Flinders Medical Centre

Name :

Flinders Medical Centre

Address  :

Flinders Drive

Town  :

Bedford Park

State  :

South Australia

Country  :

AUSTRALIA

Post Code:

5042

Phone  :

0882045511

Fax  :

0882045450

Web URL  :

Available

Email  :

Health.SALHNHumanResources@sa.gov.au

Description

Flinders Medical Centre FMC is the southern areas largest hospital and provides medical services for people living in the southern metropolitan area of Adelaide The hospital is colocated with the Flinders University School of Medicine and Flinders Private Hospital

Since opening in 1976 FMC has earned an international reputation as one of Australiarsquos finest public teaching hospitals and as a centre for research excellence

FMC and more than 5000 skilled staff provide an extensive range of services for patients of all ages

It is one of two major trauma centres in the state with aroundtheclock emergency retrieval service bringing patients to the hospital by road or helicopter

FMC is also the base for the South Australian Eye Bank

FMC is supported by more than 600 volunteers who make up the largest volunteer service in a public hospital in SA The Flinders Foundation is the fundraising arm of the hospital

History

History of Flinders Medical Centre
Origins
Flinders Medical Centre FMC has its origins in the early 1960s when the South Australian Government under then Premier Sir Thomas Playford recognised the need for a new hospital This was in response to the increasing population of the southern and southwestern suburbs of Adelaide and mounting community pressure for a university and hospital in the region

Flinders University opens
In 1966 Flinders University opened and shortly after plans to expand the university campus to include a new medical school and hospital were approved by Cabinet

FMC building commences
Building excavations commenced in 1972 on what was to become Flinders Medical Centre Thus began the most ambitious and unique medical school and hospital development in Australasia at that time

Joint medical school and public hospital
Flinders Medical Centre was designed as the first fully integrated public teaching hospital and medical school in Australia It was also the first medical school to eliminate the split between clinical and preclinical training

FMC opens
Flinders Medical Centre admitted its first patient in April 1976 The hospital stands against a background of university buildings and sweeping hills in the suburb known as Bedford Park some 12 kilometres south of the centre of Adelaide

Integrated service
In South Australia FMC was the first hospital to provide a fully integrated service for people of all ages ie obstetrics paediatrics and psychiatry as well as general medical and surgical services Before this these services had to be accessed in separate hospitals

Early history
The campus is built on land of the Kaurna Aboriginal people which has been owned by the State or Federal Government since 1915 The original owners are recognised in a plaque in the courtyard unveiled by Kaurna elders in the presence of Dame Roma Mitchell at our 20th Anniversary celebrations in 1995

Our name
Both Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University take their name from British navigator Matthew Flinders who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in 1802

Bedford Park
The area of Bedford Park was first developed in the 19th century as a pastoral property From 1918 it became a tuberculosis sanatorium and mixed farm The sanatorium was demolished in the early 1960s making way for the development of Flinders University and the Flinders Medical Centre

In 2001 Flinders Medical Centre celebrated its 25th Anniversary