UnitingCare Health history
UnitingCare Health formed on June 13, 2000. Its purpose was to unite the hospitals then owned and operated by the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod. This amalgamation increased efficiency and productivity through the sharing of resources, and most importantly, provided a strong base for the future development of our health care services.
Today the UnitingCare Health group includes the Wesley and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospitals in Brisbane, the Buderim Private Hospital in the Sunshine coast, St Stephen’s Hospitals in Maryborough and Hervey Bay. Each of these hospitals began as church or local initiatives.
UnitingCare Health is now a major provider of health care services in Queensland employing over 3 800 people and treating about 100 000 patients each year.
The Wesley Hospital
The Wesley Hospital emerged from St Helen’s Methodist Hospital on Brisbane’s South Bank, becoming the Wesley Hospital when it moved to its present ‘Moorlands’ site in Auchenflower in 1977.
St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital
St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital began in May 1947 when the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland approved the building as a living memorial to those who had served in the recent wars. After nearly ten years of fundraising to acquire the land, the hospital's foundation stone was laid on May 14, 1958.
On 2 June of the same year, the Chairman of the Hospital's Board of Governors, Dr Harold Crawford, performed the hospital's first operation.
St Stephen’s Hospital
The Presbyterian Church of Queensland purchased what was then St Mary’s Hospital in Maryborough in 1946. The local St Stephen’s Church operated the hospital as part of their social work program, and soon renamed it St Stephen’s Hospital. St Stephen's Hospital permanently relocated from its site in Maryborough to Hervey Bay in 2014.
The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital
Originally the Buderim Private Hospital, it was renamed the Sunshine Coast Private Hospital in 2000 when it was purchased by UnitingCare Health. The Buderim Private Hospital was established in 1980 through the vision of a doctor’s wife, who felt it unnecessary people need travel to the neighbouring suburb Nambour for hospitalisation.
The Uniting Church of Australia
UnitingCare Health, as part of UnitingCare Queensland is part of the mission of the Uniting Church in Australia.
The Uniting Church was formed on June 22, 1977, a union of three churches: the Congregational Union of Australia, the Methodist Church of Australasia and the Presbyterian Church of Australia. The Uniting Church of Australia is now the third largest Christian denomination in Australia. In Queensland, the Uniting Church has around 250 congregations and a number of schools, colleges, health and community services.
The Uniting Church values relationships with people of other faiths and cultures also and affirms the place of interfaith dialogue in creating and sustaining a culture of peace and harmony.