Mater extends its provision of patient care—establishing the Mater Volunteers Service, expanding Mater Mothers', and opening the Queensland Diabetes Centre at Mater.

In 1991, the provision of patient care was extended with the establishment of the Mater Volunteers Service. Sr Pamela Barker was appointed as Mater’s first Volunteer Coordinator. The service would grow to become Queensland’s largest hospital volunteer service program.

That same year, on 14 April, Mater Mothers' Hospital New Life Centre opened. The centre allowed the hospital to better cope with the increased number of patients referred from all over northern New South Wales and Queensland. The extensions provided new operating theatres, labour wards and a birthing centre where patients could be attended by midwives and new intensive and special care nurseries.

The following year, redevelopment of Mater Mothers' Private Hospital was completed, providing more modern facilities for mothers and their babies.

On 3 July 1992, Mater Mothers' Hospital delivered Australia's smallest surviving baby, Jonathon Heeley, weighing just 374 grams. Jonathon became affectionately known as 'the coke can kid' and has grown up to be a healthy teenager.

Three years later, in 1995, Mater Mothers' Centre for Mater Fetal Medicine opened. Maternal fetal medicine is the branch of obstetrics that focuses on the medical and surgical management of high-risk pregnancies. The centre now performs more than 10 000 scans per year, and accepts tertiary referrals from all over Queensland and northern New South Wales.

In 1996, the Queensland Cord Blood Bank at Mater opened. Cord blood banking is the ultimate form of medical recycling. Blood from the umbilical cord and placenta is collected from consenting mothers following delivery and is then processed, tested and cryopreserved to be accessed for patients worldwide requiring haematopoietic stem cell transplant. 

The Whitty Building also welcomed the Queensland Diabetes Centre at Mater, in September 1998, which was officially opened by President of Ireland Mary McAleese.   

Mater would like to acknowledge Helen Gregory, author of Expressions of Mercy. Mater has used information, as appropriate, from this publication to support the creation of this content.