Treg Rowe

Chairman, fundraiser and steward of St Andrew’s Hospital

For most of St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital’s history, one name appeared again and again.

Allan Tregithew Frank “Treg” Rowe was involved before the Hospital was built, chaired its Board from 1965 until 2011, helped secure the funds needed to establish it, guided its growth through decades of change and, at critical moments, personally helped keep it financially afloat.

His association with St Andrew’s lasted almost half a century and became one of the defining commitments of his life.

Treg often traced that commitment back to a rainy day in June 1958.

Driving from Toowoomba to Brisbane, he approached the railway crossing at Bundamba. Believing a locomotive had cleared the crossing, he continued forward. What he did not realise was that the train was reversing.

The collision was unavoidable.

The passenger side of his car was crushed. Normally, his wife Auriel and daughter Janine would have been travelling with him, but they had stayed home because Janine was unwell. Treg escaped with only minor injuries.

A committed Christian, he later said the experience left him with a profound belief that God had spared his life for a purpose. For years afterwards, he searched for what that purpose might be.

The answer arrived in 1964.

A dinner that changed everything

That July, Treg attended a dinner where support was being sought for a proposed new private hospital in Toowoomba.

The project was being championed by Dr Ronald Harbison and Dr Grant Dickson, who believed the region desperately needed more hospital beds. Not everyone agreed. Critics questioned the location, doubted doctors would use the facility and wondered whether the community would support it.

But Treg had recently seen the pressure on local hospitals firsthand while visiting his mother at St Vincent’s Hospital, where some patients were being accommodated in corridors because of bed shortages.

As he listened that evening, he felt certain this was the purpose he had been looking for.

He volunteered immediately.

Helping turn a vision into reality

One of Treg’s first roles was as Special Gifts Chairman for the fundraising appeal.

The task was daunting. Building the Hospital would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and attracting major donors was crucial. Believing people were more likely to give if campaign leaders led by example, Treg pledged enough to fund a single-bed ward over three years.

Even as fundraising gathered momentum, debate continued. Some argued the North Street site was too far from town, while others doubted doctors would travel there.

Treg later joked that some people spoke about the trip to St Andrew’s as though it were a journey to Charleville.

Despite the criticism, momentum continued to grow.

Learning as they built

As construction began, Treg became chairman of the Building Sub-Committee.

Determined to get things right, he and Reverend Jim McConaghy travelled to Sydney to seek advice from Australia’s only school of hospital administration at the University of New South Wales.

The expert they met was blunt. Did anyone involved actually know how to run a hospital? He made it clear that the task was no place for amateurs and that the committee should consider abandoning the entire project.

Treg calmly explained that construction had already started and the fundraising campaign was well underway. There was no turning back.

He bought a textbook on hospital administration and returned to Toowoomba to keep building.

Chairman of the Board

In 1965, the St Andrew’s Board of Governors was established and Treg was elected Chairman.

He would remain in the role for the next 46 years.

With characteristic humour, he later said he was never entirely sure whether he kept being re-elected because people approved of his work or because nobody else wanted the job.

Keeping the doors open

The Hospital’s early years were far from easy.

Patient numbers were lower than expected and some doctors were reluctant to use the new facility. By 1968 and 1969, financial pressures had become critical.

Treg believed the situation would improve, but the Hospital needed time. Rather than stand by and watch it fail, he began personally contributing money each month to cover operating losses. Through J. Rowe & Son Pty Ltd, he also arranged interest-free financial support to help meet the Hospital’s obligations.

Reverend Jim McConaghy is noted as referring to reports that Treg had been supporting the Hospital by $1,000 a month.

Treg quietly corrected him.

The support was actually $1,000 a week.

As patient numbers grew, the Hospital recovered and the loans were eventually repaid in full. The Board formally acknowledged the support that had helped carry St Andrew’s through one of the most difficult periods in its history.

Leading through growth

Over the following decades, Treg helped guide St Andrew’s through extraordinary growth. Additional beds, operating theatres and new wards were added. Specialist services expanded, including intensive care, mental health, diagnostic and cancer services.

One achievement he particularly valued was the development of regional cancer care. The introduction of oncology, chemotherapy and later radiotherapy services meant many patients could receive treatment close to home rather than travelling long distances.

What began as a 48-bed hospital grew into one of regional Australia’s leading private healthcare facilities.

A lasting legacy

Treg’s leadership was remembered not only for what he achieved, but for how he achieved it. Colleagues described him as fair, approachable and deeply committed to the people who worked and received care at St Andrew’s. He preferred to share credit rather than claim it.

When he first became involved, St Andrew’s existed only as an idea. Over the decades that followed, he helped raise the money, oversee construction, guide expansion, recruit leaders, support staff and, when necessary, back the Hospital with his own resources.

Many people contributed to the success of St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital, but few shaped its story as profoundly as Treg Rowe. From a controversial proposal on the edge of town to a major regional healthcare institution, he was there every step of the way.