Founding of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London, which was the most influential and first children’s hospital of major importance

How to Nurse Sick Children was written by Dr Charles West, one of the most famous paediatricians of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London

Establishment of the Melbourne Lying-In Hospital and Infirmary for Diseases of Women and Children (now the Royal Women’s Hospital), which apparently was the first major hospital to have a children’s ward. From 1861 to 1867, it admitted children in a very limited way

Opening of Homeopathic Hospital on Spring Street, Melbourne

The Hospital for Sick Children (later to become known as the RCH) was established in Melbourne. By then, Victoria had a population of half a million people, of which half lived in Melbourne. As Melbourne’s population grew, so did its need to provide care for children in response to the high birth rates of the late 1850s and 1860s

The Homeopathic Hospital took over the Children’s Hospital building after the Hospital for Sick Children moved to new premises

The Victorian Kew Cottages for intellectually disabled children were opened

One of the worst typhoid epidemics swept through Melbourne

The Queen Victoria Hospital opened as a hospital for women and children in poor and distressed circumstances in St David’s Welsh Church Hall, La Trobe Street, Melbourne

Dr John Fishbourne opened a day centre for intellectually disabled children in Melbourne

A Shilling Appeal raised over £3000 to purchase a suitable home for the Queen Vic Hospital – the Governess Institute in Mint Place, Little Lonsdale Street.

Opening of the Queen Vic Hospital on 5 July of that year by Lady Brassey.

The infant mortality rate was 100 per 1,000 live births

The maternal death rate in various states in Australia varied between 5.5 and 6.2 per thousand, major causes of death being puerperal fever and accidents

Dr J.W. Günst, of the staff of the Homeopathic Hospital, was responsible for the gift of £2,000 [$4,000] as a contribution towards the cost of a Children’s Ward at that hospital

Informal establishment of the Melbourne Paediatric Society

School medical services were initiated in Victoria

Opening of a new Children’s Ward at the Homeopathic Hospital (known from 1934 as Prince Henry’s Hospital). The original ward, a brick building with slate roof and located at the rear of the main buildings, was opened by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Madden, G.C.M.G., and Lady Madden, on 5 May. Dr William Ray, of the staff of the Homeopathic Hospital, was instrumental in arranging for the final cost of the ward and its furnishing to be met by an anonymous donor. Artists Jessie Traill (b. 1881 Victoria d. 1967 Victoria) and Ida Rentoul-Outhwaite decorated the Children’s Ward with paintings.

In June, the Baby Health Centre Movement began in Victoria, when Dr Isobel Younger Ross, assisted by Muriel Peck, established the first Maternal & Infant Health clinics in the poorer industrial municipalities in Melbourne (the first opened in Richmond)

Seventy-nine children had been admitted to the Queen Vic in the preceding twelve months, and their treatment in the general wards was inconvenient to all concerned

Appeal by the Queen Vic for £20,000 for the purpose of providing a Ward for Children.  In June of that year, Dr Margaret McLorinan established a special antenatal clinic at the Queen Vic

Of the two large Children’s Wards existing at the Homeopathic Hospital by then, only one was in use. There was not enough bedroom space for more nurses to be engaged to attend to a greater number of patients (i.e. ideally a daily average of 20 more little children to attend than were being treated at this time).

Opening of a new Children’s Ward at the Queen Vic on 21 September.  Miss Jessie Traill beautifully decorated the ward.  Parties of children from many metropolitan State Schools presented gifts to the Children’s Ward and some were responsible for supporting special cots.  Princess Mary asked that her wedding gift from the women of Victoria should be used to endow a cot at the hospital

Extension of the Queen Vic’s department for children’s diseases

The Infant Welfare Service came under the jurisdiction of the Victorian State Health Department with the establishment of its Maternal and Child Health Welfare Branch.  Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown (b. 1889 d. 1946) became the government’s Director of Infant Welfare, by which time there were nearly seventy infant welfare centres.

