History of the Greenslopes Private
Hospital
Healing the Wounds of War
Australia was fighting
for its survival when the Greenslopes Hospital opened in 1942. Japan
had bombed Pearl Harbour, captured Singapore, and begun bombing
raids on Darwin. For tens of thousands of patients, the new military
hospital at Greenslopes became a symbol of optimism and a reaffirmation
of life and the future. The personal tragedy, hardship, humour,
and triumph shared since by patients and staff began a rich and
unique history.
The first patients arrived from battlefronts in the Pacific, Europe,
and North Africa and the Middle East.
From 1946, patients were also to include ‘diggers’ who
had served in the legendary World War One battles of Gallipoli, the
Somme, and the Holy Land. Some spent their final days at Greenslopes.
Veterans of more recent conflicts including Malaya, Korea, and Vietnam
have shared experiences with veterans from their parents and grandparents
generations.
Now a private hospital, Greenslopes continues the tradition of
providing a special quality of care and attention for Australian
veterans and their widows.
The story of the Greenslopes
Hospital is more than a chronicle of building and medical advances.
It is a slice of Australian national history; a permanent vestige
of personal stories about the people who risked life and limb for
their country, and about those who cared for them.
1939
THE NEED FOR MILITARY HOSPITALS
In October 1939, a month after war was declared, military officials
estimated that Australia would need 3,000 additional hospital beds
by early 1940 to care for war casualties. Instead of acquiring existing
properties and converting them to hospitals (as had happened in
World War One), the Department of Defence planned to develop purpose-built
military hospitals with one in each of the state capitals. Disputes
between Commonwealth government bureaucrats delayed decisive action
on the new hospitals for almost a year.
The Greenslopes site for Brisbane’s military hospital bounded
by Newdegate, Nicholson, Denman, and Peach Streets at Greenslopes
was first surveyed in the latter half of the 19th century. Originally
owned by businessman T B Stephens, the 8-hectare (20-acre) site had
been used mainly for farming. In 1919, just after World War One,
the War Services Homes Commission purchased the site, intending to
construct houses for returned servicemen. Still vacant in 1940, this
site was considered ideal for the construction of the proposed military
hospital.
1940
GREENSLOPES SITE IS CHOSEN
The decision to build at Greenslopes was announced in August 1940. The local
Brisbane newspaper, The Courier Mail, described the site as commanding a fine
view of the city. It was readily accessible by trams that ran a few hundred
metres away along Logan Road.
Melbourne-based architects Stephenson and Turner were appointed
to draw up the master plan. In Brisbane, local architects Hall and
Philips handled working drawings, contract letting, and day-to-day
management. (Hall and Philips had designed the iconic Brisbane City
Hall and Tattersall’s Club.)
A young surveyor, Clem Jones (later Lord Mayor of Brisbane) was commissioned
to survey the site in November 1940.
The plan was to initially accommodate 200 patients, and then progressively
develop the complex to accommodate 800 patients.
1941
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
Site excavation at Greenslopes began in May 1941. Construction of three pavilion-style
brick ward blocks and the boiler house began in July.
Each ward was to house 64 beds half either side of a central nursing station.
Wards were partitioned for groups of four beds. The top half of each partition
was glass to allow a clear view of all patients from the nursing station. Each
patient was to have a radio point, a bed lamp, and bedside table.
In October 1941, a contract to build the administration block was awarded to
Lawson Construction (cost: £71,896). However, construction did not commence
until early in 1945.
112TH AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL
UNIT FORMED
On Anzac Day, 1941, the 112th Australian General Hospital unit (112
AGH) assumed responsibility for treating all military personnel
in the Brisbane area. During construction at Greenslopes, 112 AGH
was accommodated at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, and later moved
into ’Yungaba’ at Kangaroo Point which had been an immigration
hostel.
1942
GREENSLOPES OPENS
On 2 February 1942, the first 35 patients were admitted to the Hospital
and on 14 March the headquarters of the 112 AGH unit was relocated
to Greenslopes. By 9 April, Kangaroo Point had been closed and the
entire hospital unit was accommodated at Greenslopes. Patients with
tropical diseases (such as malaria, dengue fever and intestinal
diseases) often outnumbered the wounded.
