Historic Spring Hill house to get new life training medical students

St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Spring Hill has commenced an extensive restoration on an historic house in Leichhardt Street Spring Hill to create a dedicated training centre for medical students undertaking internships with UnitingCare Health.

The restoration and renovation has been made possible due to a $236,000 funding grant from Health Workforce Australia (HWA), an Australian Government initiative, in conjunction with investment from UnitingCare Health and the University of Queensland.

The facility with become the St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital campus of the UnitingCare Health Clinical School. Earlier this year Federal Minister for Health Mr Peter Dutton MP officially opened the School’s new clinical training campus facilities at The Wesley Hospital.

Andrew Barron, General Manager, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital said the UnitingCare Health Clinical School now trains 270 medical students a year from The University of Queensland, Bond University and Griffith University.

“These medical students are given one-on-one tuition from more than 280 highly experienced medical consultants across the three hospitals,” Mr Barron said.

“The newly restored facility will ensure St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital continues its proud tradition of training, mentoring and developing new and existing medical staff to ensure the highest quality of medical care is provided to patients in Queensland.”

Mr Barron said the house’s unique character will be retained. Council heritage records state the house, located at 6 Leichhardt Street near the corner of North Street, was one of the first residences to be constructed along Leichhardt Street in the mid to late 1800s. The brick house features scotch bonded brick work and brick arches over the windows. Brick was a common building material prior to the building boom of the 1880s when wood came to dominate the Brisbane and Queensland residential building scene.

The house has previously been a residence, warehouse, medical facility and most recently home to Joy Bowman Art Galleries for 36 years until 2001.

The renovation will restore the original brickwork, with the help of a Heritage bricklayer, and the interior will feature a modern training facility with seminar rooms, offices, computer laboratory and essential amenities. Work is underway with completion due in September 2014.