Aug 8
The Cahill Building, St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst, Sydney Australia. Now decommissioned and awaiting demolition, the building was home to Ward 17 South, the storied HIV facility that became the epicentre of the AIDS crisis in Australia. Not long after the first local diagnosis of AIDS in 1982, Ward 17 South was designated an HIV treatment and care facility. The Sisters of Charity, true to their mission of caring for the sick and marginalised, played a central role in getting the facility up and running. Defying the Catholic Church and the prevailing social stigmas around AIDS, the Sisters provided much needed care and compassion to patients and their loved ones.