Newsletter December 2011
President’s Report Elections for the positions on the ACHHA Manage- be an invitation for nurses to write short anecdotal ment committee were held in October, and the new stories of experiences they may have had with re- committee structure can be found elsewhere in this gards hospital training or experiences of living in newsletter. My congratulations and welcome to Nurses’ Quarters. Relevant stories will appear in members of the new committee. this Newsletter, and copies will be kept at the Mu- seum. I continue as President, and I thank members for again electing me for a further year. It is more School tours continued through out this quarter, fulfilling if belonging to an organisation, to be in- guided by members of the committee. There is a volved in the overall management, and I appreciate need for more volunteers to help on these days, as this ongoing opportunity afforded me. the groups can be large, and at least three people are needed for the guiding. Please let me, or anoth- Through personal and work commitments, Debbie er member know if able to assist. has elected not to seek nomination again this year. I thank Debbie for her input over the past years, and The favourable and enthusiastic Comments in our welcome her offer to continue in the role of Cura- Visitors Book indicate that the Hospital Museum is tor, and to continue working on the school tour pro- more than appreciated by the Visitors, and adds to ject. With Debbie and Lorraine as Curators and the satisfaction of all that are involved in its Yvonne as Archivist, the collection is in safe hands. progress. I welcome Nancy Crapp to the ACHHA committee as My best wishes go to all ACHHA Members, families our new member. Nancy’s main area of interest is and friends for much happiness and health over the Operating Theatre, an area of great interest to Christmas and during 2012, and continued involve- visitors. ment in ACHHA. The Committee has received the much awaited Sig- Norma West nificance Assessment document which identifies President and groups all collections and sub collections and rates their significance in Historical terms. This doc- Did you know? ument will be used in our future planning as a basis That the first meeting of the Rockhampton to value add to the collections. Hospitals Board took place at 2:30 pm on Monday 23rd November 1925 in the School of Arts building. Our last meeting for the year in early December is to This is where your management committee be a planning meeting where needs and funding will normally meets each month. be identified. The emphasis at the moment is in the Archive area, and there is much to be done in The Board took charge of the General Hospital, the sorting and recording of documents and photos. Women’s Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Yeppoon Hospital and the Emu Park Convalescent th A date claimer for 2012 is the 12 May. This is In- Home and rapidly set about moving all Rockhamp- ternational Nurses Day, and an exciting program is ton facilities to the Canning & North Street site. already being planned. Part of this celebration will
‘Dedicated to preserving the health service history of Central Queensland’ ACHHA Newsletter December 2011 Page 2
Significance Assessment of the Collection Reports from 1873 onwards which are in all like- Perhaps the most important activity undertaken by lihood the only ones in existence, over 2000 the Association this year has been the significance pieces of medical and surgical equipment and assessment of the collection. This was made possi- around 400 glass plate slides depicting anatom- ble by a $4,400 Community Heritage Grant from ical images used in training. the National Library of Australia. In “academic” The stored collections are in a dry, clean envi- terms, a significance assessment may be described ronment with conditions monitored regularly. as follows:1 Archival materials are used to house the collec- “The process of studying and understanding the tion and lighting levels are controlled. Displayed meanings and values of an item or collection, material is exhibited thematically and any po- enabling sound and reasoned statements and tentially hazardous medical equipment is not judgements about the importance of items and accessible by visitors. All objects are in the pro- collections, and their meanings for communi- cess of being catalogued and entered onto an ties. The outcomes of a significance assessment electronic database. should guide decisions made about the man- The collection is of historic significance because agement of an item or collection into the of its links to prominent health care profession- future.” als in Central Queensland and its documentary The National Library provides funding to enable an evidence of regional health care services organization to employ an outside person to carry throughout Australia. The extensive archives out the process. In our case, the assessment was offer immense research potential into key indus- conducted by Ms Bronwyn Roper, the Central try groups as well as changes to the manage- Queensland Museum Development Officer for the ment and delivery of services in regional areas. Queensland Museum, who worked closely with our The collection is also of social significance to the Archivist Mrs Yvonne Kelley. The overall signifi- local nursing fraternity to utilise the uniform cance assessment document which has been for- collection annually for