Australian Inland Hospital Museum, Innamincka: In the Outback Region of South Australia

You don't get much more outback than the far north of south Australia…the vast colored landscape of deserts, gibber plains and hills rolling towards a seemingly endless horizon.

Every now and then its harshness is punctuated by rivers like the beautiful Cooper Creek. This picturesque waterway, lined by giant red gums and coolabahs winds its way through the desert eventually making its way to Lake Eyre.

Today, remoteness is what's saving many outback settlements - tourism is becoming their lifeblood as more and more people take to tracks like the famous Strzelecki in the north-west. The Strzelecki leads to a favorite watering hole at Innamincka.

Across the road from the pub is a delightful slice of outback history - the beautifully restored Australian Inland Hospital. It now houses a museum and National Parks Headquarters but it once played a pivotal role in the health and welfare of the surrounding area.

Built in 1928 at a cost of 8 thousand pounds, the Mission brought medical care to this remote part of the state and John Hudson of Santos explains:

“Obviously those days were very difficult. There were no telephones, the nurse would officially use morse code. They arrived overland to staff the facility - two nurses at a time. They would be out on horseback to the stations and around the place here to provide the treatment. One nurse would be left here to look after the patient in the hospital. The hospital itself was down stairs while the nurses lived in the upstairs portion of the building.”

The mission operated until the early 1950s when the introduction of the Royal Flying Doctor service meant the people of the Cooper Country had access to more sophisticated health care. The Mission was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

Corporate sponsors Santos and Australian Geographic breathed into the building in 1994 when they located the original plans in the Canberra archives. Because they were so detailed the restoration of this classic outback building was made so much easier. The mission now houses a museum dedicated to the pioneering spirit of the nurses who braved the remoteness and loneliness of what was sometimes a wild frontier town.

“The nurses treated a few people passing by but it was mainly station people. There were probably two most significant areas - one was the Cooper Creek. Whenever it flowed it seems these was always someone who got into difficulty in the water. The other things was the race meeting - there was always a race meeting at Innamincha and jockeys in particular - falls off horse during the races - they’re quite prominent in the cemetery.”

The restored Australian Inland Hospital Museum is at Innamincka on the Strzelecki Track - contact the museum on 61 (0)8 8675 9909. If you have any further questions please email
info@postcards-sa.com.au