A rich and proud history of serving the community
Liverpool Hospital has a rich and interesting history which dates back over 200 years to colonial New South Wales.
Liverpool Hospital was established on the banks of the Georges River in 1813 as a hospital for soldiers and convicts, comprising just three rooms and housing 12 patients.
The hospital grew slowly over the following century, until major works were undertaken in 1933, adding a modern operating theatre, outpatients department, women's ward, medical superintendent's residence and a morgue.
By 1958, new construction saw the then Liverpool District Hospital further expand and modernise, and by1966, the 222-bed Liverpool District Hospital had become the fifth largest district hospital in the Sydney metropolitan area.
A new world-class intensive and coronary care unit was opened in 1970, and in 1974, the Don Everett Building, comprising 64 acute medical beds and a 40-bed psychiatric unit with an associated day care centre, was built. In addition, a NASA developed laminar flow theatre for orthopaedic surgery was opened.
The word 'district' was dropped from the name of the Liverpool Hospital in 1978, recognising its growing role in providing specialist medical services to the wider south-western Sydney community.
In 1989, Liverpool Hospital became the principal teaching hospital of the University of New South Wales, and in 2011 also became a teaching hospital for the University of Western Sydney.
The hospital continues to have an active education programme for medical practitioners, nurses and health professionals, with a range of clinical placements available for students from universities around Australia.
The most recent redevelopment of Liverpool Hospital occurred from the early 1990s until 2012 when the Ingham Institute was built. Stage one of this redevelopment saw the creation of a Health Services Building (including outpatient, community health and academic services), pathology (SWAPS) building, Caroline Chisholm Centre for Women and Babies, cancer therapy centre and brain injury unit, education centre and a new clinical building.
Stage two saw the creation of a further clinical building, expansion of the Cancer Therapy Centre and the opening of the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research.
Liverpool Hospital is now embarking on its latest and most significant redevelopment that will see it become one of the largest hospitals in the southern hemisphere and a leader in health education, research and clinical services.