International Nurses Day. warded to the National Library is 37 pages in The collection demonstrates provenance with length. Here we reproduce the one page Executive clear ownership of the majority of objects docu- Summary for the information of our members. mented. The collection also holds rare items and “The Australian Country Hospital Heritage Asso- groups of items such as the Both Artificial Respi- ciation collection consists of archival and three- rator, of which only 800 were made by Lord dimensional objects which document the history Nuffield’s Morris Car Company in Britain and of Rockhampton Hospitals, the history of nurse distributed amongst the Commonwealth coun- training in Central Queensland and the history tries. The collection in its entirety is representa- of regional and rural health care service delivery tive of regional health care especially country throughout Australia. hospitals. The Collection is in excellent condition The majority of the collection is housed in the due to the professional administration of the former Mt Morgan Nurses Quarters which has volunteers and has immense interpretive poten- been relocated to the Rockhampton Heritage tial for future projects by the group.” Village, a site owned and operated by the Rock- Yvonne has commented that explaining the collec- hampton Regional Council. The collection is tion to a person outside our organization has as- managed by an executive committee and group sisted in developing her thinking about future man- of dedicated volunteers who form The Australi- agement and documentation of the collection. We an Country Hospital Heritage Association. express our appreciation to both Yvonne and Bron- The volunteer group consists of current and for- wyn for their efforts in completing the assessment. mer health care professionals. The focussed 1. Russell, Roslyn, Winkworth, Kylie. 2010. collection consists of between 8000 and 10,000 ‘Significance 2.0: A Guide to Assessing the Signifi- archival records, around 3000 photographs of cance of Collections’ accessed at
‘‘Dedicated to preserving the health service history of Central Queensland’ ACHHA Newsletter December 2011 Page 3
From the Archives These two short stories from our Country Hospital Museum archives give us a glimpse of the way things were in 1949 – sixty-two years ago. Both stories were written in the 1980’s as part of Yvonne Kelley’s efforts to document early events in our The President and members hospitals. of the ACHHA Management Committee The first story, “Back in 1949” was written by Mrs wish all of our members Viv Schneider, the Rockhampton Hospital’s Domes- and volunteers tic Supervisor, in August 1983. It provides an insight a very Happy Christmas and into conditions in the original Rockhampton Hospital good health and prosperity buildings as they were in 1949. Viv writes: throughout 2012. We look forward to your visits “All wards had wooden floors and the girls had to to our Museum get down on their hands and knees and scrub the and your on-going support floors with sand soap, as there were no fancy with the continuing task detergents to use, the only solution used was of developing what is already an excellent resource both for our Lysol or Dettol. The floors were washed every region and the wider Australian day with a mop and bucket of water and you had and International Communities. to wring the mop out by hand. Mop buckets did- n't come in for over ten years or so after. The ward girls all worked broken shifts as they had to come back at night and get tea and wash up for two wards, sometimes there would be 60 people to wash up for and all done by hand. Where A & E is now, Ward 1 men’s ward, all acci- Association Membership dents were also brought in there. Ward 2 was women's ward and used for the same purpose, The Association welcomes your support for our ac- tivities. The Association operates on a normal finan- both for accidents and other sick people. cial year, so that subscriptions are now due for the The Nurses’ Quarters were huts that the Ameri- 2011/2012 year. cans used when they were in Rocky and then If you wish to join the Association, please contact brought up to the Base to use as Nurses’ any member of the Management Committee listed Quarters. They also had wooden floors and had on the back page of this newsletter, or email the As- to be scrubbed with sand soap and then swept sociation at and washed every day. [email protected] or post payments to The Outpatients’ Department building was all ACHHA Inc, Box 4035, Rockhampton Qld 4700. wooden polished floors. They had to be polished with dark stain polish twice a week and every Membership Fees other day swept and then mopped over with an Annual oily mop. You had to get down on your hands Individual $20.00 Couple $30.00 and knees and put the polish on. We had an old Life polisher but it was nearly always being fixed so Individual $200.00 that meant we had to do it on our hands and Couple $300.00 knees. Please make cheques payable to: Australian Country The kitchen was only half the size it is now and Hospital Heritage Association Inc. had coke stoves, which made it very hot. There Newsletter was only one cold room to hold everything. In fact, it is still in the present kitchen and the din- If you have ideas for the newsletter, please contact me by phone or mail at the address above or by ing room was an army hut as well and of course, email to [email protected]. it hasn't changed in 34 years.
