LaTrobe University

Heathcote Hospital

Making History HIS3MHI

Tarlyn F Grant

When one thinks of the town of Heathcote or McIvor, they think of the growing wine reign that it's become or how in 2014 to 2015 the town is seen to have a large amount of drugs. Which was reported in September 2014 when a raid was performed and cannabis was found which was estimated to cost a street value of over $1 million dollarsi. The town also had a railway which would link the town to the cities and other towns. However when looking further back on the town's history it was known as a goldmining town. In this piece I will look at the Hospital in particular and how its linked to the towns development. When looking at the hospital I will look at the starting point of the hospital and where it is situated in the town. After looking at this I hope to look at how the hospital developed over the time period of its original development to the recent development in 2015. Then to conclude I will look at the hospital now and its involvement with the towns development. As I look at the hospital the main form of reference will be from newspaper articles of each time period as well as images either from the time period in question or pictures that have been taken by myself. During this piece I would also like to highlight at different points of how not just the hospital of Heathcote helped to develop the ideas of medicine, but how the whole of Australia's hospitals helped to develop the ideas that we follow in relation to medicine today.

The Hospital of Heathcote or McIvor, was first established in 1853 along with a Government camp in relation to the discovery of gold at McIvor creek. As can be seen on the map in fig one, the hospital is in the near centre of the town, with the McIvor creek only being a near 2 Kilometres away. When the Original town/camp was first built they would have wanted the main form of health services to be in an area that the towns folk would be able to access it easily.

Figure 1 Map of Heathcote 2014. Google maps

When we look at the building itself it only started off as a tent like many shops and homes during the gold rush. In the gold rush period every person even children were needed to perform their part, as stated by Jonathan Prangnell and Kate Quirk in relation to the children who lived in Paradise South Australia during the gold rush. They state that "Children were encouraged to play amongst themselves and to savour their sacred childhood years, but they were also expected to perform for the world at large in the name of suitably worthy causes"ii. As they later go on to talk about how the children were allowed to learn but they also had to work. When taking this into consideration of the town Heathcote/McIvor Shire at the same time, they same sort of thing would have also occurred

with the children. The first person to discover gold in McIvor, as it was known back in 1852 was a man named William John Bulling. For his discovery of gold in the McIvor area William was paid a reward of £400iii. Looking back again to fig 1, you can see the school just below the search bar and again how close that is to the hospital. When the town was first established many of the student had to travel in from different farms and stay at the school in dormitories. With the students having to stay away from their homes the fact that the hospital was close by gave the families a bit of hope if anything where to happen to their children whilst they were away. Another thing to note is how later on in the town history the rail way went through the town. When we look at the map in fig 1 it is labelled as the O'keefe rail trail, which is now a walking track that joins the towns of Bendigo and Heathcote together in a way that's different to the main highway that connects them.

When looking at how the town of Heathcote/McIvor Shire is situated in the middle of a valley, with its ridges surrounding the whole of the town, and being situated on a flat section of land as seen in fig 2. With this sort of landscape the people of this town where able to build a sustainable town. When you come into the town today and look at the positioning of the hospital you see that it is on a hill. When looking at how it's on the hill, it's in that particular position due to people coming from different areas of the town or Shire and being able to see where they had to go to seek correct medical treatment. After the first gold was found in the town in 1853, only six years later did the town raise £1000 to build a new

building for the hospital which opened its doors in 1859 to the public.

With the new building open to the public in 1859 it showed off some of the other thing that Heathcote/McIvor shire was known for. With it being built from the sand stone that was produced around the area really helped to bring the town's name to light. Along with the hospital being built from sandstone so was the local gaol, which was situated only a few blocks away from the original position of the hospital. As seen in fig 3 the original sandstone has been preserved to this very day, and is a historical feature to the whole of the building. As with any building it has altered and developed over time. In 1934 a new wing was added to the hospital, which was 75 years after the original hospital was first open. In 1957 the nurses home was built, however the building is no longer where it would have stood originally. Heathcote used to have its own morgue, so with this bodies from Heathcote and

Figure 2 Landscape of Heathcote in 1906

Figure 3 Heathcote Hospital original building in 2015

surrounding shires didn't have to move the bodies of the dead to the cities such as Bendigo or Melbourne to have the dead dealt with. The morgue was used until the late 1980s early 1990s, and was demolished in 2014 to allow land for the development of the new doctors surgery. In 1998 the new Nursing home and another age-care Hostel was added. The latest addition to the hospital was done recently in August, with the new doctors surgery, which was officially opened on the 15th of October 2015. This new doctors surgery as stated before is situated where the original morgue used to be. During the course of the hospitals development money has been raised by the community, businesses around the area and cities, as well as from members of staff who worked at the hospital at each time of developmentiv. This sort of behaviour from the past has lead to a recent community appeal which has lead to 3.8 million dollar's to be raised to help in keeping the hospital running to meet its future needs.

When looking at the developments that the hospital went through over the years it's interesting to see how it looked over the years these changes occurred in. As seen in fig 4 when the town of Heathcote was after some form of publicity they used areas of the town that showed of how great a town it was, which can be seen with the use of the hospital on a postcard. When looking at this postcard we can see some of the nurses at the time standing at the front of the original building. With the use of the nurses it shows how important the nurses were to the community, in keeping the health of the town in check.

