When was Old Isisford District Hospital established?
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The former Isisford District Hospital is a timber-framed and -clad complex with corrugated iron roofing, located in western central Queensland. Established in 1892, with additions between 1902 and 1961, it functioned as a hospital to 1970 and as a clinic until 2011. It is a fine example of a district hospital and demonstrates the evolution of Queensland district hospitals from the 1890s in accordance with changes to community needs, health practices and hospital legislation.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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Starting in 1948 and continuing into the 1950s, extensions were made to Isisford Hospital including: a kitchen, operating theatre and an extension to one of the 1892 buildings. Blackall Hospitals Board was advised by the Department of Health and Home Affairs that its plan for remodelling the Isisford Hospital had been approved; there was also approval for installation of an X-ray plant at Isisford.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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Isisford and its surrounding district grew over the three decades following the hospital's establishment. In 1901 Isisford's population was 270, rising to 356 in 1907 and peaking at 388 residents in 1921. Growth in selector numbers in the Isisford district between 1902 and 1926, stimulated by the western progress of the Central Western railway line, combined with a run of good seasons, provided two decades of sustained prosperity.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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Staffing became an issue again post-World War II, which prompted the community to fund-raise to resolve this problem. There was no doctor at Isisford Hospital between December 1945 and May 1946 and when the remaining medical staff resigned because of over-work, the hospital temporarily closed. This prompted the committee to send a letter of complaint to Queensland Premier Ned Hanlon in May 1946 about the lack of staff at Isisford Hospital due to bureaucratic inefficiency. At the same time a series of public meetings were held and Isisford established the Isisford Hospital Benefit Fund from June 1946 - a voluntary subscription list for the purpose of endowing the nursing staffs' wages at per person per calendar month, as compensation for the extra cost of living in the isolated district. As a result of the wage bonus, the Matron returned and two double-certificated nurses and an assistant nurse were obtained. Thereafter, the extra per month made it possible to retain a full nursing staff. However, it still remained difficult to get doctors appointed through the centralised system and to retain them.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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Old Isisford District Hospital is a heritage-listed former public hospital at 6 St Agnes Street, Isisford, Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Queensland Department of Public Works and built from 1914 to 1918. It is also known as Isisford District Hospital (former). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 September 2014.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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The Isisford Clinic in the former Isisford District Hospital closed in 2011, when it was replaced by a new Isisford Primary Health Clinic located nearby on the corner of St Agnes and St Helena Streets, still within the former hospital reserve. In 2014, its future use has yet to be determined.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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Old Isisford District Hospital was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 September 2014 having satisfied the following criteria.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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However, in the 1930s the Isisford District Hospital was still supported by the fund-raising efforts of its committee, showing the importance of the institution to the district. Throughout the 1930s the Isisford Hospital Committee undertook alterations and additions to improve the hospital including alterations to the maternity ward in 1933 increase ventilation in the building the addition in 1935, of reticulated water, after the council's weir was completed in October 1934.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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During World War I the Isisford District Hospital Committee struggled to retain a doctor. Believing it would be easier to keep a doctor in Isisford if accommodation could be provided, the committee in 1918 set about funding a doctor's residence, subsidised by the Queensland Government. It was erected by the beginning of 1921.
Old Isisford District Hospital
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In 1927 the growth of the Isisford District Hospital was described by The Longreach Leader:"The original hospital building is now used for two female wards and a kitchen. Additions since opening have been nurses' quarters, two female wards, operating theatre, isolation ward, maternity ward and doctor's residence. The institution is equipped with electric lighting and Xray plant. Staff comprise a medical officer, matron, two nurses and the domestic staff namely yardsman, cook, housemaid and laundress. There are four general wards - public and private ward for males and two similar wards for females."Further health legislation, which altered hospital and medical services in the state, was enacted during the 1920s and 1930s by the Queensland Government. The Hospitals Act 1923 established the model for future management of hospitals through district boards.
Old Isisford District Hospital