The history of Hawkesbury Hospital

In 1955, 18 acres were resumed from the Dean family's property for the construction of a new hospital. Settlement occurred on 1st November of that year for the price of £16,866.

Hawkesbury Hospital was incorporated into Wentworth Area Health Service in 1988. Planning for the new hospital commenced in 1989 and in 1990 a development application was submitted to Hawkesbury City Council to build a new 150 bed hospital costing $70m. Whilst detailed planning was undertaken and work began on site, capital funds were not allocated to the programme past this early stage ($6 million expended).

The NSW Department of Health identified the new hospital for "privatisation" in 1992 and late in 1993 expressions of interest for the development process were called from not-for-profit organisations. Five expressions of interest were received and which were short-listed to two.

Catholic Healthcare NSW & ACT and Wesley Mission were invited to submit development proposals in 1994, with the contract being awarded to Catholic Health Care Services. Fletcher Construction Limited, the builders of the new health facility, commenced work on site in February 1995 and the site was "handed over" to Catholic Healthcare at the beginning of June 1996. Throughout the new facility's development, the staff contributed to design, equipment selection and systems development. The facility accepted its first patients on 7th August 1996, when the staff and patients transferred from the old hospital site in a single day.