History

June 27, 2012

Hamilton History

Year		Description
2013	Sub Acute Redevelopment	The Sub Acute Redevelopment, at the Hamilton Base Hospital, was officially opened on Thursday, 15th August 2013 by the Local Member for Lowan and Minister for Sport and Recreation Mr. Hugh Delahunty.
2012	Additional wing added to the Grange	An additional wing was added to the Grange Residential Care Service taking it up to 50 beds.
2002	Grange redevelopments completed	Subsequent stages of redevelopment at The Grange Residential Care Service were completed in August 2002 resulting in a 45 bed service.
2001	Additional renovations undertaken	Additional renovations took place in 2001. These renovations included the Mortuary, The Birches, the Education Centre and Hamilton House Allied Health Centre.
2000	Frances Hewett Community Centre relocated	The Frances Hewett Community Centre relocated to its present site at 2 Roberts Street, from 44 Gray Street. The Centre was named in honour of Frances Kathleen Hewett, born 1903 and passed away in 1990. Mrs Hewett was a remarkable woman with a fascinating personal history, and a distinguished record of public and community service to Hamilton and District.
1999	Birches opened	The Birches aged care facility was opened.
1999	First stage of the Grange completed	The Grange completed its first stage of redevelopment in December and since then has been a Residential Aged Care Facility. The Grange has also been known as a hostel, a maternity hospital and a general hospital.
1998	Princess Margaret Nurses Home demolished	The Princess Margaret Nurses Home was demolished in 1998 as nurses were no longer trained on site.
1997	Major renovations commenced	In 1995 Government funding and a major fundraising drive enabled major restructure and renovations to commence. All ward areas of the acute section, Health Information, Pharmacy, Switchboard, Human Resources and Finance were renovated to develop first class acute care and administration facilities. This major redevelopment was officially opened on 7th May 1997.
1997	History Walk display established	The ‘History Walk’ display was established in the main corridor situated near the Hamilton Base Hospital entrance. It is part of the Medical Museum Collection.
1992	Physiotherapy department opened	After extensive renovations in 1992, the TB Chalet was converted to the Physiotherapy Department.
1979	South East Wing completed	Further developments occurred with the southeast wing for acute care services completed in 1979
1979	South East wing opened	On the 9th March 1979, the new South East Wing, housing the theatre complex was officially opened.
1978	Nursing home construction	Further developments occurred with the construction of a 60 bed nursing home in 1978.
1973	Hospital renamed	The name of the service was returned to the Hamilton Base Hospital.
1967	Chalet closed	By the 1960s, with better treatment available, the TB Chalet was no longer necessary as a separate hospital and the small number of tuberculosis patients could now be treated in the general wards of the main hospital. The chalet closed in 1967.
1965	Hospital demolished	Sadly, in 1965, the original hospital was totally demolished. A new Bulk Store had been erected on part of the site in 1962.
1957	Change of hospital name	In 1957, to cover a wider the name was again changed to Glenelg Base Hospital.
1955	Princess Margaret	The Princess Margaret Nurses Home was opened.
1947	TB Chalet opens	The Tuberculosis (TB) Chalet was opened in April. It was the first purpose built facility in country Victoria and the first country tuberculosis chalet in the whole of Australia.
1943	Acute hospital opened	The next acute hospital was constructed during Second World War, for which Hamilton was extremely fortunate as funds were very limited. The new hospital opened in 1943.
1943	Tuberculosis Chalet proposed	The Tuberculosis (TB) Chalet was proposed in 1943.
1930	Renaming of hospital	The name of the service was modified to Hamilton and District Base Hospital.
1924	Benevolent Asylm	In 1924 the Benevolent Asylum patients were transferred to Ballarat. This required a change in name and the Institution became The Hamilton and District Hospital.
1905	Additional wing added
1897	Isolation and Fever Ward	In 1897, arguably, the first specific and separate Isolation and Fever Ward in Australia was opened in Hamilton. . The 1897 building was several years ahead of the Fairfield Infectious Disease Hospital in Melbourne. The name Isolation and Fever Ward was a practical one. The only treatment available was to isolate the patient from others to prevent the spread of disease and all the diseases were accompanied by fever.
1893	New hospital opened	A new hospital was opened on the same site with further building developments in 1897 and 1907 with the central section still being used today.
1890	New Chief Executive Suite	In 1890, a completely new hospital was built and this building is still in use, housing the Chief Executive Suite.
1870	Extensions to HBH	In 1870, 1877 and 1879 extensions were made to the original building to meet the demands of the ever expanding population.
1864	HBH opening	The completed Hamilton Hospital and Benevolent Asylum was opened and the first patients admitted on 23rd March 1864. It was established to provide care for the rapidly growing population of the district. Prior to this, those in need of hospital attention were required to travel to Portland or Ararat. The hospital was divided into two parts as was customary at the time. The Hospital section dealt with illnesses, accidents and infectious diseases, whilst the Benevolent section was for the victims of personal tragedy and social distress.
1862	Founding stone for HBH	The foundation stone for the original Hamilton Hospital and Benevolent Asylum was laid on the 19th November 1862.

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