Celebrating 85 years of hospital care

4 Apr 2022

A large crowd gathered on that sunny Saturday afternoon, 10 April 1937, for the opening of the new hospital. Among the guests were Mr Troy, the acting Premier of Western Australia, and Mr Munsie, the Minister for Health. Mr Munsie praised the riverside location of the hospital, adding the charm of the gardens would alleviate pain and suffering.

As the Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Dr Prendiville, declared St Anne’s Nursing Home open, and he told the gathered crowd the scope of the hospital would extend to include midwifery.

This came as a surprise to the Sisters of Mercy, who had prepared to open a general hospital providing surgical and medical care. Dr Prendiville’s announcement was a response to a recent announcement from the Pope that religious women should extend their care to the nursing of mothers and babies where possible.

The crowd received the news with enthusiasm. A pregnant lady stepped forward from the crowd and said she would love to be the first to book in to have her baby at the hospital!

Fortunately, Sister Gertrude Willoughby had obtained a double certificate in nursing before she joined the Sisters of Mercy. She undertook further training in midwifery and holds the accolade of becoming the first religious midwife in Western Australia.

The Sisters turned the room they had set aside for their own accommodation into a maternity ward. The first baby born at St Anne’s Nursing Home was delivered in July 1937, starting our tradition of maternity service which continue to thrive today.

The Sunday Times newspaper ran a large feature article on the opening of the hospital. It praised the hospital for both its picturesque, old world setting and its modern features. These included electric clocks, blanket warmers and heated towel rails for patients, and diffused lighting set in the floors. The automatic washing up machine and electric food lift in the kitchen were the latest innovations of the time.

A brave new venture

The opening of St Anne’s Nursing Home marked a new venture for the Sisters of Mercy in Western Australia. While the congregation had hospitals elsewhere in Australia and around the world, they had focused on teaching and caring for orphaned and disadvantaged children since their arrival in Western Australia in 1846.

The opening of St Anne’s Nursing Home was the culmination of several years of planning by the Sisters of Mercy under the leadership of Mother Brigid McDonald. In 1935 they purchased Killowen House – the grand former home of the Robinson family on the banks of the Swan River in the Perth suburb of Mount Lawley – for the bargain price of £5,000. Only two years earlier, the house had been valued at £15,000 when it was first offered for auction.

A group of seven Sisters were tasked with converting Killowen House to a modern hospital. They commissioned architect E Le B Henderson and builders Brine & Son to convert the interior of the house to patient accommodation and build two new buildings. The first was a three-storey surgical block with more patient accommodation, an operating suite with two theatres, sterilising rooms, anaesthetic and recovery rooms and an x-ray department. The second new building was devoted to deep therapy work – cancer treatment using radiation.

The beautiful gardens established by the Robinson family were enhanced with statues reflecting the Catholic identity of the hospital. Two beautiful statues flanked the entrance of the hospital – one of the Jesus with his arms outstretched and the other of St Anne with a young Mary. They were the work of local sculptor, Edward Kohler, and remain in the grounds to this day.

85 years on

Since opening with a staff of five Sisters of Mercy and two support staff, our hospital has seen many changes in its 85 years. When a dedicated maternity hospital was built alongside Killowen in 1958, the hospital changed its name to St Anne’s Hospital and was renamed Mercy Hospital Mount Lawley in 1996 to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy in Western Australia. When the hospital was acquired by St John of God Health Care in May 2014, it was renamed St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital.

Today, more than 700 caregivers are proud to walk in the footsteps of the Sisters of Mercy who established the hospital 85 years ago and now includes the legacy of the Sisters of St John of God.