Bricks or Spirit? The Queen Victoria Hospital

In the 1860s the editor of the Australian Medical Journal declared ‘In any British Community ... the people will wonder at [Medical Women] just as it wonders at dancing dogs, fat boys and bearded ladies.’ Three decades later women doctors proved this chauvinistic belief wrong when they won the right to study medicine, register as doctors and, in 1895, established their own hospital run entirely by and for women.

Over the years the Queen Victoria Hospital played a special role in the lives of Victorians and was at the forefront of many innovative medical and socio-medical initiatives for women and their families. Amalgamations saw it form part of the Monash Medical Centre in 1987 and move out to Caulfield.

Years later the Queen Vic is still fondly remembered by thousands and its distinctive spirit considered to still live through many services for women, children and families today that were established in the old Queen Vic Hospital buildings on Lonsdale Street.

Australian Scholarly Publishing 1997
ISBN: 1 875606 38 6, Paperback, 140 pages