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New South Wales - Organisation

Waterfall Sanatorium (1909 - 1958)

  • Waterfall Sanatorium

    Waterfall Sanatorium, 31 December 1958, courtesy of Museums of History New South Wales.
    Details

From
14 April 1909
To
31 December 1958
Categories
Convalescent Home, Government-run, Home and Hospital
Alternative Names
  • Garrawarra Hospital for Consumptives
  • Hospital for Consumptives, Waterfall

Waterfall Sanatorium, at Waterfall near the Royal National Park near Sydney, was a hospital for the treatment of patients, including children, who had advanced tuberculosis (TB). Patients were sent to Waterfall, often against their will, and were not released until cured. People who died there are buried on the site. Waterfall Sanatorium closed in 1958.

Details

Tuberculosis was a virulent and highly contagious disease that provoked widespread fear in the years before it could be treated with antibiotics. Doctors and health authorities could commit sufferers to sanatoria like Waterfall, under special laws designed to contain the spread of TB, and detain them until they were cured, or died. TB was also a factor in the removal of children from their families. It hospitalised breadwinners and caregivers, so caused poverty and hardship. It also made children sick, causing them to be institutionalised. Welfare authorities also removed children from households where TB was present. The lethal nature of TB was considered to justify such harsh measures.

Waterfall was the state's only purpose-built facility for people suffering tuberculosis (consumption or TB). The site, at 1,000 feet above sea level and 26 miles south of Sydney, was chosen as it was believed that tuberculosis patients needed a high and rarefied atmosphere in the country away from the grime and pollution of cities. The first patients were admitted on 14 April 1909.

The first building had open verandahs looking out to sea. Patients in the active phase of TB were isolated in fibro chalets, about the size of a garden shed, until they improved in health, or died. Those who died were buried on site.

The main building at Waterfall, opened in 1909, had beds for 180 male patients but at first some of the wards were used for staff. In May 1912 a new wing for 120 female patients was completed, with tuberculosis patients from Newington State Hospital transferred upon its opening.

Additional chalet-style accommodation was built, but demand for treatment for "the white plague" meant that the Sanatorium was often overcrowded, with emergency beds placed on verandahs.

Treatment consisted of rest, relaxation, improved nutrition, and medicines to treat symptoms as they appeared, with the hope of increasing resistance. Patients stayed in the sanatorium until they achieved a clean bill of health (which could take years) or died. All who died at Waterfall were buried on site.

The advent of antibiotic treatment, together with thoracic surgery, and a national campaign to prevent tuberculosis, greatly improved the prognosis for the disease. Isolation was no longer considered a necessity, and tuberculosis patients were accepted into public hospitals for treatment. By 1958 patient numbers at Waterfall Sanatorium had decreased to less than 100. The sanatorium was closed and the site was converted to Garrawarra Hospital. The old buildings have been boarded up for some time. Garrawarra Centre for the Aged is located on the site.

There are 2000 graves in the Waterfall Sanatorium cemetery, which is part of the Garrawarra Hospital grounds but is controlled by Wollongong Council. In 2012 the Wollongong Mayor, Gordon Bradbery, announced a conservation management plan would be prepared for the cemetery. Permission is required from the New South Wales Ministry for Health to visit the site.

Location

1909 - 1958
Location - Waterfall Sanatoriumwas situated off the Princes Highway, Waterfall. Location: Waterfall

Publications

Online Resources

Photos

T.B. Hospital at Waterfall
Title
T.B. Hospital at Waterfall
Type
Image
Date
15 May 1951
Source
State Library of New South Wales

Details

Waterfall Sanatorium
Title
Waterfall Sanatorium
Type
Image
Date
31 December 1958
Place
New South Wales
Source
Museums of History New South Wales

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Catholic Women's Association: Hospital Visitors' Activities', The Catholic Press, 10 September 1936, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/106380489; 'Hospitals Commission of New South Wales', in State Records Authority of New South Wales website, State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW 2016, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/3067; Power, Julie, 'Forgotten graves of TB victims uncovered', The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 November 2012, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/forgotten-graves-of-tb-victims-uncovered-20121102-28phf.html; 'Waterfall Sanatorium', in State Records Authority of New South Wales website, State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW 2016, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/1995.

Prepared by: Naomi Parry