The main building of the
Bowen Hospital as it was initially known, was designed by
Charles Tiffin and others. For a time it was also known as
Brisbane General Hospital. In the 19th century the hospital dealt with some severe cases of
tropical diseases due to Queensland's predominantly tropical climate. The women's hospital was demolished first, in 1998, to make way for the new building, after which the acute hospital was demolished. In the same year the
hospital precinct was listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register. In January 2008, there was a public
health scare over concerns about lead levels at the hospital. Concerns were dismissed by Queensland Health after air and surface swabs carried out found lead levels were safely below recommended standards. In February 2008, the hospital was hit with an outbreak of an antibiotic resistant bug,
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus or VRE. The hospital closed two 30-bed wards to new admissions in early December after 21 patients tested positive to VRE, while staff contained spread of the bacteria. == See also ==