1901 - 1906

The first Nurses' Home

Inevitably the expansion of hospital services was accompanied by an increase in the number of nursing staff who required somewhere to live. Accordingly a large nurses’ home was erected to the north-east of the hospital. It opened in 1904.  

photograph courtesy Photographic Department, Wellington Hospital / Wellington School of Medicine 

Below are two photos of the large sitting room for nurses.

both photos taken in 1906 and courtesy NZ Graphic

Here is another view of the nurses’ home as seen through the main gate which by now was situated on the Riddiford Street frontage.

photograph courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of NZ, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa 

By 1906 the Matron was accommodated in the ground floor of the block erected in 1888.  The photo below shows Matron Frances Keith Payne in her sitting room.

photo courtesy NZ Graphic

Victoria Hospital for the chronically incurable

A significant number of hospital patients required long-term stay and to cater for them the Victoria Hospital for the Chronically Incurable was built on the hill to the south-east of the main hospital, near to Mein Street.

photograph courtesy Archives New Zealand Te Whare Tohu Tuhituhinga O Aotearoa 

There were two wards, the interior of one is shown below.

photograph courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of NZ, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa 

Care for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Pulmonary tuberculosis had become a major health problem by the beginning of the twentieth century. To cater for the care of some of these patients, the Seddon Ward and Shelters were opened on the hill to the east of the hospital.

photograph courtesy Photographic Department, Wellington Hospital / Wellington School of Medicine