Gold Coast Hospital

The site of the Gold Coast Hospital, also formerly known as the Southport Maternity Hospital, was first identified as being a suitable location for a hospital in 1921 after a number of other locations had been considered.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188319636 |title=LACK OF STAFF |newspaper=South Coast Bulletin |issue=875 |location=Queensland|date=7 March 1945 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} An initial parcel of land fronting Nerang and Queens Streets was offered by the owner Mr. W. R. Black who had purchased the property specifically for use as a public hospital. Confirmation of the acceptance of Mr. Black's offer was noted at a meeting of the Women's Hospital Committee presided over by Mrs. Murray-Prior at the Southport School of the Arts in September 1921.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20516576 |title=SOUTHPORT. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=19,873 |date=30 September 1921 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}

The site, also known as the 'old rectory' and approved by the Home Office as being suitable for a hospital, was retained by Mr. Black on the understanding that it would be sold at the purchase price to the Southport Memorial Hospital Committee, which had been established in 1918,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188319636 |title=LACK OF STAFF |newspaper=South Coast Bulletin |issue=875 |location=Queensland|date=7 March 1945 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} when funds and plans had progressed further.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21029451 |title=MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=21,354 |date=5 July 1926 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} A series of fund raising events took place in the following years and by 1926 it was reported that £2,000 had been raised{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167992350 |title=SOUTHPORT. |newspaper=The Telegraph |issue=15,444 |location=Brisbane |date=29 May 1922 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} and additional land surrounding Mr. Black's property had been secured.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21029451 |title=MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=21,354 |date=5 July 1926 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}

The committee of the Southport and District Public Memorial Hospital applied to the Brisbane and South Coast Hospital Board requesting that an initial twelve bed facility be built on the site. At the time, the South Coast region was without public hospital facilities and patients were transferred to Brisbane. The committee undertook to calculate how many local residents had required transportation and treatment in Brisbane over the previous three years.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218248463 |title=SOUTHPORT NEWS |newspaper=Daily Mail |issue=7220 |location=Brisbane |date=20 April 1925 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}} In 1929, Mr. A. Pope, from the Brisbane and South Coast Hospital Board, addressed a meeting of the Southport Town Council and explained that a hospital in Southport would be held over.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136464151 |title=Hospital Control |newspaper=South Coast Bulletin |volume=1 |issue=13 |location=Queensland|date=15 March 1929 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Despite the efforts of the Southport Hospital Committee, which included members of the Southport Town Council on its board, and the local community, construction of the hospital had not commenced by the 1930s.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35631732 |title=SUBSIDIARY HOSPITAL |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |issue=392 |location=Brisbane |date=29 November 1934 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}} In 1934, the site and £100 debt, was offered to the Brisbane and South Coast Hospitals Board on the condition the land was used for hospital purposes. The transfer of the five and a half acre parcel of land valued at £2,500{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117438516 |title=DEEDS HANDED OVER. |newspaper=Queensland Times |volume=LXXVI |issue=15,216 |date=21 August 1935 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=7|edition=DAILY |via=National Library of Australia}} went ahead although the new owners stressed that the subsidiary hospital would not be built immediately.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36723453 |title=SOUTHPORT HOSPITAL SITE |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |issue=280 |location=Brisbane |date=21 July 1934 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118558306 |title=SOUTHPORT HOSPITAL SITE. |newspaper=Queensland Times |volume=LXXV |issue=14,987 |date=24 November 1934 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=8 (DAILY.) |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article179663391 |title=Southport Hospital Site |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=10 December 1934 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=11|edition=CITY FINAL LAST MINUTE NEWS |via=National Library of Australia}}

The following year, other sites were under consideration{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188319662 |title=SOUTHPORT HOSPITAL. |newspaper=South Coast Bulletin |issue=875 |location=Queensland|date=7 March 1945 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} and, by 1938, the Brisbane and South Coast Hospitals Board were recommending that the site be subdivided and sold with the proceeds being used to acquire a property known as Staghorn which was considered to have better drainage and a more favourable location.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40999408 |title=SOUTHPORT |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |issue=1464 |location=Brisbane |date=12 May 1938 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=11 (Second Section.) |via=National Library of Australia}}

In December 1950 construction of a maternity hospital was nearing completion on the site originally selected in 1921. Following a shark attack of a life saver, Leo Vincent Ryan, at Burleigh Heads,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225631243 |title=SHARK ATTACKS |newspaper=South Coast Bulletin |issue=1171 |location=Queensland|date=29 November 1950 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}} which highlighted the lack of emergency facilities in the region, the decision was made to build a general hospital adjoining the new maternity hospital.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article147956025 |title=GENERAL HOSPITAL FOR SOUTH COAST |newspaper=Maryborough Chronicle |issue=24,588 |location=Queensland|date=5 December 1950 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} At the time, in addition to Brisbane, the nearest public hospital was at Murwillumbah, New South Wales.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118434842 |title=No Provision Yet NEW HOSPITAL AT SOUTHPORT |newspaper=Queensland Times |issue=25,171 |date=16 November 1954 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=3 |edition=Daily |via=National Library of Australia}}

The 18 bed maternity hospital opened on 14 January 1952{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50237206 |title=New coast hospital |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |issue=4685 |location=Brisbane |date=3 December 1951 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225640219 |title=NEW SOUTHPORT MATERNITY HOSPITAL |newspaper=South Coast Bulletin |issue=1239 |location=Queensland|date=9 January 1952 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}} and, at its official opening in July 1952 it was reported that 156 babies had been born in the intervening seven months at the hospital.

