– 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: governance
1978
Change of Management Structure
State legislation mandated that the committee size was reduced from 21 to 12 members. New members were appointed by the Minister of Health and the hospital’s political autonomy was reduced.
1979
Lady Rosemary Derham
Elected as president of the hospital's Board of Management, Lady Derham held this position until 1983.
1980
Reorganisation of Hospital into a Divisional Structure
The hospital took steps to meet accreditation criteria and clarify the administrative structure.
1981
Dr Barry Catchlove AM
Appointed as CEO in 1981, Catchlove made a great many structural and staffing changes. He held the position until 1991.
1982
First Male President of the Hospital Committee
Ken Keown was elected as president of the hospital Board of Management, ending the long history of a woman-led management committee.
1995
Women’s and Children’s Health Care Network
Victorian Government strategy merged the Children’s and the Women’s Hospital. This partnership was in place until 2004.
2000
Women’s and Children’s Healthcare Network Renamed Women’s and Children’s Health
2004
Independent Governance
The hospital transitioned to independent governance after nine years as part of Women’s and Children’s Health partnership with the Women’s Hospital.
