The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in

Parkville, Victoria Parkville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Merri-bek, M ...

, an inner suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, is one of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. The hospital is managed as part of Melbourne Health which comprises the Royal Melbourne Hospital, North West Dialysis Service and North Western Mental Health. The Royal Melbourne Hospital appointed Professor Shelley Dolan as the new Chief Executive following an international search. She succeeded Professor Christine Kilpatrick AO, who stepped down on 30 June 2023.

History

Established in 1848 as the Melbourne Hospital, it was one of Melbourne's leading hospitals. Originally located on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne. Completely rebuilt on a much larger scale between 1910–1916 extending to Russell and Little Lonsdale Streets. In 1935 the hospital was renamed the Royal Melbourne Hospital and, in 1944, it moved to

Grattan Street Grattan Street is a major street in Melbourne, Australia. History Since 2020, Grattan Street has been split by the building works for a new pedestrian zone adjoining the university, and for the construction of Parkville railway station. In J ...

, Parkville by provision of lands in the Royal Melbourne Hospital Act. The old buildings then became home to a relocated Queen Victoria Hospital. The

Royal Women's Hospital The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's oldest specialist women's hospital. It offers a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care, women's cancers and women's health. It also ...

was previously located in Carlton. The hospital moved in late 2008 to a new building, the new Royal Women's Hospital, co-located on the Royal Melbourne Hospital site in Parkville.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Parkville hospital, which was under construction, was occupied by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

4th General Hospital between 1942 and 1944. While the hospital was under construction a temporary tent hospital was set up by the US Army in Royal Park just north of the hospital. Upon completion of the Parkville hospital the patients were moved progressively into the new accommodation which catered for 2,900 beds. Royal Melbourne Hospital 1943 fsa 8d37644

Royal Melbourne Hospital 1943 fsa 8d37644

The Royal Melbourne Hospital continued to operate from their old premises on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets until the 4th General Hospital moved to

Finschhaven Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U.S ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

in 1944. The Parkville buildings were reconditioned and the Royal Melbourne Hospital finally moved into their "new" premises in December 1944.

Services and specialties provided

The Royal Melbourne Hospital provides acute tertiary referral services at its main site on Grattan Street between

Flemington Road Flemington Road is a major thoroughfare in the inner suburbs of North Melbourne and Parkville in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs for 2 km in a northwest–southeast direction, from the southern end of Mount Alexander Road, Flemington, ...

and

Royal Parade Royal Parade may refer to: * Royal Parade – street in Melbourne * Royal Parade (patience), an old English patience game {{Disambiguation ...

and ancillary services such as aged care, rehabilitation, ambulatory care and residential and community services through its Royal Park site. It has one of the largest Emergency Departments in Victoria and is, with the

Alfred Hospital The Alfred Hospital, (also known as The Alfred or Alfred Hospital) is a leading tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the second oldest hospital in Victoria after Melbourne Hospital which is still operating on its original site. The ...

, one of Victoria's two major trauma referral centres. The emergency facilities include: 2 trauma bays, 7 resuscitation cubicles, 25 general cubical beds and 17 short-stay beds. There is also a helipad on top of the hospital so that urgent cases that need to be airlifted from regional areas can be transferred to the Royal Melbourne. Most medical and surgical specialties are available at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. It is one of very few public hospitals in the Australasia that routinely performs robotic surgery. In addition, the Victoria Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) is based in the hospital, as is the John Cade Psychiatry Ward and the headquarters of the North Western Mental Health service.

Medical specialties

General medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of th ...

: Ward 5 South-West and 5 South-East *

Respiratory medicine ''Respiratory Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier covering research in pulmonology. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', ''Respiratory Medicine'' has a 2020 impact factor The impact factor (I ...

: Ward 5 South-West *

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

: Ward 5 North *

Cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

coronary care unit A coronary care unit (CCU) or cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) is a hospital ward specialized in the care of patients with heart attacks, unstable angina, cardiac dysrhythmia and (in practice) various other cardiac conditions that require cont ...

: CCU 2B *

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

: 6 South-West *

Allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

Clinical Immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of immune systems in all organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; ...

Rheumatology Rheumatology () is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatology covers more than 100 different complex diseases, c ...

Dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...

* Renal redicine: 6 West and 6 South-West *

Neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

: 8B * Acute

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

service: ward 8B *

Haematology Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

and

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce a ...

: Ward 7B * VIDS/

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

s: 9 East *

Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

: 6B *

Palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

: 7 West

Surgical specialties

General surgery General surgery is a Surgical specialties, surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and Abdomen, abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, Appendix (anatomy ...

: 3 South West, 3 South *

Colorectal surgery Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but this term is now used infrequently within medicine and is most often employed to identify practices rela ...

: 3 South West, 3 South * Hepato-biliary and pancreatic surgery: 3 South West * Transplant surgery * Trauma: 7 South East, 7 South West * Cardiothoracic surgery: 6 South-East *

Urology Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

: 9 West *

Oral and maxillofacial surgery Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the Human mouth, mouth, Human head, head and neck, and jaws, as well as facial plastic surgery including clef ...

: 7 South East *

Vascular surgery Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which vascular diseases involving the arteries, veins, or lymphatic vessels, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures and surgical reconstruction. The specialty evolve ...

: 9 West * Plastic surgery: 7 South East *

Orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

: 7 South West *

Neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

: 4 South *

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

: 9 West

Mental health services

* Department of

Psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

: 1 North * Psychiatric Ward: John Cade Building * North Western Mental Health * Inner West Mental Health Service

Miscellaneous

Radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

Pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

Emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

In addition, the Royal Melbourne Hospital has an Enhanced Crisis Assessment & Treatment Team & Triage Service (ECATT) team on call 24 hours a day to assess patients in the Emergency Department.

Postgraduate training, the clinical school and nursing education

The clinical school at Royal Melbourne Hospital is one of the clinical schools of the University of Melbourne School of Medicine (the others being based at the St Vincent's Hospital, the

Austin Hospital The Austin Hospital is a public teaching hospital in Melbourne's north-eastern suburb of Heidelberg, and is administered by Austin Health, along with the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre. History The Aus ...

, Shepparton Regional Hospital, Northern Hospital, Western Hospital, Ballarat Hospital,

Bendigo Hospital Bendigo Base Hospital is the major hospital of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. It is operated by Bendigo Health Care Group (commonly known as Bendigo Health). The hospital is the largest regional hospital in Victoria and one of the largest public ...

, and Northeast Health Wangaratta). The hospital offers postgraduate educational activities, including weekly professorial case discussion meeting, grand round, daily morning registrars teaching round, intern training sessions, advanced life support forums, and other individual department-based educational sessions. The new residents' quarter is located on the 8th floor. The Royal Melbourne Nursing Education Department provides continuing professional education opportunities for nurses. It offers programs for undergraduates, graduate nurses and postgraduate students as well as short courses, staff development and mandatory resuscitation training. It also offers some online training modules. The programs focus on recruitment and retention of nurses.

Fellowship positions

In addition to post graduate training, largely aimed at Australian trainees, the Royal Melbourne Hospital also offers clinical and research fellowship positions, most of which are open to both Australian and international candidates. Fellowships available include: * Colorectal surgery (including advanced minimally invasive surgery) * Urology (including robotic surgery) * Diagnostic and interventional radiology * Arthroplasty and pelvic trauma surgery

Research and other medical and academic collaborations

The hospital undertakes clinical research in

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

neurosciences Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

and

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

. In addition, there are close ties with: *

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research research institute, institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobe ...

(WEHI) * Cancer Trials Australia * The Howard Florey Institute at the University of Melbourne * Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria * National Ageing Research Institute *

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ludwig Cancer Research is an international community of scientists focused on cancer research, with the goal of preventing and controlling cancer. It encompasses the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, an international non-profit organization ...

* the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity

Notable personnel

* Russell Basser (born 1960) – oncologist, Olympic water polo player * Jean Evelyn Headberry – Dean of Royal Melbourne and Associated Hospital's School of Nursing

References

External links

* {{Authority control Hospitals established in 1848 Hospitals in Melbourne Hospital buildings completed in 1944 Melbourne Hospital, Royal 1848 establishments in Australia Teaching hospitals in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)