History

John Flynn Private Hospital opened on 23rd November 1993 and was named in honour of a great Australian, Reverend Dr John Flynn, who through the innovative use of the technologies of his time brought a new era of holistic care to outback Australians particularly in Queensland.

The Reverend Dr John Flynn, or "Flynn of the Inland" as he became known, was a Doctor of Divinity who knew the bush. His ideas lead to the formation of the Australian Inland Mission in which Flynn reflected his belief that spiritual and physical care was inseparable.

The Reverend Dr John Flynn is probably best known as the founder of the world's first flying medical service, The Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service. What is less well known is that Flynn established fifteen small bush hospitals, which were scattered all over the outback. But Flynn knew a truly effective outback medical service needed two things, access and communications.

The first official flight for the Flying Doctor Service left Cloncurry, in north-west Queensland, in March 1928 with a plane hired from a fledging company called Qantas. In the first year, it treated two hundred and fifty-five patients suffering everything from typhoid fever to gunshot wounds.

Communication however was limited to the telephone and telegraph access. A solution came by way of Alf Traeger's invention, the pedal-powered wireless. Through the pedal wireless and his popular magazine - The Inlander, Flynn had given the Bush a voice and a "Mantle of Safety"

The John Flynn Private Hospital, Inland Drive Tugun, was dedicated to the compassion and determination of 'Flynn of the Inland’.