• In anticipating a saving of costs by closing the home, the board was taking a ple from a narrow, even selfish view. The costs to the patient would increase with travelling expenses to Palmerston North or Levin, as would costs to family or friends wishing to visit.
• Ambulance trips may mean greater costs to the board.
• There were families in the Foxton community who did not own cars and this would put them at a disadvantage in the event of confinements outside Foxton.
• There could be an increase of motor accidents when travelling en-route to Levin or Palmerston North for confinements.
• Population growth in and around an area depends on a towns services, and the loss of the Maternity Home would have an effect on potential residents in making a choice to live in Foxton.
• This included future Doctors too.
• There were positive signs of increased population in the Foxton areas, and the farm development scheme on the former Moutoa swampland would mean 30 or more young families in the area. (See, 'Miscellaneous Information' regarding Neal Imittee for Hunt and the change-over of Mayors').
• Foxton babies born in other maternity units of the Boards area would still be a cost to the board, while the Foxton unit would continue to incur costs to the Board while being open for 'Meals On Wheels'.
• The two local Doctors who had given many years of unselfish expertise to the community would more than likely eventually lose patients to those doctors closerto the town where births would take place.
• Past examples of closures tells that once closed, re-opening is most unlikely, and the Board's financial position will have a long-term and major effect on the township of Foxton and its rural area.
• The Foxton Maternity Home provides a wider service than its name implies. It is a back-up for emergencies when the two local Doctors are unavailable. It is the local Civil Defence Centre, and a place for Ante-natal care.
• Travelling to Palmerston North or Levin while in labour could be seen as a risk for accidents - when fathers are driving to get their wives to hospital in time for a birth. There is no ambulance service.
• Classed as being the 'heart' of the community - to lose it would be like losing an irreplaceable part of the town's life-force. City residents probably take such a place for granted - there are more than one hospital in a city...
• Mothers delivered of babies in the Foxton Maternity Home speak highly of the care provided and the friendly, personal environment created in the Home.
On 25th November 1980, the Foxton Maternity Home Action Committee attended the Hospital Board's meeting which was held in the Palmerston North Hospital Medical Centre, (to accommodate the Foxton people who attended.) After discussions on the towns' submissions, the Board resolved to defer a decision on closure or continuation of the Maternity home until their first meeting in 1982.
The reprieve that eventuated from this meeting gave all Foxtonians fresh hope.
(The Action committee wrote to the Hospital Board conveying their feelings of relief.)
Mayor Mr Jim Titcombe with Foxton residents, prepared to continue the battle to save [continued on next page]