Monash Children's Hospital

Monash Children's Hospital
Geography
Location	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°55′10″S 145°07′25″E / 37.919488°S 145.123698°E / -37.919488; 145.123698Coordinates: 37°55′10″S 145°07′25″E / 37.919488°S 145.123698°E / -37.919488; 145.123698
Organisation
Hospital type	Paediatric
Affiliated university	Monash Medical Centre, Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Services
Emergency department	Full 24 Hour Emergency Department
Beds	240
History
Founded	As Queen Victoria Hospital in 1896
Links
Website	monashchildrens.org.au
Lists	Hospitals in Australia

Monash Children’s Hospital is a major paediatric hospital in Melbourne, Australia. It has a tertiary site based at Monash Medical Centre Clayton, and also has wards contained within Dandenong Hospital and Casey Hospital. The hospital administrators are Monash Health, Victoria’s largest public health service.^[1]

It is one of Australia’s largest paediatric health services by volume of patients treated.^[2]

Facilities and services

Monash Children’s Hospital’s three sites have a total of 240 paediatric beds. This includes Victoria’s only paediatric intensive care beds outside of the Royal Children’s Hospital, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, three Special Care Nurseries, the Monash Children’s Cancer Centre and specialised paediatric emergency department facilities.^[3] Monash Children's Cancer Centre provides oncological treatment for 30% of Victoria's paediatric cancer patients.^[4] Monash Children's Hospital was the first paediatric hospital in the world to introduce low-dose, wireless, and instantaneous imaging technology for newborn patients.^[5]

Monash Children’s Hospital houses Victoria’s only children’s sleep research facility, and the state's only Thalassaemia treatment unit, only centre for foetal surgery, and only facility for paediatric cardiac electrophysiology.^[6]

Mental health services include outpatient clinics to assess and manage mothers and their infants. There are inpatient and outpatient mental health services for patients up to 18 years, as well as their families.^[7]

The hospital performs a number of pro bono surgical cases each year for children from developing countries, particularly cases requiring cardiac intervention or neurological surgery.^{[8][9][10][11]} A Ronald McDonald House is located alongside Monash Children's Hospital, allowing families from regional and rural areas to stay close to their children during treatment.^[12]

As of 2012, Monash Children’s Hospital employed nearly 200 doctors and over 300 full-time nurses.^[13]

New Monash Children's Hospital

In November 2012 the Victorian Government committed to building a stand-alone facility to house Monash Children's Hospital at a site directly alongside Monash Medical Centre, Clayton. The construction is scheduled for completion in 2017.^[14] The need for a second purpose-built major paediatric service in Victoria became apparent after reports showed that the current Monash Children's service admits nearly 85% as many patients as the Royal Children's Hospital.^[15][16][17] Victorian Minister for Health David Davis said that the population boom in the South-East corridor of Melbourne meant the construction of a new 230-bed hospital was overdue.^[18]

Construction of the new Monash Children's Hospital commenced in July 2014.^[19]

Artist's impression of the new Monash Children's Hospital.

The Monash Children’s Hospital service profile will include

• 96 In-patient acute beds
• 10 Paediatric Intensive care beds
• 64 Monash Newborn cots
• 20 Early in Life Mental Health Service beds
• 8 Neuro Developmental Psychiatry beds
• 20 Same-day beds
• 12 Oncology same-day beds – 12
• 3 Operating theatres – plus a dedicated Endoscopy Suite
• Sleep and Neurodiagnostic studies beds
• Imaging Modalities – 3 modalities (MRI, Ultrasound and X-Ray)
• Outpatient consulting rooms and Allied Health Therapy spaces
• Dedicated Central Sterilising Services Department (CSSD)
• Shell space for Starlight Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Kidsafe, Hoyts, Radio Lollipop, and Healesville Sanctuary

Research

In 2009 a team of clinicians at Monash Children’s Hospital made international headlines^[20] after they pioneered a world-first treatment for molybednum cofactor deficiency type A. The treatment was first used to treat ‘Baby Z’, who became the first person ever born with the condition to survive past early infancy.^[21]

References

External links

• Official website