Full description
A free private hospital for consumptive patients was founded by John H. Goodlet in 1877. When the hospital was initially established patients were housed in a hotel leased by Goodlet in Picton. An increase in patient numbers led Goodlet to construct a purpose built facility at Thirlmere, opening in 1886. Ever increasing demand for the services of the hospital meant that Goodlet was no longer able to privately fund the institution. As a result, the hospital became managed by a public board and largely funded by public subscription in 1893. Further financial problems led the hospital to apply for funds from the Queen Victoria Consumptive Homes Fund Committee.
At a meeting of the executive of the Queen Victoria Consumptive Homes Fund Committee on 20 April 1898 a deputation was received from the board of management of the Consumptive Hospital in Thirlmere proposing that the Committee should take over the Thirlmere hospital. The Committee took over the management of the hospital on 31 August 1898. (1) It was at this point the Thirlmere hospital came to be known as the Queen Victoria Sanatorium Thirlmere or Queen Victoria Home for Consumptives Thirlmere.
By 1901 Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Memorial Fund Committee made the decision to establish another hospital for consumptives in Wentworth Falls. The Wentworth Falls Sanatorium opened on 18 February 1903 initially as a sanatorium for men with tuberculosis while the already existing Queen Victoria Sanatorium in Thirlmere was designated for the care of women suffering with tuberculosis. (2)
In 1904 the Queen Victoria Consumptive Homes Fund Committee purchased the property from John Goodlet. (3)
The Queen Victoria Sanatoriums were initially administered by the Queen Victoria Consumptives Homes Fund Committee with funds received by public subscription and increasingly by government subsidies (4). By April 1912, ever increasing government assistance led to the dissolving of Queen Victoria Consumptives Homes Fund Committee. (5) The Queen Victoria Hospitals became hospitals under the Public Hospitals Act in July 1912. (6)
The Queen Victoria Sanatorium Thirlmere functioned as a sanatorium for patients with tuberculosis until about 1959 when it became a hospital for the aged and chronically ill. (7)
Endnotes
1. "Queen Victoria Homes", Sydney Morning Herald, 28 June 1898, p.3. Retrieved September 6, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14180876.
2. J. Austin, B. Craven and G. Silvey. (1996). A Brief History of the Township of Wentworth Falls. Blue Mountains Historical Society: Wentworth Falls. p.12.
3. "Thirlmere Sanatorium", Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December 1907, p. 7. Retrieved September 10, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14890365.
4. "Home for Consumptives", Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March 1909, p.5. Retrieved September 10, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15046019.
5. "Q.V. Homes", Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 1912, p.8. Retrieved September 10, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15325289.
6. NSW Government Gazette No.102, 3 July 1912, p.4252.
7. Office of Environment and Heritage NSW, Queen Victoria Sanatorium, retrieved 5 September 2012 from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=3540638.
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