A newspaper report described
the interiors of the three new wards as having Écream walls
and beds, stained woodwork, and pale green ceilings and floor coverings.
The hospital boasted all modern conveniences, including mechanical
dishwashers and electrically heated food trolleys. According to
one patient, ‘Home was never like this’.
The wards were given a distinctly Queensland character with 3-metre
(10-feet) wide verandas enclosed by triple-hung windows.
The hospital’s staff
complement was drawn from the Australian Army Medical Corps, Australian
Army Nursing Service, and Voluntary Aid Detachments. VADs, were
trained by the Red Cross, and later became the Australian Army Medical
Womens Service.
The wards were built by
H & F Haven (cost: £38,600). The boiler house was built
by W. Greene (cost: £7,597). Separate contracts were let for
buildings to accommodate staff.
Following the bombing of Darwin, the wisdom of locating a base hospital
in Brisbane was now being questioned. Plans to build three additional
permanent wards (Wards 4, 5, and 6) were scrapped in favour of temporary
wards that could be more quickly constructed and, if necessary,
relocated. Construction began in April 1942.
Also built in 1942 were a temporary operating theatre, patients
mess, occupational therapy building, and a canteen.
1943
GREENSLOPES EXPANDED. CENTAUR TORPEDOED & SUNK.
In May 1943, the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur was torpedoed
off the southern tip of Moreton Island. To provide beds for severely
burned survivors, Greenslopes patients who were not bed-ridden were
shifted onto canvas chairs. Extra staff was rostered on duty. The
only nurse on the Centaur to survive the sinking was Sister Ellen
(Nell) Savage. She was taken to 112 AGH Greenslopes to recover.
She was later awarded the George Medal for her gallantry.
Additions to Greenslopes
in 1943 included three new timber pavilions (Wards 7, 8, & 9),
quarters for nurses and wardsmen, an artificial limb factory, and
storage buildings.
The first occupants of Ward 7 were wounded Japanese prisoners of
war (POWs). A marquee was erected at the back of Ward 7 to accommodate
other wounded enemy POWs.
In October 1943, the hospital
complex was officially renamed 112 (Brisbane) General Military Hospital.
1944
THE CHAPEL & RED CROSS FACILITY
The Hospital’s chapel was completed in 1944. It has a Catholic
altar and confessional at one end and a Protestant altar at the
other. Apart from the imitation-tile roof (which replaced the original
asbestos sheeting), the chapel remains essentially unchanged.
In May, the Greenslopes
Hospital was registered as a training school with the Queensland
Nurses and Masseurs Registration Board.
Greenslopes was the only military hospital without a Red Cross patient
recreation facility. The War Services Homes Commission initially
rejected the Red Cross’s request for adjacent land. But, after
the Queensland Premier intervened, the Red Cross was allocated land
to build a facility that included a hall, library, billiards room,
reading rooms, handcraft store, workroom, and storeroom.
1945
POWs RETURN
By February 1945, construction of the administration building had
begun. Three new permanent wards increased the hospitals capacity
to 600 patients. Other work included additions to the boiler house,
a new laundry block, minor ancillary buildings, and additional roads
and services.
Among the returning Australians
were ex-POWs who had survived atrocious conditions in slave labour
camps, including those on the Burma railway and in Japanese coal
mines. They were emaciated shadows of the healthy people who had
left Australia a few years before.
An army sergeant, also a patient at Greenslopes, recalls a despondent
young ex-POW telling him: I must be in pretty bad nick. My parents
didn’t know me. They said G’day to me in the corridor
and kept walking.
Medical and surgical advances
kept Greenslopes at the forefront of treatment methods. Services
were extended to include facio/cranial and plastic surgery, new
amputation methods, and new treatments for gunshot wounds. A blood
bank was also established at Greenslopes.
1946-47
MAINTAINING THE TRADITION AT GREENSLOPES
In 1946, the hospital had a staff of 900 caring for up to1,120 patients.
Throughout the war, Greenslopes patients were enlisted personnel.