Sir James Spence, Professor of Paediatrics at Newcastle-upon-Tyne University, England, pioneered ‘social paediatrics’, which emphasised family structure and function in child health. Spence had a profound influence on Australian paediatrics

Dr Kate Campbell (b. 1899 d. 1986) was appointed inaugural lecturer in neo-natal paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, a post she held until 1965

A massive poliomyelitis epidemic raged across Victoria

Conversion of the Homeopathic Hospital into the new Prince Henry’s Hospital after the Charities Board decided to rebuild it

Opening of the Mabel Brookes Wing at the Queen Vic that included a larger children’s ward, built in the name of Judith Baillieu by the generosity of her parents.  It occupied the site of the original theatre.  Once again, Miss Jessie Traill decorated the walls, as she had done for the previous children’s ward that had been demolished

Another serious outbreak of polio epidemic in Victoria

1940s and 1950s

The baby boom of these two decades caused a serious shortage of trained paediatricians

Official opening of Prince Henry’s Hospital, a tall and graceful central block fronting St Kilda Road in South Melbourne, by the then Premier of Victoria, the Hon Albert Dunstan, on 10 October. The Children’s Ward was situated on the tenth floor of the new hospital

Dandenong Hospital opened as a small country hospital that was originally known as Dandenong and District Hospital. The first baby born at the hospital was Mr Francis Murphy

The Children’s Ward at Prince Henry’s Hospital, which during the period of danger from air raids was transferred to the ground floor, was re-installed on the tenth floor, where the bright and cheerful surroundings “materially assist in the happiness and well-being of the little inmates.” The Australasian Women’s Association established the A.W.A. Nursery at the Queen Vic

Robert Swords, who had worked hard to establish Dandenong Hospital, was killed in an air accident in Britain.  The Hospital Committee decided that a memorial fund opened in his name would allow a children’s ward to be built.

A cold winter prompted the forging of plans to found a special nursery for premature babies after an influx of such babies from small, suburban midwifery hospitals arrived at the centrally heated and better-equipped Queen Vic

Establishment of a Premature Babies Ward at the Queen Vic, which saved many lives, as it admitted infants born where specialised care was not available.

There were 187 births at Dandenong Hospital

Australia’s first paediatric clinical research unit was established on the site of the Children’s Hospital. It eventually evolved into what is known as the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The rapidly increasing birth rate and need for more maternity beds at the Queen Vic made a further move necessary – to the old and large former Melbourne Hospital at the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne The Queen Victoria Hospital was the first major hospital in Melbourne to liberalise visiting hours for parents when paediatrician Dr Kate Campbell, the founder of neonatology at that hospital, and Sister Marion Ievers introduced free visiting in the children’s wards

There were 265 births at Dandenong Hospital

A Birth Room Suite was provided at the Queen Vic, with “every modern device”

Land was purchased for a hospital in Moorabbin

There was a trend towards encouraging promising young doctors to develop careers in paediatrics. Paediatrics became recognised as a specialty with a clear career structure for paediatricians and paediatric surgeons.  First appearance of thalassaemia, a hereditary blood disorder very prevalent among people from Mediterranean countries, India and South East Asia. At that time prognosis for the disease was poor.  Big gaps in paediatrics in Melbourne during this decade were in neurology, psychiatry and genetics.  However, polio immunization of children during this decade led to a rapid decline in new cases of the disease

Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital sent 20 nurses to receive requisite training in children’s nursing at the Queen Vic

A Christmas Eve cricket match occurred between the Ponsford’s XI and the Empire Cricket Writers XI to raise funds for a new nursery for premature babies at the Queen Vic

Dr (later Dame) Kate Campbell accurately attributed the cause of retrolental fibroplasia (blindness) in premature babies to excessive administration of oxygen therapy.  Remodelling of the Queen Vic’s Children’s Ward.

