– 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: surgery
1913
The Edward Wilson Pavilion
Built in place of the old Redmond Barry house on Rathdowne Street, the Edward Wilson Pavilion housed 40 surgical and 20 medical beds, as well as two operating theatres.
1950
First Attempt to Separate Conjoined Twins
Neurosurgeon Mr Reginald Hooper conducted surgery on twin girls joined at the head. Sadly, the operation was unsuccessful.
1970
Publication of Jones’ Clinical Paediatric Surgery
Edited by Mr Peter Jones, most of the hospital’s surgeons contributed to this textbook and demonstrated the broad range of expertise at the hospital.
International Paediatric Surgery Congress
Leading paediatric surgeons presented papers at the hospital, organised by surgeon Mr Nate Myers AM.
1975
Two Sets of Conjoined Twins Safely Separated
In August the Foo twins, Yew Sun and Yew Te, were separated by Mr Peter Jones. In October the Priestly twins, Grant and Andrew, were separated in an operation headed by Mr Nate Myers AM.
1988
First Heart Transplant at the RCH
October 5th, 1988
Chief Cardiac Surgeon Mr Roger Mee AO performed the operation, with the support of a talented cardiac team.
1995
First Liver Transplant
Baby Jordyn was the youngest liver transplant patient in Australia.
2005
First Hospital in Australia to Offer Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) to Children
VAD was used to replace the function of a failing heart while a patient waited for a heart transplant.
2009
Conjoined Twins Trishna and Krishna Were Separated in a 30-hour Surgery
2012
First Paediatric Intestinal Transplant
A multi-organ operation, completed in collaboration with staff from Austin Hospital.
Image credit: Alvin Aquino
2018
Conjoined Twins Nima and Dawa Palden Separated
Image credit: Alvin Aquino
