to as a Base Hospital. At the 98th Annual General Meeting of the Hospital Committee, a Member of the Board, Mr. W. J. Lewis, was reported, apparently for the first time, as using this name for the hospital by saying: "...the discussion was the outcome of an earlier reminder to subscribers that the treatment now being given to patients was not confined to Goulburn, but embraced areas within 100 miles radius. Mr. W. J. Lewis: It is the Goulburn 'Base' Hospital." However, six years later, whatever the practical situation, Dr. R. V. Brotherton, the recent Colonel Registrar of Yaralla Military Hospital, then the largest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere, noted that official status was still not forthcoming. Finally, in 1951, twenty eight years after it was first mooted, Goulburn District Hospital was gazetted as the sixth Base Hospital in NSW, meeting requirements including averaging more than 100 patients per day, and the provision of a children's ward and pathological, X-ray and obstetric units. The intent of the Base Hospital system was to treat major cases at important provincial centres, instead of sending patients to Sydney. Doctors at smaller centres would send their patients to base hospitals for specialised treatment. Subsequent changes in health care policies have made the status of the Base Hospital terminology unclear. Although Goulburn remains the largest hospital in the Southern NSW Area Health District, the much larger Canberra Hospital in the neighbouring ACT is where many, more specialised, health treatments are provided. When Orange Base Hospital was redeveloped in 2011, the hospital was renamed Orange Health Service. However, there was significant community protest to return to the Base Hospital title, on the basis that the new name was confusing and that the old name better reflected the hospital's role as a regional hub. This has resulted in the official name being largely replaced in the media and common use by the term Orange Hospital. This may mean that if and when Goulburn Base Hospital is rebuilt or relocated its hard won "Base" title will be lost again. Foundation of the hospital The history of what was to become the current Goulburn Base Hospital goes back more than 180 years. Residents of County Argyle petitioned Governor Bourke for the provision of public services, including a hospital, in June 1832 on the occasion of his visiting Goulburn Plains. Governor Lachlan Macquarie had founded the Rum Hospital in Sydney