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The tradition of care at The Wesley Hospital dates back to 1896, when Dr Charles Kebbell converted a humble building situated on Brisbane’s south bank into a private hospital. In 1901, the hospital was purchased by Dr Ernest Sandford Jackson, a pioneer surgeon in Queensland, and he named it St Helen’s Hospital.
Dr Sandford Jackson invited many prominent Brisbane surgeons of the time to use the hospital’s facilities to treat their patients. The scope of activities and the hospital’s reputation for outstanding medical and nursing care developed significantly after 1949, when it was purchased by the Methodist Church and rebuilt.
The State Government’s plans for the redevelopment of the South Brisbane region prompted a move to Moorlands Estate at Auchenflower, where a new hospital, The Wesley Hospital, was established and opened on March 1, 1977. The first patients in the new Wesley Hospital were transferred from the former St Helen’s Methodist Hospital. With the union of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches in 1977, the Wesley became, and remains, an activity of the Uniting Church.
Today, The Wesley Hospital is one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit, private hospitals. We offer comprehensive care across a wide range of acute tertiary-level medical and surgical services, and through research and education we’re constantly searching for the latest in treatment techniques and processes. Through life’s journey, from birth to end of life, we care for the whole person not just their physical health, placing our patients and their loved ones at the heart of everything we do.
Moorlands House
The heritage-listed Moorlands House stands on The Wesley Hospital campus. It is one of Brisbane’s grand old homes, built in the late 1800s and designed by architect Richard Gailey. During the Second World War, it was occupied by US service personnel, before becoming a Legacy orphanage in the late 1940s.
The house was once owned by the Mayne family and features in the novel, The Mayne Inheritance. In 1940, the Mayne family bequeathed the home to The University of Queensland. Moorlands was then sold to the Uniting Church, and The Wesley Hospital, was built in the grounds behind the house. Today, it houses offices for the hospital.