Around 40 babies a month were being delivered in a midwifery section designed to accommodate 6 babies at Dandenong Hospital.  At that time mothers and babies stayed in hospital for about 2 weeks

Dr Kate Campbell was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the Queen Vic and to babies in general

Improved methods of blood transfusion achieved by the Queen Vic significantly reduced the infant mortality rate

Following the acquisition of additional land by the Dandenong Hospital, a children’s ward and additions to the midwifery section were opened

A one-year post-graduate paediatric nursing course was established at the Royal Children’s Hospital, the only such course in Australia at the time

A heatwave made conditions very hard to bear in the Queen Vic’s Children’s Ward and Nursery. An appeal for portable fans and large blocks of ice to blow cold air received a response from as far away as Bombay

The City of Dandenong was proclaimed on 14 March of that year.  As the fastest growing municipality in Australia, there were predictions that it would become the state’s second city.  The opening of extensions to Dandenong Hospital by the new mayor, Cr George Andrews, were part of the City’s celebrations

Pioneering treatments achieved by the Queen Vic for children with cancer and haemophilia. Throughout this decade, the crippling diseases of childhood, such as polio and tuberculosis, were almost entirely eradicated

There were plans to convert Dandenong Hospital into a Base Hospital that would provide for a larger region, a region that was rapidly changing from countryside to industrial suburb

At the University of Melbourne, appointment of Vernon Collins as the first Stevenson Professor of Child Health. His widely-accepted dictum became that the hospital should treat the child as a whole and not merely as a collection of independent organs

Berry Street Mothercraft Nurses did one month of their training in the nurseries of the Queen Vic

With the introduction and acceptance of the pill as a form of contraception, Australia became one of the highest pill-taking nations in the world.  A by-product of this event was that children became desirable ‘consumer goods’ in a society whose members no longer defined themselves in terms of their parental status

Planning for a greatly expanded paediatric service took place at Prince Henry’s Hospital

New theories on childhood led Kempe to coin the term “the battered child syndrome”.  Centuries of childhood: a soci al history of family life by Philippe Ariès was also published

25 February – Opening of the new Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville by Her Majesty, the Queen

29 November – A ceremony to unveil the foundation stone for the new Robert Menzies Teaching Block marked the Queen Vic’s affiliation as a teaching hospital with the new Monash University in the fields of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics

Monash University established a new Department of Paediatrics at the Queen Vic. Professor Carl Wood (b. 1929) was appointed Foundation Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Monash University’s decision to establish a Department of Paediatrics at the Queen Vic provided a “collaboration between Paediatrics and Obstetrics, unique in Australia and rare anywhere”.

Professor Arthur Colvin Lindesay Clark (b. 1928) was appointed Foundation Professor of Paediatrics.  The appointment of the Professor of Paediatrics in March was soon followed by the arrival of the students for instruction in Paediatrics in April.  32 undergraduate students attended a 10-week course in paediatrics during the year. The course emphasised study of the normal development of children and the common illnesses of childhood. The Department of Paediatrics led by Professor Arthur Clark, also included Reginald R.W. Townley, Ian I. Findlay and Gretta Danielson.

Founding of the Australian Paediatric Journal by the Australian Paediatric Association.  The founding editors were Peter Jones and Charlotte Anderson. The name of the journal later changed to Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, moving to a position of international recognition as a leading paediatrics journal.

The new Adoption of Children Act required the almoner to attend a court hearing for every child adopted out from the Queen Vic Hospital.  The number of adoptions for the first half of the year (42) almost equalled that for the whole of the previous year.

Late 1960s

Research in paediatrics throughout Australia was stimulated by the establishment of the Paediatric Research Society, largely on the initiative of Charlotte Anderson and George Maxwell of Adelaide. By this time, physiotherapists were treating very few young polio patients. In the same period, childhood tuberculosis and osteomyelitis were also on the decline.

Payment of paediatricians began.  The number of babies awaiting adoption and being cared for by the Queen Vic doubled.  Eleanor S. (Ruth) Wertheim, who developed family therapy as a pragmatic approach to problems she confronted in her work, joined the Department of Paediatrics at Monash University.  She was among the first psychologists to direct attention towards the problem of children with multiple minimal handicaps

Establishment of a clinic at the Queen Vic for children with cerebral palsy

It was decided to redevelop Dandenong Hospital’s original building as a modern maternity hospital

The Guthrie Bacterial Inhibition test was introduced as a metabolic population screen for newborns in Australia

Opening of the Agnes Nathan Children’s Unit at the Queen Vic on 22 August by Dr John Lindell, Chairman of the Hospitals and Charities.  The Agnes Nathan Unit encompassed all sections of the hospital’s Paediatric Department.  A new Antenatal Clinic was constructed, with birth room and theatre extensions

