Caring for the Northern community for 40 years
Ross Sands, Central Districts Hospital architect and builder gifts the original plans to the hospital 29 July 2019
Ross Sands’ hand-drawn sketch of the proposed hospital facade
The Munno Para News Review
30 April 1980
The original hospital ward decor was very flash back in the day.
An updated hospital room – complete with visitor sofa!
‘So you’re going to hospital?‘ brochure, featuring current staff member Grainne Jones (started in 1981) on the cover.
The front entrance to the hospital looked a bit different without the specialist suites and oncology buildings that you see today.
“I remember in 1998 we had on an Open Day, and the flyer said ‘Thank you for visiting our hospital – we are very proud of our service’. You know after all these years, we are still proud of our service.” – Halina, Head Chef
Dr Wong and wife Siew Jee have been friendly, reassuring faces around the hospital for many years.
Volunteers have always been a special part of the hospital. We thank each and every one of them, including 88 year old Maureen who can be seen here (fifth from left) in 1988.
The hospital was decorated with balloons to greet staff and patients as they arrived.
Matt was on hand to cook the BBQ for the staff’s socially distanced lunch.
A delicious lemon sponge was created by Halina for dessert.
Memories shared from staff and specialists
“I started private practice in 1986. There were two private hospitals in the North at that time: Harwin Private Hospital at Brahma Lodge and Central District Private Hospital in Elizabeth Vale. Both were owned by the same health group. After a while it was decided to make Harwin a medical hospital and Centrals a surgical hospital. This did not work out and in the end Harwin was closed and became a nursing home. Centrals on the other hand had grown from a small hospital with few visiting medical specialists to one with onsite specialist centre and other medical services with large number of visiting specialists. Hopefully it will continue to grow in the future.
A bit of trivia. Do you know why the wards are named A, D, G and M?
They used to be Wards A, B, C and D. When two senior pioneer surgeons retired many years ago, it was decided to change Ward B to Ward M in honour of Mr James Mill, while Ward C was renamed Ward K in honour of Mr Paddy King. This was subsequently called G Ward (for Grote) when the palliative ward was set up.”
–Dr Charles Wong
“There was a lady that came in the other week, and she remembered me from when I first started in 1986! It just shows that patients are still coming back thirty odd years later, and we have lots like that.”
– Gill, Patient Services
“We are part of the community. Anything that happened in the community, we’ve been part of that. So like bush fires in ’83 and the ones more recently, they affected our patients, so it affected us. We are part of their lives, and they are a part of ours.”
“We have been a family. We supported each other through births, deaths, marriages, sickness, and everything in between. That was the most important thing to us.”
– Grainne, Oncology
