Travelling to patients by tram and sterilising instruments on a stove was part of the service for the first Blue Care nurse, Sister Olive Crombie.
More than half a century later, Blue Care is Queensland's largest aged care provider and was last night inducted into the 2015 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
Now in its seventh year, the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame is a joint initiative between QUT Business School, State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Library Foundation. It celebrates those organisations and individuals who have enhanced the state's reputation and economy.
Blue Care and five other Queensland business leaders from past and present were inducted into the Hall of Fame by The Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO during a black-tie gala event at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre last night (THURSDAY JULY 30).
In 1953, armed with only a small medical kit, Sister Crombie, the first 'Blue Nurse', started taking the tram from the West End Methodist Mission to tend to elderly and disadvantaged patients.
The vision of Reverend Arthur Preston, Blue Care began life as the Blue Nursing Service, an outreach initiative of the congregation of the Methodist Mission at West End.
From these humble beginnings, the UnitingCare Queensland not-for-profit now employs more than 11,000 staff and volunteers, caring for more than 12,500 people every day across 260 sites throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales
Reverend Noel Preston, the son of Blue Care founder Reverend Arthur Preston, said his father's desire to help people in need came from his own upbringing.
"He grew up in a home that was hurt badly by the Depression and he had a strong sense of empathy for people who were struggling. It was a combination of that and the core teachings of the Christian gospel which at their best are about serving the disadvantaged," he said.
"When the Blue Nursing Service originated not long after the Second World War a lot of people were living in difficult circumstances and the healthcare system and support available for elderly people was basic."
Anne Cross CEO of UnitingCare Queensland, said Blue Care had become one of Australia's leading providers of community health and residential aged care.
"Blue Care is an extraordinary Queensland story, commencing in the West End of Brisbane and now spanning the whole of the state," she said.
"But it has stayed very strongly rooted in its origins and its commitment to its mission and values is as strong today as it was in the early days."
QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Little said Blue Care's continuing commitment to caring for society's disadvantaged and the sheer scale of its activities made it worthy of a place in the Hall of Fame.
"For more than 60 years Blue Care has delivered a compassionate service which now serves people across the state and northern New South Wales. But throughout its expansion the organisation has always kept hold of its core aim - assisting older people and others in need to lead their best possible lives."
State Librarian Janette Wright said the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame ensured the businesses and individuals who had played vital roles in the state's business landscape would be recognised and remembered.
The Hall of Fame space resides within State Library of Queensland, while the digital story collection is available online at www.halloffame.slq.qld.gov.au
The inductees into the 2015 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame are:
•Benjamin Wickham Macdonald
•Blue Care
•Ellen O'Brien and Defiance Flour
•Hyne Timber
•Sir Lawrence Wackett
•The Courier-Mail
TWITTER: Follow #qldhof
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
After hours, Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901