New child welfare legislation was passed by all the states. Expansion of play therapy in children’s hospitals. Greater understanding of SIDS or “cot death” achieved. Play therapy was expanded in Australian hospitals in response to ideas on the significance of child play by Swiss developmental psychologist, Jean Piaget

A new paediatric ward was opened at the Queen Vic.  The Paediatric Department of Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital held a symposium on adoption

Dr Kate Campbell was awarded a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the welfare of Australian children

In the rapidly growing district of Dandenong, there was an ever-increasing demand for maternity beds as the annual number of births peaked at 2003

Queen Vic’s Family Planning Clinic was the first to be established in a public hospital in Victoria.  A Foetal Intensive Care Unit at the Queen Vic began operation.  A new Department of Family Psychiatry was opened at the Queen Vic.  The Queen Vic’s Department of Diagnostic Cardiology was set up and equipped to investigate adults but also children and neonatal patients with cardiac disease

The Commonwealth passed a Child Care Act. This Act provided for capital and operational funding of childcare centres as well as fee subsidies for low-income earners

By this year, the Paediatric Department at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital had organised itself into 4 units to bring it into line with the hospital’s other departments.  Karen, a patient from Morwell, was the first child to receive a kidney transplant. The paediatric renal specialist and the Renal Unit staff of Prince Henry’s Hospital collaborated with the Queen Vic in her treatment

Significant Commonwealth funding was provided to assist states in the provision of long-term public dental health programmes for all school children under the age of fifteen years.  Associate Professor Roger Kingsley Hall founded the Australian Society of Dentistry for Children

Establishment of the Australian Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospitals

Appointment of Dr Margaret McIver as Honorary Paediatric Nephrologist at the Queen Vic. Dr Gary Zentner, appointed Paediatrician to the Dandenong Hospital, was made an Honorary Lecturer in the Paediatrics Department in recognition of his role in the teaching of Monash students in neo-natal paediatrics during their secondment to Dandenong Hospital for obstetric training, and his contributions to teaching at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital.  In the same year, a Mothercraft Clinic was established at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, which provided a much-needed service for both pre- and post-natal patients. The Clinic proved to be of great value in teaching student midwives.  By 1974 paediatric physicians included Mona Blanch, Dame Kate Campbell, Elizabeth Turner, Kate Mackay, Reuben D. Glass, Rae N. Matthews, John C. Spensley, Kenneth R. Mountain, Margaret B. Horan and Norrene M. Nicholson

The Paediatric Unit at Prince Henry’s Hospital was now able to offer a more comprehensive service to paediatric patients. Two paediatric physicians and one paediatric surgeon were available for consultant opinion. The nursing standard in Ward 10 West remained extremely high and was well recognised as being at least as high as any other Melbourne teaching hospital unit. Plans were underway to alter the Sister’s Station and provide a better administrative working area within the ward

A Neonatal Special Care Nursery of 36 cots was established at the Queen Vic with 10 cots for babies needing intensive care

By this time the term “Base Hospital”, used for large country hospitals had been dropped from Dandenong Hospital’s name. It was now a suburban teaching hospital

Official opening of Moorabbin Community and District Hospital on 1 December by the then Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Winneke, on Centre Road in East Bentleigh. The midwifery ward opened with eight beds while the nursery block was equipped by the Kiwanis Club of Moorabbin

A book by French obstetrician, Leboyer, entitled Birth Without Violence appeared. The Queen Vic became the first hospital in Australia to offer the Leboyer technique. Haggerty coined the term “new morbidity”, which encompassed behavioural, developmental and learning problems in children

As there was considerable demand in Melbourne for Maternal and Child Health Services, School Health and Child Welfare Programmes, eighteen Early Childhood Development Programmes (ECDP) were established in the city and in regional Victoria

During the controversial ‘Right to Life’ campaign against abortion, the Queen Vic received a huge increase in $2 donations giving the protesters a right to vote against management on the issue of performing abortions

The Paediatric Ward at Prince Henry’s Hospital was completely re-organised. Provision was made for observation of more acutely ill children. The playroom was integrated within the ward and the Sister’s Station was considerably enlarged to allow direct viewing into all sections of the ward. A re-alignment of all facilities was carried out, so that a more functional ward would result without “losing any of the character which has made the Children’s Ward at Prince Henry’s Hospital so much liked by patients and their parents alike.”

