In 1906, the
Sisters of Mercy opened the first Mater Hospital in a private house,
Aubigny, at
North Quay. The house was converted into a 20-bed private hospital. In 1911, the funds generated by the first Mater Private Hospital, and its successor at
South Brisbane, allowed the Sisters of Mercy to open a free public hospital for the city of Brisbane. The branding Mater Misericordiae is a translation from Latin of "Mother of Mercy", and was named after the Mater Hospital in
Dublin, Ireland (1861) and previous Mater Hospitals in
Pittsburgh (1847) and
Cork (1857). In 1919, Queensland's first hospital laboratory was established at the Mater. In 1928, the Mater Public Hospital installed Queensland's first deep X-ray therapy machine to treat cancer patients. In 1931, Mater opened the 80 bed Mater Children's Hospital, the first Children's Hospital south of the
Brisbane River, treating over 8,266 patients in its first year of operation. In 1953, eastern Australia's first
eye bank opened at the Mater. In 1954, Mater established Queensland's first Neurological Department. In 1960, the Mater Mothers' Hospital was officially opened, accommodating for 140 mothers. In 1967 blood transfusions were performed on a baby in utero for the first time in Queensland. In 1987 Mater Children's Hospital established Queensland's first paediatric sleep unit. In 1988 the Brisbane Mater Health Service was the official health provider for Brisbane's
Expo 88. In 1989 the Mater Private Priority Emergency Centre was opened, the first in any Queensland hospital. In 1998, the Mater Children's Private Hospital opens becoming Australia's first private paediatric facility. On 14 April 1999, the Mater Private Hospital in
Gladstone officially opened. In 2000, then Mater Private Hospital in
Redland opened. In 2006, Mater Health Services becomes the first institution to win a
Queensland Greats Awards. In 2008, the new Mater Mothers' Hospitals opened on the
South Brisbane campus. In 2010, Mater Private Hospital Brisbane became the first private hospital in Queensland to launch an automatic notification system for tissue donation. In 2014, Mater Children's Hospital closed after 83 years replaced by the new
Lady Cilento Children's Hospital. Mater Children's Private Brisbane is still operational. in 2004. In mid-2014, Mater Health Services joined with seven other organisations to form the
Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners, with the aim to work collaboratively to improve health outcomes through the integration of research, education and clinical delivery. In mid-2015, Mater Centre for Neurosciences opened. In October 2015, Mater Private Hospital
Springfield opened. In July 2015, a truck collided with the overhead footbridge attached to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane which crosses Raymond Terrace, causing damages costing $170,000. Mater Group attempted to sue the truck driver and his employer but the claim was dismissed with a subsequent appeal also dismissed. In 2020, the 33-bed Mater Private Hospital in
Gladstone was closed due to no longer being viable. It had operated for 21 years, closing departments from 2018 until final closure in 2020. After it was listed for sale in 2019, it was purchased by
Queensland Health in 2020 and incorporated into the existing public health facilities. == Private hospitals ==