Imagine returning almost 60 years later to the place where you once lived and trained. The building you knew is gone. In its place stands a world-class centre for medical discovery – and you are there for its opening. Not as a nurse, but as a member of its founding circle of donors.
For St Vincent’s nursing alumna Margaret Gill, the official opening of the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) in June was one of life’s special full circle moments. Australia’s first collaborative, hospital-based biomedical engineering translation centre now occupies the site of the former Aikenhead Wing – once home to Margaret and generations of young St Vincent’s nurses.
Returning to the site with her husband Peter Gill AM for the ACMD Official Opening, Margaret found herself reflecting on a place that shaped both her career and her life. Living and training in the Aikenhead Wing before graduating in 1969, she became part of a close-knit community where young nurses lived, trained and grew together – supporting one another along the way. It was there she forged lifelong friendships and began her relationship with Peter.
The former Aikenhead Wing, where Margaret and other St Vincent's nurses once lived and trained, and the new Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery, which now occupies the site.
Historical image sourced from St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne Archives.
“The Aikenhead Wing was much more than a place to train – it was a home,” Margaret said. “We lived, trained and grew together, and the friendships we formed were lifelong. We supported one another through everything, and even now many of us remain close.”
Much has changed since Margaret’s nursing days at St Vincent’s, yet something familiar still echoes through the ACMD’s 11 floors. Clinicians, researchers and engineers now work side by side, developing groundbreaking technologies while remaining united by the same commitment to improving the health of our communities.
Margaret Gill during her nursing days at St Vincent's. She lived and trained in the Aikenhead Wing before graduating in 1969.
Image sourced from St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne Archives.
In the late 1960s, Margaret recalls medical research taking place in far more modest and makeshift surroundings. While the scale and sophistication may have changed, the purpose underpinning the work remains constant.
“When I visited the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery, I was amazed by how far things had come,” Margaret said. “What moved me most was seeing the continuum – from the dedication of the hospital staff I knew as a young nurse to the cutting-edge research taking place now. It is the same commitment to improving lives, just expressed in new ways.”
Today, Margaret and Peter are helping write the next chapter of that story. As members of the ACMD Founders Circle, they are among the earliest supporters investing in the future of medical discovery in the St Vincent’s Fitzroy Health and Innovation Precinct.
“Supporting the ACMD felt like a way of honouring the past while investing in the future,” Margaret said. “I believe it will go from strength to strength and make a real difference for generations to come.”
Margaret first came to the Aikenhead Wing to learn how to care for others. Nearly 60 years later, she and Peter returned to ensure future generations can discover new ways of doing the same.
To learn more about the ACMD or how you can support its work, please get in touch with us on (03) 9231 3365 or send an email to foundation@svha.org.au.
