IT was a day of happy reminiscence tinged with sadness as many gathered in remembrance of Swan Hill’s Old Nurses’ Home, which is set to be demolished next month to make way for the new emergency department.
Past and present staff from Swan Hill District Health along with other wider community members shared an afternoon of stories last Wednesday, sifting through old photographs and documents and sharing their memories of the nurses’ home.
One of the former residents of the nurses’ home in attendance was Sue Donnelly (nee Schultz). Entering the home in 1964 straight out of school, Ms Donnelly told The Guardian it was “a really happy environment”.
“I just loved every minute of it,” she said.
Another former resident of the nurses’ home Meg Irvin helped to organise the get-together to ensure the building got the proper send-off it deserves.
“I’ve been nursing for 43 years, so it is just lovely seeing everybody, and you can feel the buzz in the room,” she said.
Ms Irvin recalled the first time she saw the place that would come to mean so much to her.
“My first impression of the nurses’ home was that it was a big three-storey building with lots of stairs, and the stairs seemed much higher when we were dragging our cases and belongings up to our assigned rooms on the top floor,” she said.
“The bedrooms were just plain rooms and each floor had a communal bathroom, kitchen and lounge room.
“Like any student accommodation, the nurses’ home was a way to bond with fellow nursing students of similar ages and interests.
“Even though it was a plain, basic building with basic facilities, we had a lot of fun, and we made a lot of lifelong friends.”
Ms Irvin also spoke highly of her past colleagues work efforts.
“I’ve been here most of my life, and I am very proud of our hospital system,” she said.
“We had some absolute fantastic doctors and nursing staff, and I know when the chips were down we all worked really well as a team and I know we saved a lot of people, so we know we did a really good job.”
The event also marked the end of an era.
“There is definitely sadness for sure,” Ms Donnelly said.
“But having said that, we just know you have to go with progress, and the area needs more modern hospitals, so that is just part of it.”
Ms Irvin shared the opinion as Ms Donnelly in that she felt the building “has done its day”.
“They really need a new emergency department and there are other buildings that need building too, they are deteriorating and they need to build them, so we don’t mind at all,” she said.
With the preliminary works for the demolition of the Old Nurses’ Home already under way Swan Hill District Health board director Greg Kuchel told those gathered at the celebration that the new building should start being constructed sometime next year and is expected to be operational by 2025.
“My task here is to probably look a bit forward as opposed to looking back,” Mr Kuchel said.
“I am bit of a person who enjoys building things, so I am really looking forward to one, seeing how this building gets demolished, and secondly how the new one gets built – I think it will be a really great thing to watch.”
So while the physical bricks and mortar might be set to be destroyed, the stories of those who lived in the old building will continue to be told for years to come.
“There are a lot of memories in that brick building – if only those walls could talk,” Ms Irvin said.
