Peninsula Health has grown from a network of health services operating across the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region, to unite and provide comprehensive care across the entire life continuum.
Frankston Hospital, Peninsula Health’s main acute hospital was constructed many years ago. The hospital opened as Frankston Community Hospital in 1941, with Rosebud Hospital completed 20 years later. Both hospitals soon became an integral part of the Mornington Peninsula community.
- The Frankston township was established in 1854 – however it took almost 100 years for the town to get its own hospital
- On 30 November 1941, the 30 bed Frankston Community Hospital was officially opened, and admitted its first patient the following day
- There were difficulties opening a hospital during the war – all three local doctors were serving overseas, prompting three local doctors to come out of retirement to staff the hospital
- Food and equipment was also scarce, so the Frankston Cemetery was used as a vegetable patch for hospital staff and patients
- Patients had to bring their own linen and emergency patients were treated on mattresses on the floor before being transferred to the city
- After the war, the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula population grew steadily and by 1954 construction began to add 24 additional beds and a casualty area
- The 60s were a decade of unprecedented growth. In 1963 the new 40 bed medical and surgical North wing was completed, seemingly just in the nick of time – in 1965, births had increased by 118 and there were 637 more patients treated than the previous year
- By the 1970s, there were major expansions including a 50 bed maternity wing, an operating theatre, a paediatric ward, a 30 bed general ward, a day surgery ward and expansions of the Casualty Department Frankston Hospital was also one of the first hospitals in Australia to install computers in wards
- In 1992 Frankston Hospital amalgamated with Rosebud’s Southern Peninsula Hospital and in 1995 formed the Peninsula Health Care Network
- Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre was built in a staged process between 1992 and 2000
- The Mornington Centre was built and opened in 2007 before Peninsula Health incorporated the Peninsula Community Health Service in July 2008, which included the new Hastings Community Health building
- The Frankston Public Surgical Centre joined the group as the sixth major site, when the Frankston Private Hospital was acquired in 2022
- In 2024, Peninsula Health, alongside Alfred Health and Kooweerup Regional Health, announced they would undergo a voluntary merger in 2026 to become Bayside Health (working title), catering care to 1.1 million people.
