Dr James Moore Andrew practised in the Yallourn area from 1925 until he died on November 2, 1972.
Doctor Andrew was born in 1899 in Kyneton and came to the area on New Years Eve in 1925, just days after his marriage. He was only 2 years out of medical School. He spent 45 years attending the people of Yallourn and Brown Coal Mine, bringing many of them into the world. He was on call 24 hours every day. One time driving his T-Model Ford to Brown Coal Mine on a very poor road, he swerved to avoid a drunken cyclist and crashed into the bush. He
severed several tendons in his right hand, posing a threat to further surgical work. Total use of that hand was never fully attained and he learnt to operate using his left hand. He had a special relationship with small children and a trip to the operating theatre often meant a piggy back ride on his shoulders.
A small building sited near the Police Station was used as a Health Centre. A drum hoisted up a pole let residents know when the doctor was in attendance but patients were never expected to arrive until after the popular radio soap serials were finished. The doctors' room was lined with 3-ply and with Doctor Andrew having a deep booming voice, patients in the waiting area were never in doubt about the state of health of the patient being attended too. Many wished there was a back door to escape through.
Doctor Andrew always said that children who lived on “the hill” were healthier and did not suffer as many respiratory complaints as those living in Yallourn. In fact, he said at one time that Yallourn should have been built on the hill!
The maternity wing at the Latrobe Valley Community Hospital at Moe was named after him and his portrait was hung on the wall there. A memorial to him stands at Old Gippstown in Moe.
Doctor Andrew took a special interest in the Yallourn Scouts and Rovers and was made an honorary Rover Scout Commissioner for his services Doctor Andrew was awarded an MBE in 1972, but died that same year and his ashes are buried near the Rover Hut at Mount Erica.
LVCH Staff Member - Doctor James Andrew (Later Photo) Hospital
Dr. James Moore Andrew arrived in Yallourn in 1926…only four years after the formation of the YFC. He was still treating and operating on players more than 40 years later. Dr Andrew was once described as… “the doyen of the local medical fraternity”. Dr Andrew was later to receive an MBE for his services to the people of Yallourn).