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Latest & New
Middlemore Hospital: the first two decades
Built during WWII by the Public Works Department. Unwanted by the Auckland Hospital Board. A new book outlines the first two decades of one of the largest hospitals in this country.
Built during WWII by the Public Works Department. Unwanted by the Auckland Hospital Board. From small beginnings and numerous problems, it became one of the largest hospitals in this country.
The initial purpose of writing this book was to disprove the repeated myth that the Americans built, staffed, and treated their war casualties at Middlemore. While the American soldiers were in New Zealand during World War II, they had access to three large temporary hospitals in Auckland, with accommodation for 4,500 sick and wounded Americans.
The New Zealand Government War Cabinet’s policy was to have all Kiwi sick and wounded service personnel treated by New Zealand staff in New Zealand-operated hospitals. Middlemore Hospital was a result of this policy for expected casualties in the Pacific war. It was initially built as a 300-bed military hospital with plans to convert it to a civilian hospital following the cessation of wartime hostilities.
The authors spent much of their professional working lives at Middlemore. They wish to dispel the American myth and record the many problems faced during the building and functioning of this hospital.
About the authors:
Earle Brown MB.ChB. FRACS (Plastic Surgery) FRCS (General Surgery)
Final year Medical Student, Auckland, National Women’s Hospital 1960
House Surgeon Auckland, Middlemore and Green Lane Hospitals 1961–62
Registrar Plastic Surgery, Middlemore Hospital 1963–64
Registrar General Surgery, Green Lane and Middlemore Hospitals 1965
Postgraduate study and work in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery in UK 1966–69
Plastic Surgery, Middlemore Hospital 1970–2005
Clinical Head of Department Plastic Surgery 1990–97
Clinical Director of Surgery 1997–2002
Retired 2005
Walter (Wally) Robins FHOA(NZ), FIHA(NZ)
Storeman Clerk, Central Store, Cornwall Hospital, October 1955
Charge Storeman Clerk, Issue Store, Middlemore, March 1962
Commissioning Officer, Galbraith Block, Middlemore Hospital, 1963–64
Assistant Stores Officer, Middlemore Hospital, 1964–69
Accounts Payable Officer, Middlemore Hospital, May 1969
Personal Assistant to the Medical Superintendent, Green Lane Hospital, January 1970
Assistant Hospital Manager, Middlemore Hospital, October 1971
Manager, Middlemore Hospital, March 1978
Retired March 1990
Middlemore Hospital: The first two decades 1943–1964, by Earle Brown and Walter (Wally) Robins, Mary Egan Publishing, New Zealand, September 2024, ISBN: 978-1-0670207-3-6.
“The establishment of Middlemore Hospital cannot be told in isolation from the challenges facing the Auckland Hospital Board during times of peace and war. Middlemore was built because of the Second World War (WWII) and, contrary to usual hospital constructions, was initiated by Government decree and not by the Hospital Board.” - Earle Brown and Walter (Wally) Robins, from the Introduction to Middlemore Hospital: The first two decades 1943–1964, Mary Egan Publishing, New Zealand, 2024, page 9.
