$40m upgrade opened

Published: 4 July 2010
By: Peter Bugden

Hospital blessing: Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Oudeman presides at the blessing and opening of St Vincent's Hospital Brisbane

ST Vincent's Hospital - formerly Mt Olivet Hospital - is an icon of Brisbane "because it represents the face of Christ - the healing face of Christ", St Vincent's and Holy Spirit Health board chairman Patrick Mullins said at the blessing and opening of the redeveloped St Vincent's.

Mr Mullins, addressing about 200 people at the event on June 25, said the old Mt Olivet - now St Vincent's Hospital Brisbane - was much more than a landmark.

"The Sisters of Charity have cared for patients with love and compassion (at the hospital for more than 50 years) - that's why it's an icon of Brisbane," he said.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Oudeman of Brisbane blessed the redeveloped hospital, and Deputy Premier of Queensland and Health Minister Paul Lucas officially opened it.

Bishop Oudeman, in his homily during the blessing liturgy, said the hospital was about management - "all about caring, all about service".

"Very often our meetings are in management terms," he said. "This is something I had to get used to because I come from a very simple religious background where we talk about the Gospel."

Bishop Oudeman said he was pleased that the reading chosen for the liturgy was about creation.

"Creation is not a management word," he said. "The moment you talk about creation you are talking about God.
"Creation is a process of evolution - of growth - a process very evident in the development of St Vincent's.

"(It is evident) from Mary Aikenhead founding the Sisters of Charity and coming out here in 1838 - then the gift of the land (the former Mt Olivet Hospital) from two remarkable people (Mary Bedford donated the land in honour of her friend Dr Lillian Cooper) who had a vocation to care and provide.

"They were not Catholic but were still very much part of St Vincent's story.

"Then there was Sr Giovanni Ackman (first administrator of the hospital), who was from a Jewish background.
"So many things come together in bits and pieces. All the while we know God is part of creation.

"God is present. It's good to know we're never alone.
Everything we do for others ... Everything we do in management is gift."

The 164-bed Catholic not-for-profit St Vincent's Hospital Brisbane cares for private and public patients.

With the $40 million redevelopment, the hospital is diversifying its services with a focus on general medicine and gerontology, persistent pain management, rehabilitation and palliative care medicine.