Other photos taken during the development of the hospital can be seen in some families of Heathcote's photo albums, such as one that was taken by my own family in the late 60s early 70s, which can be seen in fig 5. After looking at this image there is major alteration to the building when comparing it to some of the older photos of this building. In this photo there is a veranda that surrounds the front section of the hospital. This veranda is no longer seen on the hospital today, due to it being altered back to its original state as see in the postcard from fig 4. With this alteration it shows how the town of Heathcote will always wish to go back to how things where, in particular architecture, where seen in times past.

Figure 4 Heathcote Health Hospital Postcard 1916

Figure 5 Heathcote Health Hospital 1960-70

Now to look away from the Heathcote hospital in particular and to look at hospitals all over Australia. Like with the Heathcote hospital many other hospitals had to ask for help in relation to money troubles such as the Melbourne hospital when they had accumulated a debt of £26,000 in 1902v. It has been seen in many different articles from the British Medical Journal that they often compare their own hospitals with those of Australia. In some of the articles it goes on to talk about how the British hospitals should take into consideration some of the elements from the Australian ones. These sorts of things where; an 8-hour shift system and 40-hour week, adequate pay, and pay for overtimevi. These sorts of things where not being asked by doctors but by the nurses who in most cases did much more work than the doctors would have, similar to how some hospitals work today. When looking at these sorts of articles it gives us a great sense of pride that our medical structure of money raising and work ethic is looked upon with awe from other countries such as Britain.

When looking back on the Heathcote hospital in 2015 and earlier, it can be seen that the Heathcote hospital still has a great influence on the community. This was seen in 2014 when a local boy wished that the town could have a community games, which lead to the hospital staff being part of many events such as; wheelchair racing and hospital bed racing. Another thing that brings the hospital closer to the community is the annual Christmas raffle, where they ask for donation from the community and from the staff of the hospital as well. With these small things it shows how this hospital is a great asset to the town. With the way that the hospital includes the people of Heathcote and its surrounding areas it is understandable as to why the people wish to keep the hospital as it is and don't wish to see it alter.

When looking at how the Heathcote hospital started out and what it has become, it has become great development over the years. From starting out as just a tent in 1853 to now having buildings which allow older citizens to live in comfort and have company as they get older. With this sort of environment it shows how the money that the town raises goes to good use, in that the money isn't being used of other things. With the way that the hospital has been able to keep its original stone front shows how this town is able to keep its historical integrity, which is seen throughout the whole of the town. As the years have passed, the hospital still holds a form of being one of the main and most important buildings of the town of Heathcote and its surrounding areas/ shires. With the growing development of the hospital it shows how with the alteration of time how the hospital will also alter accordingly. With all these aspects that have been looked at over the hospitals history it shows that this building will be a grand monument for the town for many years to come.

i Wines, Maddie., 'Heathcote Cannabis drug raids net $1 million', Bendigo Advertiser, Local News, Sept. 4 2014, para. 1, <http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/2534092/heathcote-drug-raids-net-1m/>, 10/10/2015ii Prangnell, Jonathan and Quirk, Kate., 'Children in Paradise: Growing up on the Australian Goldfields', Historical Archaeology, Vol. 43, No. 3, Current Research in Australia and New Zealand ( 2009), pp.38iii Randell, J.O., 'McIvor', (Burwood, Victoria: Brown Prior Anderson, 1985) pp. 12

iv 'Heathcote Hospital', The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser , 06 Jan 1916, pp 2, in Trove database, access on 22/09/2015.v 'Australian Hospitals' The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2148 (Mar. 1, 1902), pp.549vi MacMichael, Helen., 'Shortage Of Nurses', The British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 5200 (Sep. 3, 1960), p. 740

Bibliography:

Primary'Heathcote Hospital', The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser , 06 Jan 1916, pp 2, in Trove database, access on 22/09/2015.

'Heathcote Hospital', The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 03 Feb 1916, pp 2, in Trove database, access on 22/09/2015

'The Victorian Railway Catastrophe', Bunbury Herald, 23 Apr 1908, pp 3, in Trove database, access on 22/09/2015

'Escape of a Lunatic', The Age, 28 May 1901, pp 6, in Trove database, access on 22/09/2015

Secondary

Wines, Maddie., 'Heathcote Cannabis drug raids net $1 million', Bendigo Advertiser, Local News, Sept. 4 2014, para. 1, <http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/2534092/heathcote-drug-raids-net-1m/>, 10/10/2015

Prangnell, Jonathan and Quirk, Kate., 'Children in Paradise: Growing up on the Australian Goldfields', Historical Archaeology, Vol. 43, No. 3, Current Research in Australia and New Zealand ( 2009), pp. 38-49

Randell, J.O., 'McIvor', (Burwood, Victoria: Brown Prior Anderson, 1985) pp. 12

'Australian Hospitals' The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2148 (Mar. 1, 1902), pp. 549-550MacMichael, Helen., 'Shortage Of Nurses', The British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 5200 (Sep. 3, 1960), p. 740

Photosfig1 Map of Heathcote 2014. Google maps

fig2 Robinson, Geroge William, Heathcote, 1906, Trove [Online database], 22/09/2015

fig3Grant, Tarlyn, Heathcote Hospital original building in 2015

fig4 -Hospital, Heathcote, Vic, 1916, Trove [Online Database], 22/09/2015

fig5 Grant, Robert, Heathcote Health Hospital 1960-70