Wilson Memorial Community Hospital located in

Murrurundi Murrurundi( ), is a rural town located in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Murrurundi is situated northwest by road from Newcastle and north from Sydney. At the the town had a population of 84 ...

, New South Wales, was designed by architect George McRae and completed in 1919 . It is now proposed to be demolished to make way for a new hospital. Community groups have been fighting to get the hospital heritage listed.

History

The hospital grounds was owned by Peter Haydon in 1840 who sold the land to William Arlington Wilson. The hospital replaced a smaller facility run by the

Benevolent Society The Benevolent Society, founded by Edward Smith Hall in 1813, is Australia's first and oldest charity. The society is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose main goals include helping families, older Australians and people with disabili ...

in 1861 It was named after William Arlington Wilson who donated the land. After he died in 1913 he gave five acres of land to community to build the hospital. First foundation stone was laid in 1916. The building was delayed for three year due to

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and finally opened in 1919. The foundation stone was buried in the rose garden for the 100th anniversary. It was designed by

George McRae George McRae (10 September 1857 – 16 June 1923) was a Scottish architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career in Sydney, where he became Government Architect of New South Wales and designed some of Sydney's best-known buildi ...

who designed many other buildings including Sydney's

Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian st ...

and the

Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'. It ...

. The hospital was only one of two building that he designed outside of Sydney,

Facilitates

Located on corner of Paradise and O'Connell Streets. The hospital has a number of services including 24/7 emergency department ,

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

and many allied health services including

physio Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patien ...

dietetics A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

and baby health clinics.

Proposed new hospital

The old hospital is set to be demolished to improve ambulance access, provide staff accommodation and parking. The new hospital will be named Murrurundi Wilson Memorial Hospital. Hutchies construction was awarded the contract in December 2019

Fight for State Heritage Listing

Ray Haynes the heritage consultant campaigned to cancel the demolition and place the hospital on the State Heritage List. On the 7th of July the State Heritage Committee rejected the

Upper Hunter Shire Council The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shi ...

application to make the hospital a state heritage building. A

community group resubmitted an application for State Heritage listing. The council claims no is

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

and leaks to the building but this only in the extensions with the core building having no issues. Hunter New England Health claim that there is no integrity to the original building

References

{{coord missing, New South Wales Murrurundi Buildings and structures in New South Wales