Medical services began in the Wimmera in the 1850s when doctors travelled rough roads on horseback to treat emergencies.
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A hospital with nursing care, medical tools and drugs would give patients a faster road to recovery.
The idea of a Horsham hospital was formed in the minds of a group of concerned businessmen and citizens in 1873.
A temporary Horsham hospital was set up in 1874. Its doctor, Frederick Lawton, received a salary of £100 a year.
The hospital was managed by a committee drawn from subscribers. This was a group of about 100 who had committed to paying one guinea each year to support the hospital.
A formal request in 1874 for land for a public hospital resulted in a Crown Grant of nine acres on the south-east corner of Baillie and Robinson Streets.
The township set about raising money for a solid brick hospital and, in August 1874, also secured a £500 grant from the Government's charities fund.
The first hospital was completed in May 1875 at a cost of £2000.
It was described in the papers as "an elegant brick structure of ornate design". It had 12 beds and a staff of three: a wardsman, a nurse and a doctor.
The design of a hospital is more important than in any other building. Best placement of services in a hospital means more lives saved with better outcomes and contented patients.
The management committee worked in close consultation with doctors and nurses.
Funding for Horsham Hospital came mainly from the local community. In April 1876 the Hospital Committee was disgusted when told Horsham was to get only £500 for that year from the Victorian Government's "Charitable Vote".
According to the amount contributed by subscribers and donations, Horsham Hospital was entitled to £1800. The hospital sent an indignant deputation to Melbourne and received a promise of £400 more, still only amounting to half the full entitlement.
In the mid-1870s scarlet fever struck Horsham. So, in June 1876 a 'fever ward' was built to isolate communicable diseases from the general hospital population.
Epidemics were in a grey area between the management committee and the Government and there were disputes about who was responsible for costs.
Meanwhile the need for more hospital beds was growing. With rapid land settlement in the Wimmera came a huge increase in the district's population, putting immense pressure on the existing 12 beds. Sometimes patients had to be turned away.
In May 1876 a tender was let to construct a new wing, the Bowen Wing, costing £780. The committee had to wrestle with contractual difficulties but by November the ward was completed.
About 1880 the name was changed to 'Horsham District Hospital' to reflect its coverage.
Surrounding local councils provided a small levy from their Rates income.
Verandahs were erected in 1880 for the comfort of patients.
In the spring of that year, gardens at the hospital were created in accordance with a plan by William Guilfoyle, the designer of the Horsham Botanical Gardens. In 1882 a four-bed wing for women was added on the north side.
By 1883, to defray costs, the hospital had a vegetable garden and kept cows for milk and pigs to consume kitchen waste.
The issue of hospital waste was a recurrent problem. Initial attempts used cesspits and brick drains creating a "nuisance".
In 1889 the hospital had 22 beds. Town gas and water had been connected and the Government granted a further 2.5 acres, making a total of 11.5 acres, allowing room for future expansion.
Most funding still came from the Wimmera community. There were egg appeals, linen days, hospital gift days, carnivals, dances, concerts and hare drives. Many individuals, sports and community clubs, churches and schools donated funds.
FIRST NATIONS: Yoorrook Justice Commission coming to Horsham, Halls Gap
A hospital Ladies Committee was very active with fund raising, organising balls and carnivals and so on.
The hospital continued to expand to meet the district's needs. It had 33 beds in 1893.
By 1902 there was a new medical wing, a new nurses' residential home and a new operating theatre. Emergency transport of patients from outlying areas was often difficult. In 1925 a Dodge motor ambulance was purchased.
Horsham's population grew and grew and the need for more hospital beds became urgent. In April 1925 the hospital committee began discussions with an architect for a large expansion.
In October 1925 Mr J Soutar of Malvern won the tender. His price was £20,740, equivalent to about $8 million today.
In December 1927 the hospital re-opened with a new name, 'Horsham Base Hospital'.
It now had an 'H' shaped plan with two female wards on the northern side and two male wards on the southern side.
The original hospital building formed the central, north-south cross piece of the 'H', which housed the children's ward, medical rooms, X-ray, laboratory and administration.
The hospital's capacity had increased from 40 beds to 120. The operating theatre was named the 'Alexander Philip Theatre'. He had gifted £1000. A new 4-bed maternity ward consisted of an obstetrics ward and operating room.
The final cost was £33,000. The government had only contributed £11,000. In 1928 John Russell of Nurrabiel donated £2,000 towards buying a much-needed X-ray machine.
But still the hospital had to grow and still local organisations and individuals donated generously to help it do so. In 1937 nine builders tendered for a pathology department and mortuary. The average price was £2,100.
By July 1939 the Horsham Base Hospital was treating an average of 100 patients per day. A deputation from the management committee travelled to Melbourne to plead the case for a new hospital.
They came back with a promise from the Victorian Premier of a grant of £20,000 and a further loan of £20,000 for a new building. But there was a catch, they got nothing unless £10,000 was raised locally.
Plans for a red-brick, multi-storey hospital, facing Baillie Street were drawn up and, despite delays due to World War II, the new building was completed in July 1943 but that story will have to wait until next month.