Caring and Compassionate The Mater Children’s Hospital 1931–2014

The Mater Children’s Hospital – the realization of a dream for the Sisters of Mercy – opened on July 6, 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression. Triumphs and challenges followed each other through eight decades. In 2014, the Mater Children’s Hospital closed. Bricks and mortar, techniques and technologies form part of the story of a hospital, but hospitals are ‘people’ places. Patients and parents, nurses and doctors, administrators and planners and cooks and cleaners gave the Mater Children’s Hospital its own unique ‘personality’, molded by the philosophy and values of the Sisters of Mercy.

Helen Gregory is a professional historian and consultant in Queensland history and cultural heritage conservation. She has written many commissioned histories including Expressions of Mercy, Playing for Keeps for Queensland’s Creche and Kindergarten Association and histories of the Endeavour Foundation and MontroseAccess.