Our History

– 150 years of history at The Royal Children’s Hospital –

A concise and chronological record of the rich and diverse 150-year history of The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).
Please feel free to scroll through all 150 years or easily filter information via categories or tags.

The historical images have been sourced from the RCH Archives and Collections, unless stated otherwise.
Images have been chosen to illustrate the subject matter and may not necessarily reflect the date of the event.

The RCH has produced such an immense amount of groundbreaking achievements and we cannot assume to have captured them all here.
Do you think an achievement, person, or event is missing? Please send your suggestion to: archives@rch.org.au. We hope you enjoy exploring!

Showing Events Tagged with: medical imaging

1948
Medical Imaging Department Established
Cyril Murphy was the first chief photographer. Joe Szczepanski filled the role at The Children’s Orthopaedic Hospital from 1950.
See some of Joe Szczepanski’s photographs here.
Departments and Campuses
1940-1949 Carlton Frankston innovation medical imaging Mt Eliza The Children’s Hospital The Children’s Orthopaedic Hospital
1977
Ultrasound Technology Introduced at RCH
Dr Valerie Mayne secured the purchase of an Octoson ultrasound machine, which was an Australian design.
Medical Milestones
1970-1979 innovation medical imaging Parkville radiology The Royal Children’s Hospital
1982
Educational Resource Centre
Led by Lynda Stephens, photographers, film makers, designers and illustrators began a program of creating educational and entertaining content used by the hospital and clinics state-wide.
Departments and Campuses
1980-1989 education innovation medical imaging Parkville The Royal Children’s Hospital
1994
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Equipment First Used at the Hospital
Image credit: Lloyd Ellis
Medical Milestones
1990-1999 innovation medical imaging Parkville The Royal Children’s Hospital
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