Former staff of the old St Catherine’s Hospital in Tranmere are having a reunion 30 years after it was closed down

Sep 7 2011 by Linda Foo Guest, Birkenhead News

FORMER staff of the old St Catherine’s Hospital in Tranmere are having a reunion 30 years after it was closed down.

The general wards and midwifery section of St Catherine’s was moved to Arrowe Park Hospital in 1982.

The Victorian building, in Church Road, began life as a workhouse before becoming a hospital.

In more recent years Wirral PCT has used the building for its headquarters and the geriatric and psychiatric departments continued to function there.

Currently it is being demolished to make way for a new communality treatment centre which will open in 2013.

But 30 years after the main hospital closed, a reunion has been organised for former staff on September 14.

Margaret Fitzpatrick worked as a nurse at St Catherine’s from 1958 to 1982, when it moved to Arrowe Park, and has organised the get-together.

She told the Wirral News: “The general and midwifery section moved to Arrowe Park and we were all sad to leave.

“Many of us went to different departments and lost touch.

“The camaraderie, closeness and friendliness was gone when we went to the large hospital.

“There is not much left of St Catherine’s. It is in the process of being demolished and a new medical treatment centre will be built.

“I thought of doing the reunion for all the medical and clerical staff who worked there and more than 120 people are attending.

“I hope to bring all our friends and colleagues together and reminisce about the old times at the hospital.”