The leading advocate for Epworth's initial establishment in Richmond was Methodist Minister Reverend William J Palamountain. Reverend Palamountain worked tirelessly over a five-year period to help gain the financing required to establish the hospital.
Property, then known as 'Yalcowinna', was purchased and became Epworth Hospital in Richmond.
The purchase and refurbishment was made possible by the generosity of donors Sir Aaron Danks, Fred Cato, Thomas Lockwood, George Sweet and Dr John Wilkinson.
Epworth continued to expand its Richmond operations and currently covers several blocks from its Erin St base. A major redevelopment of Epworth Richmond has also recently been completed, seeing it become Australia's largest private hospital.
Epworth's expansion continued into surrounding suburbs with the construction of Epworth Eastern at Box Hill. Hospitals have also been acquired to help establish multiple Epworth locations in other suburbs, including:
- Epworth Freemasons (East Melbourne)
- Epworth Geelong
- Epworth Rehabilitation (Brighton)
- Epworth Rehabilitation (Camberwell)
- Epworth Rehabilitation (Richmond)
Epworth has become a proud innovator in healthcare and some of our pioneering achievements include establishing the:
- first above ground radiotherapy centre in Australia
- first open heart surgery facility in a private hospital in Victoria
- first private Emergency Department in Victoria accredited to accept time critical medical patients
- first private healthcare group in Australia to become a teaching hospital
- first private hospital in Australia to establish an intensive care unit
- first robotic assisted surgery in Australia
Epworth operates under its own Act of Parliament, The Epworth Foundation Act 1980 (Vic).
Methodist founder John Wesley's hometown of "Epworth" provided the name of our first hospital and our affiliation with the Uniting Church.
If you're interested in learning more about the history of Epworth, copies of Epworth: A Tradition of Care 1920-2010 by historian Dr Janette Bomford are available for purchase by phoning 03 9426 8833.