Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy in New Zealand - UC Research ...

37
the day vvhen they would be able to open a hospital in
Auckland.
At last the time seemed ripe for such an undertaking
and on November 7th, 1900 the Sisters purchas
a
large private residence in Mountain Road, on the northern
slope of r.;ount Eden.
With M.lii.IGnatius as Superior, and a
staff of three Sisters and five nurses, the hospital
entered on its career vii th eight patients, an6. after
twenty years
enduring labour• was qu1 te free from debt.
Then the need for greater aoconunodation was felt and soon a
two storey brick building 'Nas added.
By 1925 this too
proved inadeccluate for their vrork and to comrnemorate the
Silver Jubl
e a fine, large residence was co:r.verted into
a convent and chap and named "St. Ignatius 11 after the
hospit foundress. As the training of the Sisters was of
vi t
importance, several, vvho showed aptitude for the
nursing profession, were sent to the leading institutes in
Australia, St. Vincent's Hospital and the Mater Hospital,
::lydney, where they specialised in several branches of
hospital nursing.
The thorough training gained there formed
the firm foundation for the strikin,:?; success and exc
tional
speed with which they have pressed onward for the
thirty-nine years of the present century.
After the passage
of legislation enabling approved,privately-owned hospitals
to train nurses the Sisters pursued the irlea of' building a
new hospital of the most modern style.
For this purpose