THE founders of St John of God Hospital, North Richmond, bade a fond farewell to the local institution after 63 years on Friday, July 24.
All the hospital’s services will continue, but the last of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God Brothers residing there have retired.
A Eucharistic Liturgy in the hospital chapel completed the farewell.
A hospital spokeswoman described it as the end of an era.
It began in 1951, with the order buying Belmont House in Grose Vale Road, North Richmond.
The house on 80 acres had been owned by the Charley family.
The hospital was built around it and opened as a private psychiatric hospital for men on September 21, 1952.
In 1956, the St John of God Nursing School opened, training brothers and other students interested in mental health care.
The hospital initially focused on people with drug and alcohol addictions.
This focus remains the core of the hospital’s programs today. In the 1990s, surgeons began operating at St John of God and the hospital also began treating Vietnam veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘‘The hospital’s current program supports men and women from military and emergency services affected with post-traumatic stress disorder,’’ a St John of God spokeswoman said.
‘‘In the Hawkesbury the brothers are well known as active members of the community, working with many local people over the years who have been connected to it.’’
In 2007, the Hospitaller Order of St John of God Brothers merged with St John of God Health Care.
‘‘St John of God Health Care proudly continues the story of healing and hospitality, modelled by the brothers, offering programs for people suffering from mental illness with the values of hospitality, compassion, respect, justice and excellence,’’ the spokeswoman said.
The brothers’ farewell liturgy was also attended by brothers John Gibson, Timothy Graham, Joseph Smith, Robert Cottam, Brian Egan and Brian O’Donnell.
