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Bundaberg 1919.  Only a couple of years a city, a settlement of about nine thousand people, and its medical facilities stretched by the needs of men returning from the Great War with both physical and psychological injuries. That was the context for the creation of one of Bundaberg’s health icons, the Friendly Society Private Hospital and Friendly Society Pharmacy.  It was in October 1919 that a group of like-minded men, mostly representing the then flourishing lodges, met to try toMore

As The Friendlies services continue to grow, we need to continue to meet our patients needs and support our nursing staff in their caring roles.  To assist with this, The Friendlies is immediately looking to create a casual pool of staff. The Friendlies Casual Pool will consist of Registered Nurses Enrolled Nurses AIN / PSAs Orderlies This casual pool of staff will be called upon to help in periods of high activity, periods of high acuity and to cover sickMore

With 30-years of service to the Friendly Society Private Hospital, well-loved nurse Ann Gahan was celebrated by The Friendlies and thanked for the contribution she made at her retirement farewell. “When I first started we only had one ward, and since then I’ve seen a surgical ward, a medical ward, an orthopaedic ward, the cath lab, and it just goes on, how much it’s expanded from when I first started,” Ann said. Ann began nursing at 16-years-old and came toMore

The first patient outside of Brisbane to receive access to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) treatment drug Ocrevus, Judy Howard, was treated at the Friendly Society Private Hospital’s Day Oncology Unit. Judy Howard was diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS two years ago and was admitted to the unit for the first of a series of infusions which will be used to delay the progression of physical disability and to reduce the frequency of relapse. The drug was added to the PBS inMore