The nursing home connection to Subiaco’s maternity wing

13 Jul 2017

13 July 2017

In July 1937 (80 years ago this month), the Sisters of St John of God established a nursing home (then known as a convalescent home) call Mon Repos in Mosman Park.

The 12-room home, which was first established by a WWI nurse Ellenor Kekwick, was designed to provide nursing care but not medical intervention.

Sitting high above the Swan River and a short distance, the home was ideally situated for this purpose and many patients from the Sisters’ Subiaco and Belmont hospitals were transferred to the facility to recuperate.

Unfortunately, the high cost of running the home meant its life was short-lived, closing only a few years after opening. The home then become a nursing home for the Sisters and a poultry farm.

“The Sisters delivered oven-ready chickens to the kitchens at Subiaco and Belmont twice a week. They also supplied the hospitals with eggs,” Group Heritage Coordinator Jacqui Sherriff said.

“The connection to Subiaco comes when the house was demolished and subdivided into housing blocks in 1958. The sale of this land was used to fund the old maternity wing and chapel at St John of God Subiaco Hospital built in 1961.”

• The former maternity wing and chapel were demolished in the 1990s and 1980s respectively to make way for new developments at the hospital.