Queen Victoria Hospital

(1896 - 1987)

1896

 Opened as a hospital for women and children

1922

 Opening of a new Children’s Ward

 1923

 Extension of department for children’s diseases

 1934

 Opening of a larger children’s ward, the Judith Baillieu Children’s Ward

 1940

 First major hospital in Victoria to introduce more liberal visiting hours for parents

 1946

 Establishment of a Premature Babies Ward, which saved many lives

 1952

 Dr (later Dame) Kate Campbell accurately attributed the cause of retrolental fibroplasia in premature babies to excessive administration of oxygen therapy

 1955

 Improved methods of blood transfusion significantly reduced the infant mortality rate

 1960

 Pioneering treatments for children with cancer and haemophilia.

 1964

 Monash University established a new Department of Paediatrics at the Queen Vic

 1965

 Appointment of Professor Arthur Clark as Foundation Professor of Paediatrics. Thirty-two undergraduate students attended a ten-week course in paediatrics

 1967

 Payment of paediatricians began. The number of babies awaiting adoption and being cared for by the Queen Vic doubled

 1968

 Establishment of a clinic for children with cerebral palsy.

 1969

 Opening of the Agnes Nathan Children’s Unit

 1972

 First Family Planning Clinic to be established in a public hospital in Victoria

 1973

 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

 1974

 Establishment of a Mothercraft Clinic

 1977

 Establishment of a complete Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by Professor Victor Yu, who also introduced neonatal ventilation

 1978

 Establishment of the Centre for Early Human Development

 1979

 Opening of a Birth Centre run entirely by midwives. It was the first in Australia to have introduced the Leboyer technique of gently delivering a baby. Establishment of a Sexual Assault Clinic in addition to a Centre for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatal Care. All three services were firsts in the Victorian health system

 1980

 Birth of the first Australian IVF baby since the introduction of the IVF method in 1978. Recognition of the Paediatric Haematology Clinic as one of two centres in Victoria, which are care providers for children with leukaemia

 1981

 Establishment 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

 1982

 Establishment of the Lightweight Club, a support group for families with premature babies in the Intensive Care Unit. Opening of the Care by Parent Unit, allowing parents to live in at the hospital with their children and provide complete care under the guidance of nursing staff

 1983

 The IVF team, led by Professor Carl Wood, reported the world’s first pregnancy from a frozen embryo and the world’s first pregnancy using donor ova

 1984

 The IVF team reported the birth of the world’s first baby conceived from a frozen embryo

 1985

 Extension of children's services

 1987

 Following a merger with Prince Henry’s Hospital, the Queen Vic was integrated into the new Monash Medical Centre in Clayton