‘Dedicated to preserving the health service history of Central Queensland’ ACHHA Newsletter December 2011 Page 4
The domestic uniforms were at first dark blue 2nd March 1949. The Morning Bulletin reported that with fawn on the collar, the collars were then the maximum wind gust of 100 mph (160 km/hr) changed to white and now after 32 years, they was recorded at the airport at 6:50 pm. have the new uniform they are now wearing Ms Baker writes: (watermelon pink). “If this Iron Lung could talk, this is one of the It would take too long to write and tell every- many interesting stories it could tell. thing that went on in those days, but these are In the early part of 1949 there was a very ill teen- the main facts.” age girl with Respiratory Distress Poliomyelitis From: Viv Schneider being nursed in this Iron Lung at the Rockhamp- Domestic Supervisor ton General Hospital, now known as the Rock- August 1983 hampton Base Hospital. Readers of this Newsletter will recall that the previ- On Monday, 2nd March 1949 the weather in ous Nurses’ Quarters had been destroyed by fire on Rockhampton deteriorated as a cyclone a little th 28 August 1945 and were not replaced until 1954. out to sea travelled past the city. There were no Hence the reference to American army huts. radar instruments or warning messages in those This postcard style photograph from our archives days. On Tuesday 3rd March the weather wors- provides a view of the main entrance to the hospital ened as the cyclone crossed the coast at Glad- in Canning Street in the 1940’s with the buildings stone then travelled overland to Rockhampton. referred to by Viv Schneider. By 6 pm there was a power failure and all Rock- hampton including the General Hospital was blacked out. The Iron Lung was operated by electricity but also had a manual pump. It was soon realized that if this girl was to be kept alive the Iron Lung would have to be operated by hand. This was quite difficult to do and could be maintained for short periods only. Therefore many persons would be needed as it was unknown when the cyclone would pass and when power could be restored. The patient’s father was well known in the city The building on the right is the original hospital and he managed to get a large number of men to building commenced in 1867 while the building on come to the hospital and man the pump, each the left is the Outpatients’ Department and Sister one taking his turn and the going to the end of Kenny Clinic built in 1938. the line. They pumped the Iron Lung for 12 hours The brick fence was constructed between 1936 and until power to the hospital was restored. 1939 with funds from the estate of Mr G. F. San- The nurses at the hospital kept the men supplied drock, an early benefactor of the hospital. Portions with tea and toast. How? The hospital had wood of this fence still stand in Canning Street near the burning stoves in the kitchen and steam boilers present post office and in front of the former super- for the water fuelled by coke. Kerosene Hurri- intendent’s residence. cane Lanterns were used for light. The heavy steel gates which are just visible are part The patient survived and was considered to be of our collection and will be hung on the sandstone one of the very early victims of the 1949 Poliomy- fence in front of the museum (currently under con- elitis epidemic in Queensland.” struction). We may wonder why the lady is sitting against the right hand gate post? M Baker R.N. (1947 – 1951); 1983 Written in 1983 The second story, “Cyclone Drama” by Ms M Baker RN was also written in 1983 but covers a traumatic This photograph of the Iron Lung donated to the event which occurred during a tropical cyclone Hospital by the Nuffield Foundation in 1938 and which struck Rockhampton on the evening of now located in our Museum clearly shows the
‘‘Dedicated to preserving the health service history of Central Queensland’ ACHHA Newsletter December 2011 Page 5 manual T-piece pumping handle protruding above This photograph depicts the opening of the wing by the compressor. the Minister for Health, Hon. Brian Austin while the Chair of the Board, Mr Ted Loane looks on.
