NEW OFFICES FOR STAFF (ADMIN)- NEWS FROM THE PAST

Lachlan Park Additions NEW OFFICES FOR STAFF READY

Article taken from- MERCURY- MONDAY APRIL 22 1940http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/25798805

Opened Today

Budding Improvement plan at Lachlan Park Hospital, New Norfolk -a modern administrative block will be opened today by the Premier (Mr. Cosgrove). The new building includes a recreation hall and chapel, spacious office accommodation for the medical and clerical staff, and self-contained mess rooms for attendants and nurses. It’s the most modern of Its kind In the Commonwealth.

The building is of brick, and fronts on to the main hospital avenue. On each side of the main entrance lobby are reception rooms for visitors and patients. One wing on the lower floor will be taken up by members of the clerical staff, and on the corresponding; wing on the opposite side is for the medical staff.

There are three spacious rooms for the medical officers, and situated in a convenient group are the dispensary, laboratory, examination and X-ray room, and lobbies. Apart from the main clerical department are offices for the secretary, staff supervisor, and female clerk, and leading out of the main office arc strong; rooms.

All the rooms are uniformly heated by means of ceiling electric radiators, and a special feature has been made of the panel work in the door and office fittings. Offices In the medical and clerical wings have wide angle windows overlooking the main avenue.

The entrance to the recreation hall is from the southern side. There is seating accommodation for 400 in the hall, and the capacity is estimated at more than 5OO.

Spacious and comfortable dressing rooms for men and women open from the hall foyer, and there are dressing rooms on each side of the hall stage. At the other end of the hall there is a chapel. Seats are fitted with reversible backs, which permit of their use for entertainment and church services without being moved. A talking, picture outfit has been installed for patients, and the floor has been prepared, for dancing.

The upper story is utilized for staff kitchens and dining-rooms. Separate rooms have been provided for nurses and attendants, and a feature in each room is the buffet self serve unit, in stainless steel. Electric stoves and a variety of modern appliances have been provided for the kitchen, which is connected with the mess rooms. Attendants and nurses may enter the dining rooms from separate entrances outside the building, and there is a main staircase in the centre of the block.

Overhead electrical radiators are provided in all parts of the upper story, and a dining room has been added for the matron and sisters.

The building cost more than £16,000, and the contractor was Mr. A. E. Wright, New Town.

The opening will take place at 3.15 p.m., and afterwards the Minister for Health (Dr. J. F. Gaha) will unveil a memorial photograph of the late Premier (Mr. A. G. Ogilvie, ICC). In the evening there will be a picture entertainment for the patients.

The first public function in the new hall will be held tomorrow evening, when the Derwent Valley Sub-Branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers League will conduct a ball.

Wow what a facility, I wish I had seen it in its heyday, not when it was pitch black dark and vandalized!!!!!

Nick J