[2] Bear Cottage was conceived in the 1990s by Dr John Yu and Dr Michael Stevens from The Children's Hospital at Westmead to enhance the hospital's palliative care program and proposed to be developed on the site of the former St Patrick's College estate on North Head above Manly.
[3] It opened on St Patrick's Day 17 March 2001[2] after $10 million had been raised from the community to build it.
[1] In 2017 its operational costs were approximately $3.7 million per year,[5] with funding coming from the government, clubs and private sector.
[9] In 2021 radio announcer Ben Fordham publicly thanked Bear Cottage for their care for sick children.
[14] They were reportedly brought to the verge of tears by the plight of a nine-month old baby who had only days to live following a six-week battle with bacterial meningitis.