In April 1946, the Repatriation Commission took over a ward at the
Hospital for discharged personnel. It was agreed that, when there
was a ratio of six repatriation patients to four enlisted patients,
the commission would assume full responsibility for the Hospital.
This trigger ratio occurred in 1947. With the change in management
responsibility, the hospital was renamed Repatriation General Hospital
(Greenslopes).
Patients from the old
Repatriation General Hospitalat Windsor were progressively relocated
to Greenslopes. War widows were also treated as part of the nations
commitment to ex-service personnel.
While healing traumatised
bodies and minds, the Hospital also prepared ex-service personnel
to return to productive new roles in post-war society. The Hospital's
education therapy department, for instance, offered training in
carpentry and other trade skills.
1950s
Further development at Greenslopes provided for new or expanded
medical, surgical, and psychiatric services. An extension for a
dispensary was added to the ground floor of the administration building's
eastern side. The second floor was extended the full length of the
building, and other extensions were made to the rear of the building.
1960s-70s
The first dedicated allied health building in a repatriation hospital was opened
at Greenslopes in 1968. The $200,000 building housed occupational therapy,
physiotherapy, educational therapy services, a gymnasium, and rooms for social
workers and chaplains.
An 8-bed intensive therapy
unit was also built, but has since been demolished. In the twenty-five
years from 1945, the general appearance of the Hospital did not
change noticeably, although the wards were repainted to cover the
dark and unwelcoming mission brown colour with an attractive light
green.
UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL
Greenslopes became a university teaching hospital in 1970. The University
of Queensland's Departments of Medicine and Surgery moved to Greenslopes
in 1972 and occupied teaching facilities vacated by the School of
Nursing. The departments were to remain there until a further extension
to the administration block in 1992 provided them with modern accommodation.
Diagnostic ultrasound
services were established at the Hospital in 1974. The following
year, a control centre was set up to manage the patient transport
system.
In 1976, outpatient services
were relocated from the old Taxation Building in the city centre
to the new Outpatient Clinic Block at Greenslopes.
In 1979, the old repatriation
hospital at Windsor (‘Rosemount’) was closed and its
patients were transferred to Greenslopes.
1980s
MULTISTOREY WING
The multistorey wing, costing $11.5 million, was opened in 1980.
Though this modern, efficient, air-conditioned building provides
year-round comfort, some patients felt that it lacked the character
of the old wards with their verandas and triple-hung windows that
let in fresh air.
In the mid-1980s, the
old ambulance bay, the gatehouse, and a number of other buildings
were demolished and a 24-hour casualty department was established.
PRIVATISATION OF REPATRIATION HOSPITALS
In the late-1980s, the Commonwealth government’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs,
anticipating a decline in demand for its services, began looking at alternatives
to owning and operating repatriation hospitals. Three options were considered:
hospitals could be integrated with the state health systems, privatised, or
closed.
The Commonwealth offered Greenslopes Hospital to the Queensland Government
free of charge, together with ongoing funding to treat veterans at Greenslopes
or at any other state government hospital. However, the Queensland government
declined to take up the offer.
The Returned Services League (RSL) in Queensland initially opposed the privatisation
of the hospital. But, after the Queensland Government rejected the Commonwealth’s
offer, the RSL agreed that privatisation was preferable to closure.
1990s
THE DIGGERS DOZEN
The ‘Diggers Dozen’, a group of volunteer workers, was
established at Greenslopes in 1990 as Friends of the Hospital. In
May of 1990, meetings were held to determine how volunteers would
be recruited, what their duties and responsibilities would be, and
how they would be trained.
Sixteen volunteers were present at the formal launch of the Friends
of the Hospital on 28 May 1990 including the groups prime movers
Glenis Jay, Margaret Bawden, and Dr. John Sparrow, and following
a successful six-months trial period, the Diggers Dozen became an
integral part of the Hospital's daily functioning.
When Ramsay Health Care
took over the running of Greenslopes in 1995, volunteers were concerned
that they might be disbanded. However, the new management enthusiastically
embraced the work of the volunteers and continues to encourage and
support their valuable contributions.
