The only charitable institution in Blenheim is the Wairau Hospital, which is (1905) about to be rebuilt. The Hospital and Charitable Aid Board levies a rate, which is expended partly in the up-keep of the hospital, and in the granting of necessary outdoor relief in the district. Orphans are sent to suitable institutions in other provinces, but their maintenance falls upon the ratepayers of Marlborough.

The Wairau Hospital and Charitable Aid Board meets on the second Monday of each month in the Borough Council Chambers in Blenheim. Funds are obtained from levies on local governing bodies, with a Government subsidy of £ for £, and from direct donations, and the proceeds from public functions, with a subsidy of twenty-four shillings in the £. A small amount is also annually derived from the rent of a portion of the Hospital reserve. There is no Old People's Home in the Wairau, and provision is made out of the Board's funds for the maintenance of the aged poor in private lodgings. Members of the Board for the year 1905: Messrs R. J. Bell (chairman), R. Goulter, W. Adams, W. H. Macey, A. Jackson, W. B. Parker, William Murray, P. Meehan, George Armstrong, E. H. Penny, S. M. Neville, and J. J. White; secretary, Mr. C. J. W. Griffiths.

The Wairau Public Hospital is prettily situated in the southern outskirts of Blenheim, on a reserve of about forty acres, thirty acres of which is held under lease for agricultural purposes. The hospital is an old wooden building, and is shortly to be superseded by a new structure built in brick, on the most up-to-date plan. This building will be situated just in front of the old one, which is to be converted into an Old Men's Home. A considerable sum has been spent in laying out gardens, and planting; ornamental and shelter trees. Dr. James Freeborn Bennett is surgeon.

Dr. James Freeborn Bennett, M.B., Ch.B., Glasgow, succeeded Dr. William Anderson as medical officer to the Wairau Public Hospital, in January, 1905. He was born at Bathgate, in Linlithgowshire, Scotland, in the year 1879, and was educated at the High School and University of Glasgow, where he graduated with commendation and distinction in 1899. He afterwards took a post-graduate course with Sir William Macewen, for whom he acted as house surgeon for six months. Dr. Bennett was then appointed assistant dispensary surgeon to a large children's hospital, and subsequently spent a few months in Burma. He was for a year in South Africa during the late war. Dr. Bennett then returned to England, and shortly afterwards came to New Zealand. For two years he held a private practice in New Plymouth, where, for about ten months, he was assistant surgeon to the public hospital, prior to his present appointment. Dr. Bennett takes an active interest in the social life of Blenheim, and is a member of many clubs.