Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital
| Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Geography | |
| Location | Yarra Bend Road, Fairfield, Australia |
| Organisation | |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Hospital type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Beds | 720 |
| Speciality | Infectious Diseases |
| History | |
| Founded | October 1, 1904 |
| Closed | 1996 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Australia |
Coordinates: 37°47′16.85″S 145°0′40.65″E / 37.7880139°S 145.0112917°E
Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, originally known as Queens Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital, operated from 1904 to its closure in 1996. Perched high on the banks of the Yarra River at Yarra Bend in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fairfield, it developed an international reputation for the research and treatment of infectious diseases. When it closed, it was the last specific infectious diseases hospital in Australia.
Initially the hospital was devoted to the treatment of patients with fevers. Diseases treated included typhoid, diphtheria, cholera, smallpox, poliomyelitis and scarlet fever, and in its final years, HIV/AIDS became very prominent.
In the 1860s, the colony of Victoria was rife with diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid, smallpox and scarlet fever. At the time, Melbourne had two general hospitals, Melbourne and Alfred and three specialist hospitals, Lying-In, Children's and Eye and Ear. These five hospitals were unable to cope with the annual bouts of infectious diseases which recurred frequently. The Colonial Government began discussing the idea of constructing a hospital to treat patients with infectious diseases. Two sites were considered, one at Yarra Bend and another further along Heidelberg Road. Yarra Bend was the preferred location however the local residents protested and the proposal was dropped.
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