The Sanatorium for Consumptives, Greenvale opened in 1905 to treat people, both adults and children, with tuberculosis. The historical term ‘consumptive/consumption’ refers to the associated weight loss that can be caused by tuberculosis. Greenvale was the first purpose-built Government sanatorium in Victoria. Tuberculosis caused one in nine deaths in Victoria in 1902.
Accommodation was origjnally for 35 patients in seven tents, however this slowly expanded.
In 1907, there were 19 staff:
1 x doctor, 1 x matron, 1 x staff nurse, 6 x assistant nurses, 1 x wardsmaid, 1 x kitchenmaid, 2 x housemaids, 2 x cooks, 1 x driver, 1 x engine driver, and 2 x porters.
In 1906-1907, the average length of stay was 74 days.
BROADMEADOWS SANATORIUM (as described in the newspaper)
(“Argus” August 10 1906)
A sanatorium might aptly be called a hospital of empty beds and invisible patients, the patients are roaming the hills, and the beds are merely for sleeping purposes.
At the entrance to the grounds a group of hatless women and girls are sitting under a big, wide-spreading gum, while several boys are swinging on the branches, skylarking and amusing themselves as boys will.
All are patients yet look more like picnickers out for a holiday than sufferers from a terrible complaint.
The sanatorium itself is half a mile from the gates.
The different wards and tents are detached and slightly apart from each other and form a little white township at the foot of the hill.
The nurses” quarters are in the middle, and the male and female patients’ accommodation on either side.
The scores are apart from each other, except at meal times, when they have the same dining room, but different tables.
Everything is beautifully flesh and new, the walls spotlessly white of fibrous cement and Bon Accord paint.
There are also seven tents each holding five beds, as well as buildings used for bathrooms and lavatories, kitchens for invalid cooking, etc.
These so called tents, or pavilions, are encased in wood and covered with canvas, the roof projecting so as to form a venandah.
There is nothing in their appearance to distinguish them from the other buildings, and they look remarkably light and airy and graceful.
The doors at both ends are open day and night, and on the veranda, attached to all the budding, patients may sit on deck chairs.
Each tent and ward has a spray pump for disinfecting purposes, also a chemical fire extinguisher in case of an outbreak.
For sanatorium treatment to lie efficacious the disease must be grappled with before the dread bacilli has taken too firm a hold Most of the patients treated are in the earlier stages of consumption and they are generally taken in for a month on trial if they get on well they are kept for three months sometimes longer, according to the circumstances of the case.
The patient who has a country home to go to, or a comfortable suburban one, is dismissed sooner than the one who has neither.
One girl has been in eight months. Hopeless cases are not kept beyond the month, for, on the authorities explain, to keep a patient who has no hope of recovery is to, perhaps, prevent a curable one getting a bed.
Patients are admitted through their doctors or the hospitals, the sanatorium doctor examine patients beforehand, to see whether they are suitable.
The ages usually range between 15 and 47, and it is notable that the percentage of male and female patients is about equal in all instances patients are kept in bed for a few days after arrival, but are got out into the open air as soon as possible.
Medical science has gone through many revolutions, but none greater than in regard to the treatment of consumption.
In the old days the unfortunate consumptive was caged into a close, stuff) room, not a whiff of an allowed to blow on him, usually beside a roaring fire-to more successfully) hatch the germs “In a decline was a familiar phrase and the sufferer declined and faded till death relieved him And his life was wretches needs itself little companionship, no enjoyment, no home To be in consumption was considered to be doomed The patient might be pitied and his sufferings alleviated to some’ extent, closed with nauseous drugs and poisons, his chest poulticed and blistered, while the deadly bacilli worked their even way, till they eventually conquered.
How differently things are arranged now. The ground is fought inch by inch, yet with the simplest of methods. The terrible little phthisis germ, which seems to have gloried in the stifling atmosphere and lusty rooms of the past, evidently has a holy horror of fresh air. The Sanatorium patients never see a fire, and are out in all weathers, with the fresh breeze blowing on them day and night. They do not feel the cold much when once used to it; get on better, indeed, during the winter than the summer, because they can take more exercise and eat better. Even rain does not keep them in, and they wear rain cloaks and coats and carry a square of mackintosh to sit down on when tired. Violent exercise is not food for them, so they are warned not to hurry when it rains. But there are plenty of shady trees to give shelter, as well as for shelter tents-two for men, and two for women-up on the hill.
Most of the ground is of a sandy nature, not easily worked into mud, and pati- ents wear goloshes or strong boots. When sanatorium treatment first came into vogue, doctors were careful about exercise and exertion, but more wisdom has come with experience. Baking, hoeing and gardening in all its forms are recommended. Part of the treatment is gentle hill-climbing. Each sanatorium is placed near a hill, and patients are advised to go up it as often as possible. Walking, too, is good ;? Indeed, patients have to walk to keep their blood in circulation, and some of the men do their six miles daily. Those who are not strong enough to get about, sit on deck chairs, and are provided with rugs and foot warmers. ? ‘
Nothing out of the ordinary in the way of clothes is worn, but wools on under- clothing is used. Even at night the cold is not felt as much as one would think. Of course, there are exceptional cases. One woman Sleeps with a blanket underneath, three on top, also a quilt and a rug. In addition, she has a foot-warmer, bed socks, and sometimes gloves. As all bushmen learn, there is a charm in open air sleeping, once the sleeper is used to it. The matron at the sanatorium takes some of her own medicine. She has a cosy room, yet always sleeps out on the verandah, exposed to the elements. When she stays in town, she finds a bedroom close and stifling, and cannot sleep. Patients are examined three times a day, either by the doctor or matron, and their temperature taken, but they got very little medicine. Each patient has a hot bath on arrival, and once a week afterwards. “Stuffing,” are., forcing the patient to eat a certain amount of food, whether inclined or not, was a feature of the first sanatorium treatment. Now he can eat pretty well as he likes, but the fresh air and exercise invariably give a good appetite.
All kinds of food are Dillon ed, and meat is eaten at every meal Pure, wholesome milk is the most important and powerful factor in the treatment, and each patient must take four | pints daily. It can be taken at meal time, or to drink, and half a pint of warm milk is taken morning and night. One man can drink eight cups at a meal. A local dairyman supplies the sanatorium at present, and has a special cow bail, and a veterinary) surgeon examines all the animals, to see that they are free from disease Later the sanatorium hopes to have its own daily hold Patients are weighed every week in the dining-room The most wanted ones His out and put on flesh rapidly. One man gained 44lb in four months, and another has just reached 33ft. increase Some look pictures of health One girl is so plump and rosy) it is hard to realise she is a sufferer.
The greatest danger of infection lies in the dried sputum, and the rules against expectorating about the grounds are most stringent Each patient is provided with a little hat. with a lid, and its contents, as well as the pieces of Bannerette used, are daily burned in an incinerator.
Poor food and insanitary surroundings are frequently the primary causes of consumption, and what the free, open life of the country, with plentiful, nourishing food, and companionship must mean to the patient who has perhaps lived a half starved, hopeless, stunted life, in a mean, back street, can well be imagined The sanatorium gives pleasure and hope, as well as health, and whether the patients leave thoroughly cured or not, those months on the green hills of Broadmeadows must mean a wonderful lot to them.
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