At the Queen Vic, the introduction of a new ultrasound machine – adapted from the techniques of sonar sounding for submarines during the war – enabled diagnosis of the unborn child without invasive procedures

Moorabbin Hospital had its first birth on 15 January, when Jacob Evans was born, weighing 3325 grams.  This event was marked by the presentation of a silver chalice to mother and baby from the ladies auxiliary.  This also was the beginning of a baby boom as during that year 268 babies were delivered at Moorabbin Hospital

With the modernization of the Children’s Ward at Prince Henry’s Hospital, the Paediatric Service was in a better position to care for acute respiratory and post-anaesthetic patients. Modern respiratory equipment was available for children of all ages with respiratory illness. The arrangements in the ward “make it one of the most attractive children’s wards in Melbourne.”

Establishment of a complete Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Queen Vic by Professor Victor Yu, who also introduced neonatal ventilation. Dr Max Robinson was appointed by the Queen Vic to General Paediatrics.  Paediatric physicians at this time included Mona Blanch, Dame Kate Campbell, Elizabeth Turner, Reuben D. Glass and among senior medical staff, Professor Arthur Clark and Ian I. Findlay.  Dr Kevin Collins was a Paediatric Neurologist at Queen Vic

At Moorabbin Hospital, the midwifery ward’s beds were extended from eight to twenty.  Perhaps this was because 422 babies were born at the hospital.  The smallest baby in the history of the hospital was born while half the babies born at the hospital in that year needed intensive care.  In light of this, a community support group, The Pacemaker Set, contributed funds towards the purchase of a new humidicrib for the hospital, as did the Sevenly Sevens, an association of Masters of Freemasons

Closure of Children’s Ward at Prince Henry’s Hospital on 24 November after several years of declining occupancy rates and a growing trend towards “rationalization” of paediatric services across Victoria. An estimated 70,000 children had been treated in the ward since its opening.

Establishment of the Centre for Early Human Development at the Queen Vic.  Leboyer birth procedures were made available to families

Emergence of IVF.  Conceived as a method of assisting the infertile in the creation of pregnancy, IVF has provided parenting opportunities for those unable to conceive naturally. It involves fertilisation of an ovum in the laboratory, which is then transplanted back into a woman’s uterus

Opening of a Birth Centre at the Queen Vic, run entirely by midwives, which offered a new concept in obstetric care in homelike surroundings.  This Birth Centre was the first in Australia to introduce the Leboyer technique of gently delivering a baby. Establishment of a 24-hour Sexual Assault Clinic Service in addition to a Centre for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatal Care at the Queen Vic.  All three services were firsts in the Victorian health system.  Buoyed by the success of treatments for thalassaemia and other diseases that were once considered life-threatening to children, the Queen Vic established an Adolescent Service for long-term follow-up treatment.  Publication of Anaesthesia for Children

Birth of the first Australian IVF baby since the introduction of the IVF method in 1978 at the Queen Vic.  Recognition of the Queen Vic’s Paediatric Haematology Clinic as one of two centres in Victoria, which are care providers for children with leukaemia.  Establishment of the Child Psychiatric Service as part of the South Eastern Region Child and Family Service.  Establishment of a Perinatal Centre to offer comprehensive care for women with “at risk” pregnancies.  Amalgamation of the Jessie McPherson and Queen Victoria Birth Suites.  Responsibility was accepted by the Queen Vic for the management of the medical and paramedical services (e.g. speech pathology), of the Nepean Centre, a special school for the disabled in Frankston.

Establishment at the Queen Vic of a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service and the appointment of Dr David Mushin as its Clinical Director.  Delivery of eight of Australia’s eleven test-tube babies, including the world’s first test-tube twins.  IVF success put the Queen Vic on the international stage and provoked discussion about the ethics and consequences of the procedure.

