“White death” they called it. That’s tuberculosis. Today we stand where the Greenvale Sanatorium once stood. It was a beacon of hope. It opened in May 1905. The Greenvale Sanatorium was Victoria’s first public tuberculosis institution.
The sanatorium aimed to treat early-stage patients. Those who didn’t improve after a month were discharged. Records from 1906 and 1907 show the average stay was 74 days. Sixty-one percent of patients improved significantly. Fourteen percent were deemed incurable. Many returned home to die.
The Greenvale Sanatorium played a vital role. It cared for sufferers in reduced circumstances. Their poor nutrition and living conditions made them vulnerable to tuberculosis. This highly contagious disease was greatly feared.
Life inside Greenvale was strict. Bells dictated every activity. There was a bell for rising. A bell for meals. A bell for walking. A bell for resting. A bell for bedtime. Many activities were forbidden. They were considered too strenuous. Patients couldn’t visit each other’s tents. They couldn’t laugh excessively. Singing was forbidden. So were dancing and wind instruments. Only unexciting literature was allowed.
However, able patients could walk to the hilltop shelter. By 1913, they could help with gardening. They could also assist with bee-keeping and poultry care. Half the grounds were planted with trees. This happened between 1906 and 1908. The state nursery and Botanical Gardens supplied them. Pine trees were planted for shade. Many still stand today.
Initially, Greenvale consisted of canvas-walled timber huts. Each held five beds. Weatherboard buildings housed the kitchen. They also contained the dining room, surgery and staff quarters. Two 18-bed weatherboard wards were added in December 1906. This brought the total to 70 beds. In 1907, 19 staff members cared for patients.
By 1910, patient beds increased to 90. Two additional huts were constructed. The number of beds per hut rose from five to six.
From 1924 or 1925, Greenvale only admitted female patients. Male patients went to Amhurst Sanatorium. A journalist noted a change in management. There weren’t too many rules or discipline. The atmosphere felt like home. Patients could gather wood and make small fireplaces. They could boil water for tea. This helped them forget they were in an institution.
In 1940, a new two-story brick administration building was erected. Around the same time, four new timber wards were built. They had a boomerang shape. Each had 24 beds. By 1942, there were 172 beds. By 1945, the original buildings were unused. Capacity dropped to 96.
In 1949-50, a four-story ward building was constructed. It was named the Percy Everett building. Its boomerang shape matched the timber buildings. It included a 400-seat theatre. The 144 beds brought the sanatorium’s capacity to 236.
New drug treatments for tuberculosis made the Greenvale Sanatorium redundant. It became the Greenvale Village for the Aged in 1955. It was a special hospital for the aged. It later became the Greenvale Geriatric Centre. It then became the Greenvale Centre. In 1991, it merged with Mount Royal Hospital. It became the North-West Hospital.
In 1998, the hospital closed. In 2004, the site was sold. Demolition began in May 2005. By the end of 2006, all buildings were gone. Only a timber patient hut remained. It had heritage protection. Vandals burned it down in 2008.
Today nothing reminds us of the Greenvale Sanatorium. But let us never forget the people who were treated here. The Greenvale Sanatorium played a vital role. It helped combat tuberculosis. It provided hope during a dark time.