Book

Author

Egan, Bryan

Title

Ways of a Hospital: St Vincent's Melbourne 1890s-1990s

Imprint

Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, 1993

Subject

History of Applied Sciences Medical and Health Sciences

Abstract

From the blurb:

Founded as a religious hospital by the Sisters of Charity in 1893, St Vincent's has become an intrinsic part of Melbourne's history over the last 100 years. The early 1890s was a bleak period in Melbourne's economic history with bank crashes and bankruptcies signalling the end of the previous decade's boom, but while Victorian government was disinclined to fund a new hospital, the particular powers vested in the Sisters of Charity resulted in their far-sighted and energetic plans coming to fruition in the establishment of a religious hospital.

Catholicism has had far-reaching influence on the day to day running of St Vincent's, from the busy life of the hospital's chaplains to the undoubted spirituality inspiring the work of many non-religious staff members. At the same time, the secular medical and nursing staffs, as individuals and as groups, have also managed to make their marks.

Bryan Egan recalls the events occurring during the hospital's lifetime that have been recorded, forgotten, remembered, misunderstood, clarified and now brought together for the first time in a comprehensive history. He explores St Vincent's special culture, captures its own spirit, relates anecdotes, records its periods of growth and development brought about by changes in society, values and manners, and catalogues its defeats as well as its gains.

"Ways of a Hospital" is a commemoration of the many people who have contributed to the hospital's enduring success - the founding Sisters from novice to mother rectress, the medical staff from nurses to surgeons, the ancilliary staff from cleaners to engineers and, of course, the patients who have borne testament to the care, charity and virtue of those in whose hands their lives lay.

Source

Carlson 1994

Related entries

Corporate Bodies

• Advisory Council of St Vincent's School of Medical Research, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne (1952 - 1957)
• St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne (1893 - )

See also

• Eccles, John Carew (1903 - 1997)
• Edman, Pehr Victor (1916 - 1977)
• McCarthy, Neville John (1929 - 2021)
• Morgan, Francis Patrick (Frank) (1906 - 1988)
• Osborne, William Alexander (1873 - 1967)
• St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research (1958 - )