DOROTHY Kauter vividly recalls her first day at the John Hunter Hospital when it opened 30 years ago.
It was with mixed emotions that the hospital's midwife unit manager for birthing services left her previous post at the Calvary Mater Newcastle to work her first shift at the brand new hospital.
"We felt a little bit like we were starting our first day of school, where we didn't know where anything was," she said.
"We'd come from older buildings and hospitals around Newcastle to come to these state-of-the-art nursing and birthing rooms.
"It was a beautiful space. But often, when a brand new hospital opens, it can feel like it has no soul. It's just a building until the people - the staff and the patients - come in and it starts to take on a life of its own."
At the time, Ms Kauter was 30 years old and pregnant with her second daughter.
"I had a vested interest in making sure we got everything sorted out quickly, because I wanted to have my baby there," she laughed.
"I wanted everyone working as a team and all of the teething problems sorted out well before then, and they were. Within a couple of weeks everything was running smoothly and all of the nurses and midwives - who had come from different hospitals - were working well together."
Ms Kauter said her experience at the hospital had "almost come full circle" now that the birthing unit had reached its capacity.
"We've almost reached our limits here now, which is why maternity is one of the units that is going into the new hospital expansion," she said.
Ms Kauter is among the hospital staff members featured in a photography exhibition that celebrates the 30-year anniversary of the John Hunter Hospital.
The exhibition, which closes at the end of the month, tells the stories of some of the people who have been an integral part of the hospital's history and growth.
"I think it celebrates where we have come from, and how we have grown as a hospital," Ms Kauter said.
"We really have outgrown our shell, in all areas. So it is exciting to look how far we have come while we plan for the next 30 years with the new facility."
The portraits hang in the main corridor of the entry level of the hospital.
Photographer Michael Rayment said he was "honoured" to be tasked with shooting the portraits of some of the hospital's long-serving staff members.
"I got to experience a part of the hospital that a lot of the general public doesn't," he said. "The people I worked with were so wonderful, and dedicated, and so passionate, I felt really privileged to spend some time with them and take these photographs."