GREENSLOPES IS PRIVATISED
The announcement to put Greenslopes out to tender was made in 1994. The successful
tenderer, Ramsay Health Care, assumed responsibility for Greenslopes in January
1995.
The contract ensures that, although the Hospital could now take
in private patients, veterans would continue to receive the quality
and diversity of services provided prior to the sale. Renamed Greenslopes
Private Hospital, the complex continues as a university teaching
hospital, partly funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
IMPROVING QUALITY OF CARE
Through the latter half of the 1990s, Ramsay Health Care continued
developing the Hospital campus, adding and improving facilities
and services. Some of the early additions included:
- the Keith Payne Unit, a 30-bed psychiatric unit opened in 1996
- a 40-bed rehabilitation unit opened in 1997
- a cardiac catheter laboratory opened in 1997
- the Florence Syer Unit, a 30-bed sub-acute unit for patients
awaiting nursing home places opened in 1999.
MAJOR NEW CARDIAC FACILITY
In 1999, Greenslopes Private Hospital introduced cardiac surgery. By 2002,
the Hospital was the major provider of cardiac services on Brisbane's southside.
RAMSAY HEALTH CARE
Ramsay Health Care was founded by Paul Ramsay in 1964. By 2002,
with a portfolio of 25 hospitals throughout Australia, Ramsay Health
Care was Australia's second largest private hospital operator. Following
the takeover of the Repatriation General Hospital, Paul Ramsay made
a commitment to retain the essential character of the hospital and
its strong traditions of veteran care. As part of this commitment,
Ramsay Health Care built Anzac memorials and dedicated displays
that perpetuate the Hospital's history and heritage.
KEITH PAYNE UNIT
Prior to 1996, psychiatric inpatient services at Greenslopes were
housed in one of the old pavilion ward blocks. In that year, Ramsay
Health Care opened a modern, air-conditioned facility offering inpatient,
outpatient, day-hospital services, and recreational areas.
Warrant Officer Keith
Payne was, in 1969, a member of the Australian Army Training Team,
Vietnam. On 24 May, the South Vietnamese battalion he commanded
was attacked by a large force of North Vietnamese. Although wounded
several times, Payne organised a fighting withdrawal and saved the
lives of many of his men. In 1970, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth presented
WO Payne with the Victoria Cross aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia
in Brisbane.
FLORENCE SYER UNIT
In 1999 Ramsay Health Care recommissioned one of the old pavilion
wards as an interim accommodation facility for patients waiting
for places in nursing homes. The refurbished unit was opened in
June 1999 and named the Florence Syer Unit. Mrs Syer was present
at the opening ceremony.
The naming of the ward commemorates her remarkable war service.
One of many Australian nurses evacuated from Singapore in 1942,
she survived the sinking of her ship and imprisonment by the Japanese.
Mrs Syer died in Greenslopes Private Hospital in July 2002 at the
age of 86.
The 21st century
AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST PRIVATE HOSPITAL
By 2001, with 437 beds, Greenslopes was the largest private hospital in Queensland.
The multistorey wing, the main patient accommodation area of the Hospital,
was shared by veterans and private patients. However, the demand for private
hospital accommodation in a growing Brisbane was urgent and increasing.
In December 2001, the Board of Ramsay Health Care approved the
most significant new development since the multistorey wing was opened
in 1980. The new facility (opened in March 2003) brought the total
number of beds to 527 making Greenslopes Private Hospital the largest
private hospital in Australia. The construction, managed by John
Holland Pty Ltd, was completed in 12 months. The building incorporates
ninety private rooms, four operating theatres, and thirty-two onsite
medical consulting suites.
PROTECTING THE TRADITION
Over time, the number of war veterans and widows needing care at
the Hospital will decline as age takes its toll. However, the spirit
of the heroic generations of men and women who have known Greenslopes
as their hospital will live on.
Today, everyone working
at Greenslopes Private Hospital is aware of the special place the
hospital has in personal and national histories. Ramsay Health Care
has established permanent memorials at the Hospital to host Anzac
Day dawn ceremonies and other significant days of remembrance. Lest
we forget the stories of courage, endurance, and service.
|