By 1954, the region had 20,000 residents, plans for the general hospital had not progressed and the lack of public hospital facilities was being discussed in the newspapers.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212595984 |title=HOSPITAL IS COAST CRY |newspaper=Brisbane Telegraph |date=3 February 1951 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=7 (LAST RACE) |via=National Library of Australia}} The matter was raised in the Queensland State Parliament and it was acknowledged that there were insufficient funds due to 'every penny' going to the South Brisbane Auxiliary Hospital.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226675716 |title=Full Backing For Coast Hospital |newspaper=South Coast News |volume=3 |issue=12 |location=Queensland|date=27 November 1954 |access-date=21 May 2016 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Six years later, on 2 April 1960 and after four decades of lobbying, the Southport General Hospital was officially opened. It consisted of four buildings containing two wards, operating theatres, x-ray facilities and quarters for staff and amenities.{{cite journal|title=Southport General Hospital, Nerang Street, Southport, 22 August, 1961|url=https://digitalbank.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:16170?query=hospital+southport|website=Picture Gold Coast| year=1961 |access-date=21 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918133142/https://digitalbank.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:16170?query=hospital+southport|archive-date=18 September 2016|url-status = live|df=dmy-all| last1=Studios | first1=Hart }}

In February 2008, it was reported that Queensland's public hospitals were putting lives at risk by failing to deliver adequate care across a range of key areas. The report found nine instances where public hospitals failed one of the 13 surgical indicators, with the Gold Coast Hospital responsible for three of these.{{cite news | last =Wardill | first =Steven | title =Queensland's public hospitals fail health tests | work =The Courier Mail | url =http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23191353-3102,00.html | format =Web article | access-date =12 February 2008 |url-status = dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080319084920/http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23191353-3102,00.html | archive-date =19 March 2008 }}

On 28 September 2013, the Gold Coast Hospital at Southport closed. All patients were transferred to the new Gold Coast University Hospital at 1 Hospital Boulevard, off Parklands Drive in Southport.{{Cite web |url=http://www.health.qld.gov.au/goldcoasthealth/ |title={title} |access-date=29 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220137/http://www.health.qld.gov.au/goldcoasthealth/ |archive-date=4 October 2013 |url-status = live|df=dmy-all }} The Robina Hospital is also available on the Gold Coast.

In mid 2014, demolition of the 20 buildings on the {{convert|3.4|hectare|acre|adj=on}} site commenced to free up the area for new commercial development opportunities within the Southport Priority Development Area. Completion of the demolition works was expected by mid 2015.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/gold-coast-hospital-site/infrastructure-and-planning/gold-coast-hospital-site.html |title={title} |access-date=20 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819125136/http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/gold-coast-hospital-site/infrastructure-and-planning/gold-coast-hospital-site.html |archive-date=19 August 2014 |url-status = dead|df=dmy-all }} Developer Nerang St Pty Ltd filed a development application for residential and commercial towers in 2017,{{Cite news|url=https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/revealed-developers-plan-eight-towers-and-retail-precinct-for-old-gold-coast-hospital-site/news-story/8ac6cb01d0c5077a953501520043e121?nk=b4b1e1efb8e0357cc6dca2af0b8f6a89-1541564307|title=Revealed: Developers plan eight towers and retail precinct for old Gold Coast Hospital site|last=Potts|first=Andrew|date=8 March 2017|work=Gold Coast Bulletin|access-date=7 Nov 2018}} with approval granted in March 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://blog.plantminer.com.au/550m-residential-development-to-rise-on-old-gold-coast-hospital-site|title=$550m residential development to rise on old Gold Coast Hospital site|last=Gameng|first=Monica|date=20 March 2018|work=Plantminer blog|access-date=7 Nov 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508110905/https://blog.plantminer.com.au/550m-residential-development-to-rise-on-old-gold-coast-hospital-site|archive-date=8 May 2018|url-status = live|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web|last=Neighbourhood|first=Your|date=2020-09-20|title=New Playground, Retail & Improvements – $500m Queen Street Village, Southport, Gold Coast|url=http://www.yourneighbourhood.com.au/new-playground-retail-improvements-500m-queen-street-village-southport-gold-coast/|access-date=2020-11-23|website=Your Neighbourhood|language=en-AU}}

{{Portal|Queensland}}

• Gold Coast University Hospital
• List of hospitals in Australia

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.goldcoasthealth.com.au/ Gold Coast Health]
• [http://www.health.qld.gov.au/wwwprofiles/gcoast_gcrobina_hosp.asp Queensland Health – Gold Coast Hospital, Robina Campus]
• [http://www.health.qld.gov.au/goldcoasthealth/ Gold Coast University Hospital]
• [http://www.health.qld.gov.au/goldcoasthealth/ Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH)]
• [http://www.health.qld.gov.au/goldcoasthealth/ Robina Hospital]

{{Authority control}}

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Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1922

Category:Teaching hospitals in Australia

Category:Defunct hospitals in Australia

Category:Hospitals in Queensland

Category:Buildings and structures on the Gold Coast, Queensland

Category:Hospitals established in 1993

Category:Hospitals disestablished in 2013

Category:Southport, Queensland

Category:1993 establishments in Australia

Category:2013 disestablishments in Australia

Category:1922 establishments in Australia