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worked there. None more so than Nurse Marie Said Peter Le Griffon, Director of Nursing What has not changed are the memories of those
O’Donoghue who began her stint at the hospital and Midwifery/Facility Manager at Mossman who answered the calling and devoted their lives
in 1972 and continued through to this year until Hospital: “With a growing population in to nursing.
taking long-service leave to care for her ailing the region, advancements in healthcare, and Says Marie O’Donoghue, who views 46 years
mother. increasing demand for services, the design of at the hospital as the greatest time of her life,
“This is no ordinary hospital. It is not a square the Emergency Department … will undergo a nursing was a calling.
box. This is what has made it so different with its significant upgrade. “We worked hard; we were compassionate and we
many features,” she says. “The design phase of the project has taken a truly cared for our patients. We learned on the job
In a brief prepared by the Queensland number of years due to the heritage status of the and 1973 was a big year for me when I graduated.
Government’s Cultural Heritage Branch, the building, with construction expected to begin in “But we also had fun. We partied a lot. We were
hospital remains important in demonstrating 2019. mischievous and regularly broke the 10pm
the principal characteristics of a pavilion plan “The Emergency Department will be completely curfew rule. We had parties where we released
hospital of the early 20th Century. refurbished, with upgrades to treatment areas, the soul and remembered those who went before
It is the only Queensland public hospital designed triage and emergency and ambulance access areas us,” she said.
with Spanish Mission style exteriors, a design that to allow for better patient flow and care. Marie said there was a wonderful camaraderie
was popularised in Australia in the late 1920s. It is “The Emergency Department engaged two extra among the nurses, and we all had to abide
set in lush gardens against a spectacular mountain nurses this year to meet increasing demand by the strict running of the wards by nursing
backdrop which has been a valued characteristic on the unit. This is not expected to change as superintendent or matron May Smith.
since 1930. the refurbishment will improve the Hospital’s Living in the nurses’ quarters, and paid £33
From the 1860s to the 1930s almost all hospitals capability to meet patient’s needs.” fortnightly, Marie lived for her job and has no
built in Queensland were pavilion plan – The Maternity Ward closed in 2004, but Le Griffon regrets.
developed in Europe and England in the 1850s said midwives are currently working at Mossman Also, not to be forgotten, are the lives saved
– based on the principles of providing good Hospital to cover local antenatal appointments. following exceptional circumstances. Amos
ventilation, light and sanitation, and on selecting “Women will then give birth at the Cairns Baker, who in 1940 was savagely mauled by a
a generous area of land, preferably elevated and Hospital, but can receive post-natal care back crocodile while wading in the waters of Saltwater
on the outskirts of town. in Mossman. Midwives at Mossman Hospital Creek near the Heads, fought off the creature
There have been renovations and additions over support an average of 70 births per year, which and dragged himself to the riverbank where he
the years but the next major development is the is low compared to other regions in the health collapsed.
refurbishment of the Emergency Department. service,” he said.

PORT DOUGLAS MAGAZINE 101