Calvary Mater Newcastle
Hospital in New South Wales, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Calvary Mater Newcastle (commonly known as The Mater, Waratah) is a teaching, psychiatric and cancer hospital in Newcastle within the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to 2007, the hospital was known as the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital which was originally operated by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy.
| Calvary Mater Newcastle | |
|---|---|
| Calvary Health Care | |
Calvary Mater Newcastle pre-redevelopment in 2007 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Cnr Edith Street & Platt Street, Waratah, New South Wales, Australia |
| Organisation | |
| Public Medicare (AU) | |
| Type | Public–private partnership |
| University of Newcastle | |
| Network | Hunter New England Local Health District |
| Services | |
| Yes | |
| Beds | 215 |
| History | |
| Founded | 8 December 1921 by Sisters of Mercy as the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Lists | Hospitals in Australia |
Other links | www |
The 215 bed hospital is a major teaching hospital of the University of Newcastle, alongside the nearby John Hunter Hospital.[1] The hospital contains an emergency department with trauma mostly being diverted to John Hunter.[2]
Overview
The hospital was opened on 21 December 1921 as a then-34 bed facility operated by the Singleton Convent of the Catholic Sisters of Mercy. The hospitals original building, a grand mansion known as Enmore Hall, was a converted private residence of the late Colonel Charles Frederick Stokes, purchased by the Sisters of Mercy from his widow, Ada Gertrude Stokes. This building has been demolished.
The hospital was officially opened and dedicated by the Archbishop of Sydney, Michael Kelly, on 25 March 1922 with Mother Mary Magdalen its first Directress.[3]
Following the 1989 Newcastle earthquake and the construction and establishment of the John Hunter Hospital at nearby New Lambton Heights, many specialties were relocated to the new hospital. In 1991, the maternity ward was closed and all future birthing was relocated to the John Hunter and later Newcastle Private Hospital, ending the decades-old motto of "Born Smarter at the Mater".[4]
The hospital underwent a three and a half year $161M redevelopment led by construction company Abigroup which was completed in 2009.[5][6]
In 2025, it was revealed that the hospital has a major mould infestation due to defective external cladding as well as critical pest and maintenance failures.[7][8] In 2026, Liberal National Coalition Shadow Minister for Health, Sarah Mitchell, moved a motion to establish a parliamentary enquiry into the 'Management, maintenance and operational issues at Calvary Mater Hospital, Newcastle' which was established on 4 February 2026. The state Labor government voted against the enquiry.[9]
Ownership
The hospital is not owned or affiliated with Mater Group; it was transferred from the Sisters of Mercy to NSW Health which the state Labor government led by Morris Iemma thereafter converted into a public–private partnership in 2006.[10] The partnership operates between the public NSW Health and the private and non-for-profit Little Company of Mary Health Care, trading as Calvary Health Care with the facilities management being overseen by Honeywell.[11]
Specialty services provided
The Newcastle Calvary Mater provides the following services and clinics:[12]
Gallery
Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital, 1939
Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital waiting room, 1939
Calvary Mater building (demolished as part of redevelopment), 2007
Calvary Mater under redevelopment, 2007
Original entry sign, pre-2007
