By Barbara Armstrong.
LAUNCESTON HOMŒOPATHIC HOSPITAL
On 2 July 1900 the Launceston Homœopathic Hospital was opened by the Premier of Tasmania, Sir Edward Braddon, on the corner of St John and Canning Streets, Launceston. It had 18 beds, and was a training school for nurses.
F. Styant-Browne, homœopathic chemist, was on the hospital’s board of management. The honorary medical officers were Dr M. Gutteridge and Dr P.D. Smith, with Mr Alfred Hall as honorary dental officer. Miss Harrison was appointed as the first Matron of the Launceston Homœopathic Hospital. She held a certificate of nursing issued from the Melbourne Homœopathic Hospital, where she received her training in Homœopathic Nursing and Administration.
In 1901 George Newton Sargent built a bedroom for the night nurse at the Hospital. It was a weatherboard building with brick foundations, and had just one room, 15 by 12 feet, with one window and door. It has since been demolished.
The first annual meeting of the hospital reported that the Hospital had been a great success. Fifteen patients had been admitted in three months and all had expressed satisfaction with their treatment. Only one patient had died, as a result of heart failure after a successful operation.
In 1918 the Hospital moved to a house (“Dilkusha”) in Lyttleton Street, in order to accommodate the growing need for better nursing conditions.
In 1946 the hospital’s Board received the resignation of Dr Smith who had been the honorary medical officer since the inception of the hospital.
In 1951 the Hospital was re-named as St Luke’s Private Hospital, located in Newstead, and it is no longer a homœopathic hospital.
(For further information see ”The Story of the Launceston Homœopathic Hospital” by J.S. Gill)