Hospitals 29 December 2022

New ward opens at Royal Children’s Hospital

A new 30-bed inpatient ward has been completed at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The new paediatric ward is open and already treating its first patients who have a range of illnesses, including cancer.

The new ward will allow the treatment of an additional 2,730 children each year. It will help meet increasing demand for specialist paediatric treatment and care.

Accessible video transcript

IMAGES: View upwards from street level of the hospital tower from two different angles.

TEXT: A multi-million dollar expansion of the iconic Royal Children’s Hospital continues to take shape with the first stage of the massive $49.4 million upgrade now complete.

IMAGES: A view inside the new floor tracking down a long corridor with staff base in the centre and treatment rooms off each side.

TEXT: This stage has delivered a new 30-bed inpatient ward.

IMAGES: View inside a patient unit with cot, ensuite and couch, and views to outside parklands.

TEXT: Take a look inside.

IMAGES: View of a consulting room, with different adult and child sized chairs and tables.

IMAGES: A patient unit with bed, ensuite, couch and view to outside parklands.

IMAGES: View inside a doctor’s consulting room.

TEXT: The new ward will treat around 2,700 children every year.

IMAGES: View upwards from street level of the hospital tower.

TEXT: On track to be completed in 2024, the next stage of the project will deliver a bigger, better emergency department.

IMAGES: The closing slide is the Victorian Health Building Authority logo, the web address vhba.vic.gov.au and the Victorian State Government logo.

End of transcript.

About the Royal Children’s Hospital expansion project

The new inpatient ward is part of the first stage of the $49.4 million Royal Children’s Hospital expansion.

Stage two will deliver an extra 20 emergency treatment spaces, due to be completed mid-2023. Final works to upgrade the current emergency department are due to be complete mid-2024.

Additional capacity will assist in improving patient wait times, and enable the hospital to meet increased demand for specialist paediatric treatment and care.

The Royal Children’s Hospital is one of the world’s leading institutions for paediatric health. The facility attracts patients with the highest needs from across the country. It’s also an important hospital in paediatric training and research.

Learn more about the Royal Children’s Hospital expansion project via our dedicated project page.