Liverpool Hospital launched its 200 year anniversary celebrations with the opening of a museum which will house historical memorabilia, and the presentation of staff long service awards. The day kicked off a year-long series of events and activities to commemorate 200 years of serving the community. Video: Luke Fuda
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LIVERPOOL Hospital celebrated 200 years of milestones on Friday.
Australia's second-oldest hospital, having likely started as a tent hospital in the 1790s, was established in a brick building on the banks of the Georges River in 1813, where it was run as a hospital for soldiers and convicts.
General manager Anthony Schembri said the transformation over the years had been amazing.
"The hospital is now both the biggest hospital and tertiary referral centre in NSW," he said.
Margaret Nicholson, an intensive care nurse for more than 20 years, added: "We've grown from a small district hospital to a tertiary-referral teaching hospital.
"I've moved from three intensive-care units. The first unit had eight intensive-care beds and six high-dependency beds. Now we have 17 intensive-care beds and 11 high-dependency beds."
Macquarie Fields MP Andrew McDonald, the opposition spokesman for health and medical research, used to be head of paediatrics for south-west Sydney.
"I remembered I picked up a baby from Liverpool Hospital in 1982," he said.
"In those days they used to write the names of the baby in black texta on their backs.
"We used to have trouble getting specialists out here. Now we have lots of professors and world leaders."