Monash University scientists at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre took the world lead in fertility research with the birth of 21 children as a result of their work in in vitro fertilization. A Paediatric Action Committee was established to plan, instigate and supervise programmes to meet the social and emotional needs of children in hospital and their parents. Opening of the Care by Parent Unit in the Queen Vic’s Children’s Ward, allowing parents to live in at the hospital with their sick children and provide complete care under the guidance of nursing staff.  Formation of the Lightweight Club by a group of 130 families to support families with preterm infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  Establishment of specialist paediatric clinics at McCulloch House in Clayton. Following a merger in 1977 between Queen Victoria Hospital, Jessie MacPherson Private Hospital and McCulloch House that resulted in the creation of the Queen Victoria Medical Centre, short-term specialist paediatric clinics were established at McCulloch House in Clayton Road. Dr Maxwell James (‘Max’) Robinson, who had spent a year at Monash University, where he worked with paediatrician Professor Arthur Clark on the undergraduate teaching program, published a book entitled Practical Paediatrics.

On 2 May, the IVF team at the Queen Vic, led by Professor Carl Wood, reported the world’s first pregnancy from a frozen embryo and the world’s first pregnancy using donor ova.  Professor Carl Wood was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the profession.  A report on the survival of babies born after a gestation of 24-26 weeks was the first in Australia and the most comprehensive in the world.

The Monash IVF team at the Queen Vic reported the birth of the world’s first baby conceived from a frozen embryo.  A Play and Education Department was established at the Queen Vic with Victorian Health Commission and Schools Commission grants. The department aimed to facilitate normal intellectual and emotional development of children during their stay in hospital. Queen Vic received two extra neonatal cots as a result of a $1.1 million boost for Victoria’s neonatal intensive care facilities, announced by the Minister for Health. A new position funded by the Health Commission was created to enable Child Psychiatry to provide services to the existing child guidance clinic at Dandenong. The Queen Vic’s thalassaemia services expanded with a transfer of 31 older patients from the Royal Children’s Hospital to receive regular transfusions at the Queen Vic.

Extension of children’s services at the Queen Vic – In January, the Victorian Government approved the establishment of a statewide Renal Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Unit for infants and children at Queen Vic. The Government also approved grants enabling the Queen Vic and Royal Children’s Hospital’s joint Paediatric Cardiology Service to expand.

Introduction of haemofiltration and plasmaphaeresis to treat kidney failure and other problems in children

Staff of the Paediatric Renal Unit organized the first Queen Vic Kidney Kids Camp, a one week bush camp for children with end stage renal disease, and their siblings. The camp was an opportunity for the children to experience adventure activities often denied them because of their medical problems  

Following a merger with Prince Henry’s Hospital, the Queen Vic was integrated into the new Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. Opening of Monash Medical Centre Clayton on 1 July 1987 for patients. Admission of first patients on 19 July 1987. Patient care at MMC Clayton effectively commenced with the birth of a baby girl, Jessica Lauren Bailey, at 3.22 a.m. on 20 July 1987. As a result of a merger between two metropolitan hospitals, the Queen Victoria Medical Centre and Prince Henry’s Hospital, Monash Medical Centre Clayton was officially opened on 19 September 1987 by the then Premier Mr John Cain. In the same year, Monash Medical Centre Clayton became the second-largest children’s hospital in Victoria, where for the first time the highest standard of neonatal services became available in the South East.  It would take until 1992 for designated sections of Prince Henry’s to be progressively transferred to Clayton

TV newsreader Jo Pearson opened the Family Birth Centre at Dandenong Hospital.  Here women could have their babies in homelike surroundings with their families present, while still having professional care

Monash Medical Centre Clayton offered a training program, theatre experience and research in paediatrics, fostering a need to integrate with other regional services to form a comprehensive network of care for children

On 6 March, Aymen Hag, a healthy baby boy, was the first child born at Moorabbin Campus’s Community Midwifery Centre. Ms Alison French was the mid-wife co- ordinator

Following the completion of the construction of the 50-place Kanooka Child Care Centre adjacent to Monash Medical Centre Clayton, this centre obtained official registration with Community Services Victoria on 21 August

In June, the construction of the new West Block at the Moorabbin Campus of MMC was completed. The Birth Centre created for Monash Medical Centre Clayton moved to Moorabbin in September

