high continuing maintenance costs. In addition, the kitchen and toilet facilities need a major upgrade within two years. Also many possible residents are now asking for en suite units. The present operator has asked for an extension to accommodate more beds. The present lease income is $66,000 a year and this would only cover a loan of $340,000. The expected cost of a full upgrade to the hospital would be about $600,000. The present income should be closer to $100,000 but it is fixed until the next rent review in 2 years time.
Peter went on to explain that the present lessee had recently made an offer to buy the hospital building and land for more than $1.1 million, the value recently placed on the hospital by valuers. If this went ahead a covenant would be placed on the title of the property ensuring that it could only be onsold for use as a hospital. The money received from the sale would be invested to provide a Raglan healthcare charitable fund.
Some people spoke for continued ownership of the building by the trust while others could see benefits in the sale. People suggested a special rate, sale of life memberships, and grant applications as a way of getting the needed money. Barry Ashby suggested that a few people come forward to fully develop the option of continued ownership by the Trust. Nobody volunteered at the meeting. Peter said that a few new members were needed on the Trust who knew how to run a hospital and resthome.
A vote of thanks was passed for the work the Trust had done.
The Chairman called another meeting for Monday 1st August in the Fire Station Hall at 7pm. The details for the meeting has changed to Tuesday 2nd August at 7pm in the Raglan Community House.