Smith George Marshall Mccall 1928 1958

edmondsallan - hello - I hope you are finding this journal as interesting as I am . I reckon if any of your ancestry had babies or were themselves ln the Hokianga , between 1918 to somewhere about 1940 you could add this " Doctor's records " to your story file . Could tickle someone's humour a Hundred years from now . Have a thought !
Ok - where were we - A glance at the daily worksheet - their we are - Lets put the auto motion into gear - touch on the accelerater & away we go . Smith's most notable achievement was the implementation in Hokianga of the Labour government's plans for a socialised health service. He adapted the concept of 'special areas' to produce a fully integrated health scheme in which education, prevention and treatment (both domiciliary and hospital) were provided free of charge to the local population. The doctors were employed on full-time salaries by the hospital board; and the district nurses, who had the primary responsibility for diagnosing and treating patients in their remote districts, were specially selected and seconded from the Department of Health. The whole system was under the control of the medical superintendent, Smith. After lengthy and sometimes stormy negotiations, the Hokianga special area was established in August 1941. With the strong support of the local community it survived the restructuring of the health system in the 1990s.
Smith retired from Hokianga Hospital in 1948 and went into general practice at Waikanae. He died there on 27 December 1958, survived by Lucy, who died in 1961, and his daughter Janet. A man of striking physical size and appearance - partly on account of his long hair and informal dress - Smith was keenly interested in the reform as well as the practice of medicine. He was well-read in literature and philosophy and found such people as Douglas Robb, A. R. D. Fairburn, Frank Sargeson and Vernon Brown to be kindred spirits. Fairburn described Smith as 'a cross between an Arab chieftain and an Archbishop'. During his life George Smith became a legendary figure in New Zealand as the archetypal 'backblocks doctor', and published several successful books based on his Hokianga experiences. I think
" Grandad / my dad / and now me ," think he was a courageous, tempestuous, extraordinary man. When you think of the ground he covered , in the time he had . this 'Doctor " was a very busy person . When I research & read about what some of these people were able to do in the oldie oldie days I feel as if I haven't even turned the key on to get under way . Till we meet again - Regards -edmondsallan