Their time at Victoria District Hospital ended in 1966, but these former nurses have ensured its place in Geraldton’s history is remembered.

Known today as the Bill Sewell Centre, home to the Geraldton Visitor Centre, it was opened as Geraldton’s fi rst hospital on June 23, 1887.

For many years it was WA’s only training hospital outside of Perth, and obviously holds many pleasant memories for those who began and pursued their careers within its solid walls.

Indeed, so solid are those walls that the building has already outlasted the hospital that was built to replace it. Members of the Ex Victoria District Hospital Staff Association have been trying to create an exhibit of the building’s history since 1988, a mere 101 years after its opening, and have finally succeeded.

Their breakthrough came in February 2011, when National Trust of WA chairman Tom Perrigo allocated space in the foyer for a permanent display.