St John of God Subiaco Hospital

History

Archbishop of Perth Matthew Gibney invited eight sisters of St John of God to Western Australia in 1895 to help people with typhoid fever during the 1890s gold rush. He provided land for them to set up a hospital in a timber building in Subiaco, which opened on 19 April 1898 with fifteen beds, increased to thirty by 1900. The hospital accepted all patients – private, reduce-fee and free-bed – regardless of denomination, and distributed them throughout the buildings so that sisters were unaware of their status.

In 1939, the hospital had the second-largest maternity department in WA after King Edward Memorial Hospital. Babies born to single mothers were often adopted out, sometimes forcibly. In 2011, the hospital was among many institutions named in submissions to a Federal parliamentary inquiry into forced adoption in Australia. Files containing details of adoptions are kept at the hospital and some can be accessed by mothers, adoptees and their direct descendants.

The hospital was the first in Western Australia to install a da Vinci robotic surgical system. It is the oldest surviving hospital in Australia run by St John of God Health Care.

Facilities

St John of God Subiaco Hospital has 578beds and 20operating theatres. The hospital also has an outpatient clinic, day surgery units and a conference centre, along with a cancer centre named after the Bendat family.

Personnel

Former Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon works at the hospital as an obstetrician and gynaecologist.

References

References

1. (December 2009). "Paupers, Poor Relief and Poor Houses in Western Australia, 1829- 1910".
2. "About".
3. {{cite Q. Q5773872. Phyl. Brown
4. Sisters of St John of God, [http://www.ssjg.org.au/story/index.html "Our Founding Story"], Retrieved 2011-02-28. {{webarchive. link. (2004-12-16)
5. . (November 2004). ["ROADS [Records Of ADoptionS]: An index of locations and access to adoption records"](https://www.dcp.wa.gov.au/FosteringandAdoption/Documents/ROADS2006.pdf). *Department for Community Development, Government of Western Australia*.
6. Rosser, Debra. (2 May 2013). "St John of God Hospital, Subiaco (1898 - )". University of Melbourne/Australian Catholic University/Commonwealth of Australia.
7. (2011–2012). "Submissions received by the Committee [nos.279, 330]". Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, Parliament of Australia.
8. . (November 2004). ["ROADS [Records Of ADoptionS]: An index of locations and access to adoption records"](https://www.dcp.wa.gov.au/FosteringandAdoption/Documents/ROADS2006.pdf). *Department for Community Development, Government of Western Australia*.
9. Australian Private Hospital Association official magazine (2008-04). [http://www.apha.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ph-apr_2008.pdf "Private Hospital"], pp.30. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
10. Sisters of St John of God, [http://www.ssjg.org.au/story/f_subiaco.html "Foundations"]. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
11. "Facilities".
12. "St John of God Annual Report 2015-2016 page 48".
13. St John of God Subiaco Hospital, [http://sjog.org.au/hospitals/subiaco/about_us.aspx "About Us"]. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
14. (January 2026}}{{dead link). "Subiaco Clinic".
15. FMC Australia, [http://www.fundraise.com.au/ "The Signature"], pp.1. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
16. Lee, Jane. "Dr Michael Gannon named new Australian Medical Association president". Nine Entertainment Co.
17. "Find a doctor".