The Continuing Story of The Adelaide Children’s Hospital

A Continuing History of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital 1976 – 1989 is just that: a record of events in, and personalities at, the Hospital over those thirteen years.

Why thirteen years? The previous history of the Hospital written by Margaret Barbalet (The Adelaide Children’s Hospital 1876 – 1976) was specifically to commemorate the Hospital’s first hundred years. The Hospital continued as a stand-alone organisation for a further thirteen years, the time period covered by this continuing history.

In 1989 the Hospital amalgamated with the Queen Victoria (Maternity) Hospital to form the Adelaide Medical Centre for Women and Children, later called the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Later again this combined hospital joined with the Child and Youth Service to form the present Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service.

The fact that such changes occur so rapidly and so extensively makes it especially important to record the way things were, and this small book fills in details of the last thirteen years of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital’s history as a single entity.