Country Hospital Museum officially opened

The new Country Hospital Museum at the Rockhampton Heritage Village was officially opened on 21 November 2009 by Hon Robert Schwarten MP, Member for Rockhampton and Minister for Public Works & Information and Communications Technology. The Museum collection has been in the making for more than thirty years and includes many items of equipment formerly used in hospitals plus a large collection of photographs, records and other memorabilia covering the last half of the 19th Century and the first part of the 20th Century.

The Opening Ceremony was attended by almost 130 guests including members of the Association and representatives of other historical societies, health delivery agencies and major donors to the organisation. The Ceremony, Chaired by Mr Tom Upton of the Rockhampton Regional Council, featured a Welcome to Country by Darumbal Elder Mrs Elaine Williams, a blessing of the building by Rev. Claire Dewar, and addresses by ACHHA Patron Dr Con Primmer, President Mrs Yvonne Kelley, Mayor of Rockhampton Regional Council, Councillor Brad Carter, Hon Robert Schwarten and ACHHA Vice-President Ms Norma West. The opening of the Country Hospital Museum fulfilled a long-held dream of many members of Rockhampton's health services community who had been supporters of the project. The Association's Patron, Dr Conrad Primmer who had been a long serving specialist gynaecologist in Rockhampton travelled from Brisbane with his wife Cecily to participate in the event.

Following the Ceremony those present enjoyed morning tea and took the opportunity to inspect the Museum.

Collection items had previously been housed from 1988 until 1998 in a building on the Rockhampton Hospital site until it was required for redevelopment. After this, a portion of the Collection was displayed in the Lakes Creek Cottage within the Heritage Village while the Association sought an appropriate long term venue to do justice to the collection.

In 2006, the venue was identified in the form of the 1946-built Mt Morgan Hospital Nurses' Quarters, surplus to Queensland Health requirements once nurses were no longer required to "live-in". The Government agreed to donate the building to the Association and a grant of $150,000 from the Premier's Department made it possible to relocate the building to the Heritage Village, remove harmful materials such as asbestos and lead paint and reconstruct the solidly built tongue and groove pine building.

The Association spent another three years seeking funding for the external painting and internal refurbishment and while some progress was being made, it was not until discussions with the Member for Rockhampton identified a source within the Government allocation made to celebrate Q150 (Queensland's 150th birthday) that the task could finally be finished in a relatively short time. QBuild staff including apprentices completed an outstanding refurbishment with the $60,000 made available to them for the project. It is worth noting that the first Rockhampton hospital located on the Fitzroy River was actually established before Queensland was separated from New South Wales in 1859.

Members of the Association and particularly the President, Mrs Yvonne Kelley who, as Sister Yvonne Kelley, a senior nurse at the Rockhampton Hospital, formed the Rockhampton Hospital Museum Association in 1976, have been vigilant in rescuing many foundation stones and plaques before buildings were demolished. Rather than make another plaque, it was decided to once again unveil the original foundation stone for the Port Curtis and Leichhardt District Hospital on the Range which had originally been placed by the then Mayor of Rockhampton, Captain R M Hunter in 1867. This stone has a central place in the garden in front of the Museum.

The Association's philosophy is to display the collection in an uncluttered series of 14 rooms and galleries plus a veranda, most of which are set up to represent components of a typical small hospital of yesteryear. This includes a two bed ward with nursery area, an operating theatre, mother and child room, nurse's bedroom, pharmacy room, dental surgery and a doctor's consulting room plus pan and treatment rooms. There is also an operational Iron Lung which was donated to the Rockhampton Hospital by the Nuffield Foundation in December 1938. Part of the building has been set aside to house an extensive record collection and a library which will be available to members as they further document the items in the collection and for use by researchers.

The new Museum will be open for public inspection during the Australia Day Markets at the Heritage Village on 24 January 2010. After further development work, the building will be open on a regular basis as part of the Heritage Village from April 2010.

A selection of the photographs taken at the Official Opening may be seen here. Remember that if you click on any of these small thumbnail images, you will be taken to a larger version of the photograph with more detail. Use the "back" button on your browser to return to this page.