The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is a

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

public hospital located in Herston, a suburb of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It is operated by Metro North Health, part of the Queensland Health network. The hospital has 929 beds, and it is estimated that 65% of the patients served come from within of the hospital. It is the second largest hospital in Australia, and is a major teaching and research hospital. The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital is located in the broader the Herston Health Precinct, which includes other facilities such as the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS).

History

The main building of the Bowen Hospital as it was initially known, was designed by

Charles Tiffin Charles Tiffin (1833–1873) was an English architect, who spent most of his career in Queensland, Australia where he held the post of Queensland Colonial Architect. Early life He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England where he studied und ...

and others. For a time it was also known as Brisbane General Hospital. In the 19th century the hospital dealt with some severe cases of

tropical disease Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by for ...

s due to Queensland's predominantly tropical climate. The hospital was created by the merging of the Royal Brisbane Hospital and the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital in 2003. In the same year the hospital precinct was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. In January 2008, there was a public

health scare A health scare can be broadly defined as a social phenomenon whereby the public at large comes to fear some threat to health, based on suppositions which are nearly always not well-founded. In 2009 an ABC News article listed "The Top 10 Health Sc ...

over concerns about lead levels at the hospital. Concerns were dismissed by Queensland Health after air and surface swabs carried out found lead levels were safely below recommended standards. In February 2008, the hospital was hit with an outbreak of an antibiotic resistant bug,

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus Vancomycin-resistant ''Enterococcus'', or vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), are bacterial strains of the genus ''Enterococcus'' that are resistant to the antibiotic vancomycin. Mechanism of acquired resistance Six different types of vanc ...

or VRE. The hospital closed two 30-bed wards to new admissions in early December after 21 patients tested positive to VRE, while staff contained spread of the bacteria.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Hospitals in Brisbane Teaching hospitals in Australia Hospitals established in 2003 Herston, Queensland 2003 establishments in Australia Organisations based in Australia with royal patronage Royal Brisbane Hospital

History

See also

References

External links