Meeting the needs of the community for over a century

30 Mar 2023

When the Sisters of St John of God first came to Western Australia in 1895, they had no intention of opening private hospitals. They had been contract nurses in Ireland, and assumed this model would continue in Western Australia.

However, their experience in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, where local committees owned and managed the hospitals and the Sisters of St John of God provided nursing services, convinced the Sisters they needed greater control of their own affairs.

In order to do this, they needed to own and manage hospitals themselves. But it also posed the question of how they could continue the healing Mission of Jesus by offering care to everyone, regardless of economic status.

The solution was to open an “intermediate hospital” – a hospital that lay between the charitable (government) hospitals and private hospitals only the “well to do” could access.

Subiaco was both the first Catholic hospital - and the first intermediate hospital - in Western Australia

Image: The first shared wards at St John of God Subiaco Hospital, 1898.

It was for this reason there were two classes of accommodation when Subiaco Hospital opened in 1898. There were open, shared wards for male and female patients, and a “private ward” where beds were screens between beds offered some privacy. Fees for a bed in a shared ward were considerably less than those in the private ward.

The Sisters of St John of God also worked to ensure they could offer care to those who could not afford any fees. From circa 1900 to the late 1930s, the community raised funds so some beds could be made available free of charge.

Called “Free Ward” beds, there was no free ward as such. Patients admitted at no charge were nursed and cared for alongside, and in exactly the same way, as fee-paying patients. Doctors also gave their support by providing their services for Free Ward patients free of charge.

The Sisters were praised for this model of care, as no one knew anyone else’s individual circumstances

As the hospital was expanded, the Sisters of St John of God offered three types of accommodation: shared wards, semi-private wards and private rooms. Some private rooms even had ensuite bathrooms!

Image: Semi-private ward, c. 1950.

Image: Private room with hand basin, c. 1950.

This year, Subiaco proudly celebrates 125 years of providing hospitality, hope and healing to the community.