Abstract

This year, 1982, marks the centenary of the Sydney Eye Hospital, originally the ophthalmic department of the old Sydney Infirmary, which was founded with the settlement of the Colony in 1788. Established in 1882, the hospital was transferred to its present site 60 years ago, and it still provides ward accommodation. After alternating periods of stagnation and progress the new hospital (stage 1) was completed in 1974, with modern clinic and research facilities. It is now the largest eye hospital in the southern hemisphere and is a first-class referral centre with an annual attendance of 75,000. The Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, is based at the hospital, providing undergraduate instruction and a comprehensive postgraduate training programme for Australian ophthalmologists and others in more distant continents.