A significant achievement was the expansion of the Thalassaemia/Medical Therapy Unit, originally based at Queen Victoria Hospital, by Dr Fred Jensen and by Dr Rae Matthews. Although this meant that MMC Clayton was now the only Victorian hospital offering specialist care and support to child patients, in particular, who suffer from thalassaemia,  a result of the relocation of this unit was that a majority of these patients, mostly from Mediterranean backgrounds and living in Melbourne’s South East were in fact better catered for healthwise. During that year, the Unit expanded to become the State’s major treatment Unit for both adults and children, with 120 people under its care

In April, the Clayton campus became the site of Victoria’s second Ronald McDonald House on land provided by MMC Clayton. The project attracted widespread community support, with McDonald’s and the Commonwealth Golf Club leading the way in raising the $1 million needed to construct the House.  Today it is one of 12 Ronald McDonald Houses Australia-wide

Complete closure of Prince Henry’s Hospital, which was imploded to make way for the construction of a high-rise luxury residential apartment tower known as “The Melburnian”

The Monash Kids Support Group was established by Peter Wilson as a support group for the Children’s Division of Monash Medical Centre Clayton.  A different support group “KOALA” (Kids Oncology and Leukaemia Action Group) was formed to provide information and support to children being treated for cancer and haematological diseases at Monash Medical Centre and their families

Establishment of the Southern Health Care Network, consisting of Monash Medical Centre Clayton and Monash Medical Centre Moorabbin and adding to its catchment area already-existing and well-established institutions, Dandenong and District Hospital and Kingston Centre. Professor Carl Wood was named a Companion in the General Division (AC) in the Australia Day Honours List largely on account of his pioneering work in the IVF program.

Meeting of the World Federation of Paediatric Surgeons in Melbourne

In October, a new paediatric gym opened at Monash Medical Centre Clayton

In July, the Southern Health Care Network was superseded by Southern Health, which had formed a partnership with the Federal and State Governments to offer a system of “integrated care” to patients. As a result, Southern Health became the largest metropolitan health service in Victoria

In October, McCulloch House (adjacent to Monash Medical Centre Clayton) became a site for the Victoria Paediatric Palliative Care Program (VPPCP), which is a partnership between Monash Medical Centre, the Royal Children’s Hospital and an organization known as Very Special Kids

Midwives from Greater Dandenong’s Community Health Service at Springvale ran a mothers’ group for Vietnamese and Cambodian women having their first baby in Australia

In the developed world by this time, just about 1% of babies are conceived through IVF or other artificial means.

In mid-January, birthing services moved back from Monash Medical Centre’s Moorabbin Campus to Clayton Campus. There was world-first research at MMC Clayton into music therapy for infants withdrawing from foetally acquired drug dependence.  In July, the Starlight Children’s Foundation officially opened its highly anticipated Starlight Room at Monash Medical Centre Clayton.  On 3 October, the then Premier of Victoria, the Hon Mr Steve Bracks, officially opened Casey Hospital on Kangan Drive in Berwick, the newest addition to Southern Health

Opening of Children’s Cancer Centre at Monash Medical Centre Clayton

In early July, Casey Hospital delivered its 1000 baby.

On 14 June, a new extension to Ronald McDonald House in Monash was opened in order to accommodate long-term critically ill young patients and their parents.

As the state’s most populous municipality (its population is estimated at 227,867), Australia’s largest family day-care Casey has scheme and Victoria’s largest maternal and child health service.

Since October 2007, a $10 million redevelopment of the Emergency Department at Monash Medical Centre Clayton has provided separate treatment and waiting areas for children and adults.

Southern Health’s 5^th annual update for General Paediatricians at MMC – is an annual event run in conjunction with Monash University represented as a Paediatric Centre of Excellence.

Dr Chris Kimber and a team of paediatric neonatologists successfully performed the world’s first in utero surgery on Baby Leah, whose umbilical cord was found to be obstructing the blood flow to her right foot.

On 19 June, Baby Taylor became the world’s smallest baby ever to be fitted with an adult-sized external pacemaker by Monash Medical Centre Clayton’s Dr Alex Veldman. She will receive an internal pacemaker at a later stage.