sentences:  Originally known as the ""Lismore and Richmond River Hospital"", Lismore Base Hospital was opened in 1879 with a total of eight beds, one matron and one wardsman.By this time the surrounding region had already been settled by Europeans for thirty-six years, and Lismore itself had been declared a town by the government in 1856.With the population of the surrounding districts continuing to grow through the late nineteenth century, the hospital saw an increase in patients presenting with construction injuries and infectious diseases, and had to use tents as isolation wards before more permanent accommodation could be constructed.