The Old Bega Hospital Regional Community Cultural Centre

The Old Bega Hospital has no medical facilities.

For hospital services go to the South East Regional Hospital, phone 02 6491 9999. In an emergency, call 000.

Reserve Land Manager positions vacant

Got ideas about how to run the Old Bega Hospital? Join the management team! With the main building restoration pretty much completed (last bit still in progress) we need new skills.

Crown Land has commenced a recruitment process for additional Reserve Land Manager board members. Advertising will be published in the Bega District News on October 4, 2025. Applicants will be assessed on merit and may be contacted for an interview to determine suitability.

You might wonder what does a Reserve Land Manager do? All across the state countless facilities like showgrounds, local halls and parks, community centres are run by Statutory Land Manager Boards, made up of people just like you. People who understand the need and have a desire to manage public land and assets for the benefit of the entire community. Your role as a board member is voluntary, but the rewards of giving something back to the community are priceless. Don’t let this opportunity to do something for yourself and your community pass you by. The term of the appointment will be for a period not exceeding 5 years. Applications for membership can be made via portal.crownland.nsw.gov.au. Applications must be lodged by November 1st, 2025. For further information contact Heike Peterlin on (02) 4428 9108 or go to https://www.crownland.nsw.gov.au/about-us/get-involved/board-vacancies?combine=bega&field_regionss_target_id=All#. For information on how to apply via the Reserve Manager Portal, see the quick reference guide (PDF, 269 KB).

Please pass this information onto your family, friends and anyone you think would be interested. And we are appealing for our younger cohort to get involved – the future is yours and as a Land Manager you can help shape how the OBH Regional Community Cultural Centre becomes an active part of that future.

Restoration wins awards

The National Trust has recognised the hard work on the Old Bega Hospital. On 16 May at the National Trust NSW Heritage Awards in Sydney, the Old Bega Hospital restoration won the Built Conservation category and won the coveted Judges’ Choice award:   report    media release    photos    older photos    About Regional article   brochure (10 MB pdf)

Rooms and spaces available for hire or lease

Short or long term, commercial or community, indoor and outdoor. Reasonable rates. Flexible spaces. Contact the Reserve Land Manager for more information and bookings.

Memories of the 2004 fire

Do you have memories of the 2004 fire? Were you there, were you using the building, were you affected? Gordon Beattie is collecting memories.

This website is in three main parts:

  1. The Old Bega Hospital and its history
     
  2. The Old Bega Hospital (R.180050) Reserve Land Manager which has legal responsibility to manage the precinct, including hiring and leasing
     
  3. The Friends of the Old Bega Hospital, which is how you can get involved.

The Old Bega Hospital is a collection of historic heritage listed buildings on the outskirts of Bega, on the far south coast of New South Wales. Construction began in 1888 and the precinct served the community of the Bega Valley as a hospital from 1889 until 1956.

From 1957 to the mid 1980s the Old Hospital buildings and site were used for a time as a hostel for school students and then as an experimental farm before gradually falling into disrepair.

The buildings were extensively restored for the Old Hospital's centenary in 1988 by a major community effort assisted by government funds. The Hospital and grounds were then used for a great range of community purposes, including art spaces, cafe, community markets and a radio station.

The main building was extensively damaged by a fire on the night of 2 May 2004 and lost most of its roof. The Hospital was not insured. This is what it looked like before the restoration work in 2023-24. Several outbuildings were not damaged and remained available for rent or hire.

The Old Bega Hospital has no medical facilities.

For hospital services go to the South East Regional Hospital, phone 02 6491 9999

The Old Bega Hospital is owned by Crown Lands, part of the NSW government, and since 1990 has been managed by a Reserve Land Manager (formerly a Reserve Trust) established under the Crown Lands Management Act. In September 2014 the then Reserve Trust adopted a strategic plan (2.5MB pdf file) which set out its vision for the future of the site and was the basis of an application for funding from the NSW government. In May 2015 the Trust adopted a draft management plan (800kB pdf), and a draft proposal for a regional community and cultural centre (700kB pdf) to be accommodated on the site once the main building was restored. In February 2015 the NSW government offered a grant of $500,000 towards replacing the roof of the main building, conditional on a further $1.74m being found to complete the restoration project. Following that offer, the Friends of the Old Bega Hospital and the Reserve Trust met with many parties to find the additional money to make restoration a reality. We never got that $500,000, but we did get $100,000 from the NSW Heritage Near Me program, which enabled us to engage Sibling Architecture to produce a concept plan and costing, which got us initial development approval. That led to a $3m grant from the NSW Regional Communities Development Fund (funded from 'poles and wires' money), then a $421,000 grant from the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund, a $1.5m Commonwealth Black Summer Bushfires Recovery grant, and a further $600,000 from the RCDF as prices rose through the COVID period to ensure we could at least complete the core of the restoration, if not fully complete it. Design5 Architects did detailed planning and costings. Following two rounds of tendering, Leser Build was appointed as builder. Restoration work got under way in June 2023 and was completed in December 2024. And a very beautiful job it is too.

Friends of the Old Bega Hospital was incorporated in 2013 to assist the Reserve Land Manager to restore the Hospital's heritage and community values. Membership is open to all.

Proudly sponsored by:

                      

Also on facebook.

The Old Bega Hospital Reserve Land Manager acknowledges the Djiringanj people of the Yuin nation, the traditional Aboriginal custodians upon whose ancestral lands the Old Bega Hospital stands. The Old Bega Hospital Reserve Land Manager recognises their continuing culture and connection to land, water and community and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

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