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The People’s Hospital Tales from the surgeon's table

About the author

Caroline Milburn

Caroline Milburn is a professional writer, editor and communications consultant. She is a former award-winning journalist with The Age newspaper, where she held senior positions as a news editor and specialist reporter.

The idea for the book came from two of Western Health’s senior surgeons – Associate Professor Graeme Thompson and Associate Professor Trevor Jones. They wanted to capture the vibrant stories of surgeons who led the development of surgery at Footscray Hospital since it opened in 1953. I would like to thank Graeme and Trevor for their invaluable help and guidance.

I am particularly grateful to Western Health’s Cathy Sommerville and Susan Negrau for seeing the potential for this book and working to bring it to fruition, and to Juliette Alush and Associate Professor Alex Cockram for supporting the development of such an important reflection on the history of Western Health.

Thank you to Western Health’s librarians and the volunteers at Footscray Historical Society for their help with archival research. I’m indebted to David Johns, who took wonderful photographs for this book and to Jane and Andy Sefton and Chris Forsyth and the rest of the Grindstone Creative team, for producing such a beautifully designed book and website.

Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support during the writing of the book.