Mater Hospital, North Sydney

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The Mater Hospital is a 233-bed private hospital located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Originally founded in 1906 as a cottage hospital, and operated both as a public hospital and maternity hospital on an adjacent site in Wollstonecraft, New South Wales[1] between 1940 and 1982, the current hospital opened in 1990 and is now operated by St Vincent's Health.[2]

History[]

The hospital was established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1906 as the Mater Misericordiae Hospital for Women and Children with 12 beds and 12 cots on a site in Willoughby Road. In 1910, the sisters purchased and renovated ‘Wenona’, a large residence of a local bank manager on Lane Cove Road (now Pacific Highway), and by 1911 it functioned as a fully operational hospital.

A public Hospital, known as the "Mater General Hospital", was then erected and opened in 1914, adjacent to ‘Wenona’, whereupon the cottage hospital was closed and ‘Wenona’ then became the Mater Private Hospital. A major extension to the Mater Private Hospital was built on Sinclair Street Wollstonecraft in 1929.[3]

An adjacent Mater Maternity Hospital was built between 1939 and 1940,[4][5] and operated until the withdrawal of government funds in 1982. The Art Deco building remains as a local heritage item, the Former Mater Misericordiae Maternity Hospital.[1]

The Public Hospital and Maternity Hospital were closed in 1982. A new (and the current) private hospital was reopened (as the Mater Hospital) on an adjacent site in Rocklands Road, North Sydney in 1990.[1]

Notable people[]

  • Sister Justinian, born Mary May Scollen, was the matron at Mater from 1919 until 1963. She served for four years as the hospital administrator, from 1963 to 1967. She was appointed O.B.E. for her contributions in nursing.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Former Mater Misericordiae Maternity Hospital". NSW Office of Environment & Heritage. New South Wales Government. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  2. ^ "About Us". Mater Hospital, North Sydney. St Vincent's Health Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Facility heritage". Mater Hospital North Sydney. St Vincent Health Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Building and Construction: New Maternity Block: Mater Misericordiae Hospital: To Cost £44,500". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 September 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  5. ^ "The Mater Hospital Opens Elaborate Maternity Block". The Catholic Press. 26 September 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  6. ^ McGrath, Sophie, "Scollen, Mary May (1887–1967)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2021-05-03

Bibliography[]

  • Carey, Hilary (1991). In the best of hands : a history of the Mater Misericordiae Public Hospital & the Mater Misericordiae Private Hospital, North Sydney, 1906-91. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0868064610.
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