The story of St Stephen’s began in Maryborough in 1905 when one doctor bought a block of land and built a private hospital. Since that time, we have grown and relocated, but one thing that hasn’t changed is our care for and connection to the Wide Bay community. From our origins as a local centre caring for local people, we’ve developed into an innovative not-for-profit regional hospital that still puts the community at the core of everything we do.
1905
In the beginning
St Mary’s Hospital is established in Maryborough in 1905, when Dr H.C. Garde buys a block of land from the AMP Society and builds a private hospital.
1946
Remembering Maryborough
St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church purchases St Mary’s Hospital, later named St Stephen’s Hospital.
2000
Uniting our hospitals
UnitingCare Health is formed to bring together the hospitals owned and operated by the Uniting Church in Australia (Queensland Synod). St Stephen’s became a part of UnitingCare Health together with The Wesley Hospital and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane, and Buderim Private Hospital on the Sunshine Coast.
2006
Laying foundations in Hervey Bay
In February 2006, stage one of the new St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay, a stand-alone day surgery, opens.
2014
Official opening
On 13 October 2014, St Stephen’s Hospital officially opens in Hervey Bay, becoming Australia’s first integrated digital hospital. This includes the opening of Sara Stella Francis Medical Centre, named after Matron SS Francis who dedicated so much of her life to serving the local community and inspiring others to do the same.
St Stephen’s Hospital Maryborough closed on Monday 13 October 2014 when the new St Stephen’s Hospital Hervey Bay opened its doors. UnitingCare Health explored alternative proposals with public and private providers to maintain a service on the historic site, but without success. St Stephen’s acknowledges the closure of the hospital in Maryborough represents a significant loss to the local community, and continually renews its commitment to ensuring the new hospital in Hervey Bay benefits the entire Fraser Coast community by offering a high level of care for patients, increased service complexity and through the introduction of new services.
From little things big things grow
Relationship building between the Butchulla people and St Stephen’s Hospital staff results in the development of a medicinal garden at the new hospital, designed to link traditional healing to modern medicine. The Butchulla people are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which St Stephen’s Hospital stands and where we are privileged to work and care for community members from across the region.
A home away from home
Made possible thanks to a generous $1 million donation from community benefactor Mrs Betty Christensen, Christensen House opens opposite the main hospital in October 2014. It provides seven motel-style units for patients and family members who require short-term accommodation nearby while accessing healthcare at St Stephen’s.
2015
Go for green
St Stephen’s Hospital is recognised for its tech-savvy, environmentally sustainable design with commendation as a finalist in the 2015 Premier’s Sustainability Awards. Environmentally sustainable design principles were incorporated into the $96 million building design, including rainwater harvesting, a chemical-free kitchen, solar-powered operating theatre lights and enhanced metering to monitor usage and reduce energy consumption.
Community cafe
The Recovery Room Cafe opens, swiftly becoming a popular eatery for staff and the wider community, with a selection of freshly prepared sandwiches, wraps and toasties to complement the chef-prepared menu and daily chef specials, great barista coffee locally roasted in Hervey Bay and wide range of cakes.
2016
New services begin
St Stephen’s launches new women’s health and cardiac services, including six close observation beds and a telemetry unit for the management of patients with cardiac disease. The new women’s health clinic is the first of its kind in the Wide Bay region. Construction also commences on the first purpose-built rehabilitation unit in Hervey Bay here at St Stephen’s.
2017
On the road to rehabilitation
St Stephen’s officially opens its new inpatient rehabilitation services. The purpose-built rehabilitation centre offers cardiac and respiratory programs, musculoskeletal and orthopaedic strengthening programs, and a falls prevention clinic as well as neurorehabilitation.
2019
International recognition for digital health
In 2019, St Stephen’s becomes the first hospital in Australia to achieve Stage 7 accreditation from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMMS). The accreditation is the highest international recognition for digital healthcare. The hospital is also awarded the 2019 HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence for its use of information technology to deliver exceptional and innovative patient care.
Cancer care
In June 2019, Forbes Cancer Care Centre is officially opened in a special ceremony attended by patients, special guests, oncologists and staff. Patients from across the Wide Bay now have access to state-of-the-art oncology facilities close to home.
2021
Rehabilitation expands
Rehabilitation services at St Stephen’s are expanded with the opening of a new gymnasium. The brand-new gym supports the hospital’s 32-bed inpatient service for patients requiring rehabilitation following surgery, illness or injury.
2022
Keeping our community safe
St Stephen’s Hospital proudly supports its regional community during the COVID-19 peak of 2022 by partnering with the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service. With the local hospital overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, many surgical patients are treated at St Stephen’s.
2023
Robotic technology arrives
Patients from across the Fraser Coast region now have access to cutting-edge robotic technology for hip and knee replacement surgery following the arrival of the first orthopaedic robot at St Stephen’s.
2024
Cultural connections
St Stephen's Hospital dedicates its new Yarning Circle, highlighting our commitment to walking together as First and Second peoples within the Fraser Coast. For thousands of years, Yarning Circles have been a foundation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, serving as a framework for storytelling, knowledge exchange, cultural preservation and conflict resolution. The circle symbolises the core principle that all individuals are equal, everyone’s narratives hold value, and advancing knowledge and understanding is most effectively done through thoughtful collaboration.
A decade in Hervey Bay
On 13 October 2024, St Stephen’s Hospital marks its 10-year anniversary since opening, celebrating a decade in Hervey Bay while remembering its long history in the region and roots in Maryborough.
Remembering Maryborough
The brainchild of Dr H.C. Garde, a hospital was first established on the St Stephen’s Maryborough site in 1905. It was known as St Mary’s Hospital.
In 1914, his nephew, Dr Lee Garde, purchased St Mary’s, which remained in his ownership until his death 11 years later. Miss Sara Stella Francis, who was appointed matron in 1923, wrote of his passing: “Never in my nursing career had I seen such genuine grief by a community. The late doctor’s patients poured into the hospital to ask what to do, all with the attitude that they had lost their best friend and advisor.”
Nevertheless, the Doctor and his uncle had established an institution long to be appreciated in Maryborough. In the early days there were 12 to 15 beds, and the hospital was staffed by a matron, one sister, seven nurses and four domestic staff. In 1927, the hospital was registered as a recognised training school for nurses, and in 1928, Miss Francis and her three sisters took over the running of St Mary’s and purchased the property.
In the years that followed, accommodation was extended, and a maternity wing and childcare centre was opened, along with further renovations. The sisters went on to purchase the property adjacent to St Mary’s. Later another adjacent block was purchased by the hospital and the sisters Francis, as well as a number of domestic staff, were able to live on site.
By the mid-1940s, the workload was becoming too much for the Francis sisters, and the Presbyterian Church stepped in at the behest of local minister Mr J. McPhail, and took over the running of the hospital, renaming it St Stephen’s Church Hospital.
The hospital steadily expanded over the decades that followed, until its move to Hervey Bay in 2014, where it has continued to grow and serve the wider community.