Old Hospital

Early medical services were virtually non-existent except for the activities of midwives who attended women in childbirth. The earliest records recall a Doctor Bartlett visiting Mingenew and the surrounding district around 1900, travelling from Dongara once a fortnight. The C.W.A. organised the first health service in Mingenew from 1930. A sister was appointed and lived in the delicensed hotel building. A hospital was built in 1936 on 2 acres of land in Phillip Street gifted by J. W. Butcher. The hospital was run by a Matron and one assistant until its closure in 1942 when the army took it over as a casualty station for 12 months. During 1944-53 it was a leased residence and then divided into two separate living quarters for the Silver Chain and Infant Health sisters. A surgery was attached which was used by Sister Riseberry (Silver Chain nurse). A Doctor attended the surgery on a weekly basis. It returned to a private residence in 1977. A new Silver Chain precinct in Phillip street was opened in 1977 by Premier Sir Charles Court. Sister Jenny Maley (and her husband Fred) resided and worked from here until her retirement in 1997.
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