After the cyclone, critical questions were asked about the lack of emergency power in a hospital the size of the Rockhampton Hospital. One Letter to the Editor of the Morning Bulletin was very critical of the Board and was written in terms which would Biloela Hospital celebrates 80th Birthday almost certainly not be published in the Letters to In a notable event for our country hospitals, Biloela the Editor today.* Hospital celebrated its 80th birthday on 10th July In response to this letter published on 10 March this year. Director of Nursing Joy Pitman and the 1949, the Morning Bulletin provided an explanatory staff celebrated in style by organising three func- statement from the Hospital’s Manager, Mr Cecil tions—a luncheon, a bowls day and a dinner. Pritchard.* To assist in providing atmosphere, we were pleased Basically, Mr Pritchard acknowledged that the Rock- to meet their request to borrow one of our uniform hampton Hospital’s Board: collections. By way of thanks, they donated us a “did not have an emergency electricity gener- copy of the cookbook which had been prepared as ating plant at the hospital during the cyclone. part of the celebrations, one of their very nice Formerly it had one, but this was transferred to coffee mugs picturing the old and the new hospital, the Westwood Sanatorium about three years and a bag of lollies. ago, pending the Regional Board’s power line Staff-member Rhonda Nelson who collected and being put through to Westwood. It was then ex- returned the uniforms said that the events had pected that the line would be through in 12 been very successful with 160 people attending the months, but it still has to be built. When the main dinner function on 8th October. emergency plant was transferred it was proposed Rhonda also advised that one of the very successful to return the plant to Rockhampton as soon as innovations for the celebrations was the use of the Regional Board’s connexion with Westwood modern communication through a social network- was made.” ing Facebook page. You can view this page at: * 1949 'CORRESPONDENCE THE IRON LUNG.', http://www.facebook.com/pages/Biloela-Hospital-80th- Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - Anniversary/202220356481406 1954), 10 March, p. 3, viewed 26 Nov, 2011, Alternatively, just type ‘Biloela Hospital 80th anni- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56896879 versary’ into your browser. You do not have to be a Following on with information from our archives, we Facebook member to view the site. know that Cecil Pritchard was a long-serving Secre- It is interesting to see that as well as sharing infor- tary of the Rockhampton Hospitals Board, having mation and photographs of the 2011 celebrations, been appointed in January 1942. In 1981 his long the site has been used to identify people in earlier service was recognised when a wing in the new group photographs. Rockhampton Nursing Centre was named the “Cec Pritchard Wing and Administration Block. ‘‘Dedicated to preserving the health service history of Central Queensland’ ACHHA Newsletter December 2011 Page 6 Vale Lawrence Edwin Georgeson 27 July 1927 – pilot’s licence, and later was a Foundation Mem- 16 July 2011 ber of the Rockhampton Aero Club. In his spare Dr Laurie Georgeson was a Life Member of our time Laurie built and restored light aircraft. Three Association, actually the holder of Receipt No. 1. of his sons pursued an interest in aviation. This tribute to Laurie who died on 16 September In 1988 Joan died from asthma and emphysema. 2011 has been prepared by Dr Tom Dewar. In 1961 Rex Pilbeam asked Laurie to stand for the Laurie was born in Adelaide, then the family local Council. Laurie topped the poll and was on moved to Sydney. His father was a Liverpudlian the Council for thirty-six years and Deputy Mayor and his Mother a Cockney. for six years. He entered Sydney University in 1946 on a Bursary Regarding amalgamation, there is an antipathy from St Aloysius College. In first year Medicine between Urban and Rural Communities. The rural there were one thousand students, many of them area is best served by a local Shire Council. returned servicemen. In 1953, Laurie graduated On arrival in Rockhampton Laurie set up the Red and married Joan, a Senior Hairdresser at Mark Cross Blood Bank. Dr Eric Shaw was amazed that Foys. Rockhampton had more cubicles for blood collec- His Residency began at the Mater in Newcastle. tion than Brisbane. The remuneration was £850 per year, with £2-12-6 Laurie was a member of the Australian Country deducted weekly whether you lived in or out. You Hospital Heritage Association. In a private submis- had two days off every fortnight. sion to Premier Beattie in consultation with Mr In 1956, Laurie and Joan moved to Townsville. The Robert Schwarten MLA he obtained a grant of wage was £1,100 per year and £2 per week living $160,000. This was to relocate the old Nurses’ out allowance. Dr N. Scott-Young was the Surgeon Quarters at the Mt Morgan Hospital to the Herit- and Superintendent. A theatre list could go from age Village for our Museum. 7 am to 11 pm. A term was spent on Palm Island, Laurie received a Distinguished Service Medal for with weekly visits to Phantom Island Leprosarium. his work at the Blood Bank and an OAM in 1999 In 1957, Laurie and Joan arrived in Rockhampton. for “Service to the Community, particularly Dr Mervyn Gold went into Private Practice and Dr through the Australian Red Cross”. Graham Cavaye replaced him at the Rockhampton A humble servant who served his family, commu- Hospital. In 1959 Dr Tony Loscher flew Laurie to nity and church unselfishly. Emu Park in a Tiger Moth. Laurie obtained his Dr Tom Dewar OAM
Association contact details: Australian Country Hospital Heritage Association Inc. PO Box 4035 Rockhampton Qld 4700 [Incorporation Number: IA20217] Website: www.achha.org.au Email: [email protected]
Patron: Dr Con Primmer OAM
Elected Office Bearers Committee Members President: Norma West Lorraine Antonello Secretary: Errol Payne Nancy Crapp Treasurer: Kay Smith Tom Dewar Del Leitgeb Carol McIver Archivist: Yvonne Kelley Bill McIver Jocelyn Philp Ashley Reid
‘Dedicated to preserving the health service history of Central Queensland’