Local legend and retired nurse Jan Bell shares love of Concord’s museum.
 

Jan Bell is a Concord Hospital icon.

At 86 years old, she stands among the treasures in the Concord Hospital EM Lane Concordians’ Museum, her mauve T-shirt is a dedication to the nursing uniforms she once wore.

“[I was] 17 years old when I first came to Concord, and I have predominantly worked here. I’ve been away and back many times, but I’ve been here,” she said.

“It’s been a labour of love being attached to this place, I just love it so much.”

Opened in May 2025 and named after Mrs Ethel ‘Stalky’ Lane AM MBE, the Museum is a dedication to Australian Military Nursing and the early history of Concord Hospital. As a retired registered nurse, nurse educator, and lecturer, Jan commits two days a week volunteering as its curator.

“You can’t put a woman down, especially if she’s a nurse, taught with those old army girls,” Jan said.

“They were amazing, I loved them to pieces. You couldn’t have gone to a better training school than this one.”

Jan started work as a student nurse in 1957, when Concord Hospital was known nationally for repatriation and staff were dedicated to the rehabilitation and wellbeing of returned military personnel.

“I identified with them because I was born a month after World War II was declared. So, most of my family were in the armed forces and it just became a place that I knew about,” Jan said.

“When the time came to become a student nurse, what better place to come to but Concord?”

Jan then volunteered in the Vietnam War as a civilian nurse, taking her on an adventure that would change her outlook on life. She says she fell in love with the Vietnamese people and the experience cemented her commitment to nursing.

“It was the most formative year of my entire life, coming to a place where I couldn’t speak the language,” she said.

“I guess it was because I had worked here in a military hospital, we had that mindset, it was quite extraordinary.

“To work in another culture, I wouldn’t be doing anything like this if it wasn’t for my time in Vietnam.”

Jan’s journey is encapsulated in a dedicated room within the museum, with her old uniforms, photographs, and memorabilia proudly on display.

The EM Lane Museum can be found at Building 7, opposite the Green, via Gate 2, and is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm.

Visitors can learn about Australian nursing history from the Boer War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam War, view medical teaching resources from the ’70s and ’80s, read the original hospital visitors book and see hospital’s Sulman Memorial Prize for Merit in Architecture.

Jan calls it a beautiful living history. She volunteers Monday and Thursday and all are welcome for a visit.