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South Australia - Organisation

Morris Hospital (1936 - 1981)

From
1936
To
1981
Categories
Home and Hospital

The Morris Hospital was the name given to the former Northfield Consumptive Home at Northfield in 1936. Run by a board of management it provided treatment for patients, including children, suffering from tuberculosis and cancer. The hospital was taken over by the Department of Defence during World War II. It resumed caring for civilian patients in 1948. The hospital was declared a part of the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) in 1973. In 1981 the Morris Hospital amalgamated with the Northfield Wards of the RAH to form the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

Details

Morris Hospital was the new name given to the Northfield Consumptive Home in 1936. It was re-named in honour of the late Dr B. H. Morris, Inspector General of Hospitals. Run by the South Australian Government it was situated adjacent to the Northfield Infectious Diseases Hospital and provided treatment to patients with advanced tuberculosis and cancer. It comprised an administrative block, nurses' block, three consumptive wards for 86 patients, and a cancer ward for 26 patients. It is likely that some of the patients admitted to the Morris Hospital were children.

During World War II (1939 - 1945) the Commonwealth Department of Defence utilised the Morris Hospital for returned service personnel. The Hospital was returned to the control of the state government in 1946, and in January the following year the hospital Board recommended to the Minister that the hospital should revert to its original function as an institution for people suffering from tuberculosis and cancer. From 1948 civilian patients were once again admitted to the hospital.

In the 1960s rehabilitation units for neurosurgical patients and patients with spinal injuries were established, and in the 1970s the hospital temporarily accommodated orthopaedic patients from the nearby Northfield Wards of the Royal Adelaide Hospital while they were being redeveloped. During the 1960s, individual wards of the hospital had been placed under the control of the Royal Adelaide Hospital but on 29 March 1973 the whole of Morris Hospital was declared a part of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The Morris Hospital amalgamated with the Northfield Wards of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1981 to form the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

Location

1936 - 1981
Location - Morris Hospital was located at Hampstead Road, Northfield. Location: Northfield

Timeline

 1931 - 1936 Northfield Consumptive Home
       1936 - 1981 Morris Hospital
             1981 - Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre

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Publications

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Morris Hospital at Northfield', The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia), 11 November 1936, p. 24, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74338748; State Records of South Australia, 'Agency Details: GA2416 Northfield Consumptive Home, later Morris Hospital', in State Records of South Australia, ArchivesSearch, http://archives.sa.gov.au.

Prepared by: Gary George and Karen George