When The St George Cottage Hospital opened on November 16, 1894, there were just eight beds.
Fast forward 125 years and St George Hospital is a bustling heathcare facility with 671 beds, which last year alone saw 60,000 patient admissions and 80,000 emergency department presentations.
An open day held on Monday, November 11, served as a celebration for not just the staff and 300 volunteers who support them and the patients, but the entire community.
The festivities included a parade of hospital uniforms from different eras and a competition for the best decorated ward, which went to 6B for its depiction of an 1800s era medical emergency.
Like all good birthdays there was also a cake - a hospital tower made by Bangor resident Patricia Scheetz - a kidney and pancreas transplant recipient and long-time patient of the hospital.
The event also offered members of the public the opportunity to tour the hospital's new state-of-the-art birthing unit, which will be twice the size of the existing unit when it opens early next year.
Recent years have seen major expansions of the hospital with the redevelopment of the emergency department in 2014 and a new new acute services building opening in 2017.
The hospital's operating theatres are also being refurbished ahead of phase three of the hospital's redevelopment, which will begin by 2023.
St George Hospital general manager Leisa Rathborne said 125 years of caring for the community was a wonderful milestone to celebrate.
Ms Rathborne has been at the helm of the hospital during its transformation and said there was a new pride among staff, which aided morale and even helped the recruitment process.
"Everyone just loves working in the new environment. This year we were the number one preference for medical staff and for nursing staff we have been number one for three years."
She joined Oatley MP Mark Coure to cut the birthday cake.
