Lourdes Valley

In the early 1900s Catholic Archbishop John O’Reily had plans for the Little Sisters of the Poor to establish a nursing home in Myrtle Bank. The foundation stone was blessed on 13 September 1914 but sadly Archbishop O’Reily passed away months before the home was finished in 1915. The home, Lourdes Valley, initially provided care and accommodation for homeless men. On 3 March 1983, Southern Cross Homes took over the 77 hostel units and 68 nursing home beds as the numbers of the Little Sisters of the Poor had dwindled and they were no longer able to run the home.
To this day the building still exists, although in 1987 it was converted into 32 resident-funded retirement units, known as Heritage Apartments. The chapel that was built into the original nursing home is still in use for Catholic services.
Southern Cross Care provides Residential Care services in this location at The Lodge Lourdes Valley, which was opened next door to the historical building on 18 September 2003.