Expanding Horizons: Health & Welfare

The following information contains information from Museum Matters, June 2023 by the Ipswich Hospital Museum.

Dr. Terrence Mulhearn
Terrence Rodney Mulhearn was Ipswich Hospital’s fifth Medical Superintendent and the last to bear that name.

During his 20 years tenure he guided the hospital through three redevelopments and introduced new patient care innovations along the way.

Dr. Mulhearn was born in Townsville, in 1940 and later attended St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace in Brisbane.

 

He was the son of Clarence (a vet) and Yvonne, and had one sibling—Barbara, who was a nurse.

Dr. Mulhearn was a Queensland university graduate (1962) and served as a resident medical officer and surgical registrar at Royal Brisbane Hospital. Obtaining further surgical experience his three years or more in England included a stint as a registrar at the Chester Royal Infimary, England. He gained his fellowship at Edinburgh and later at the Australasian College of Surgeons.

In 1970 he came to Ipswich Hospital as a surgical registrar and in 1971, was appointed Medical Superintendent, a position he held for the next 20 years. During this time, he was able to combine his love of surgery with medical administration. He identified the need for expansion at the hospital as the population grew and would contribute to three major building expansion projects during his time. Dr. Mulhearn also served as a principal medical officer in the Reserve Unit of the Royal Australian Air Force, rising to the rank of wing commander.

He successfully negotiated with the RAAF Amberley Base to enable seriously ill patients to be transported by helicopter from Ipswich to Brisbane. This all happened long before the air ambulance helicopter services we know and take for granted today.

Taking on the vital role of supervisor of training at Ipswich Hospital, he ensured Ipswich Hospital was officially recognised as a teaching hospital for advanced surgical trainees.

 

He was appointed clinical senior lecturer by the University of Queensland and was involved in teaching medical students at Ipswich Hospital for 25 years.

Dr Mulhearn was instrumental in establishing a Breast Screen Unit in Ipswich and was appointed designated breast surgeon at Breast Screen Queensland Ipswich Branch.

He was a member of the Queensland Council of the Royal College of Surgeons for two five-year terms and served in the roles of president, secretary and treasurer of the Ipswich Branch of the AMA.

In 1980, Dr. Mulhearn introduced surgical audits at Ipswich Hospital which continue to this day. He also received two grants for Ipswich Hospital to assist research into peptic ulcer disease and road trauma, and was a member of the road trauma committee.

Ipswich Hospital Intensive Care Unit

The first intensive care ward was established in 1970—instigated by the then Medical Superintendent, Dr. Michael O’Rourke—by removing a bed from a four-bed room in the
surgical ward. It was furnished with a desk from the nurses’ home, while a cardiac defibrillator, monitors and a Bird respirator were transferred from other wards. In this improvised ward,
special management was provided for certain dangerously ill patients – mainly those suffering from cardiac infarcts, drug overdose or multiple injuries sustained in road accidents.

A new intensive care/coronary care unit was included in high-rise extensions to the hospital in 1979.

The ten-bed unit was under the care of Sister Shirley Jack, who had been in charge of the small improvised intensive care unit in the former surgical ward.