Sunshine Hospital has officially opened the doors to its redeveloped Children’s Ward and the new Ronald McDonald Family Room.
The upgrades, which commenced in July last year and were completed in mid December, have provided additional facilities for young patients and extra comforts for their families.
Each year, Children’s Ward at Sunshine cares for more than 7,300 kids – from toddlers to adolescents, providing specialist paediatric care in Ear, Nose and Throat, Orthopedics, Plastics, Neonatology, Endocrinology as well general care for adolescents.
The upgraded ward now houses a state of the art negative pressure, isolation room so that children with infections can be cared for in the best environment and with their families close by.
New additions to the ward include a five bed day procedure recovery unit and a high care nursery for young respiratory patients. The new monitored beds will remove the need for children with breathing problems to be referred back to emergency.
Over the past two years, the Western Health Foundation has conducted a major public appeal to fund the re-development of the ward.
“The Family Room is an outstanding addition to the Ward, and our sincere thanks go to Malcolm Coutts, Chair of Ronald McDonald House Charities in Australia, his committed and passionate staff and to the McDonald’s licensees of Western Melbourne for adopting this project,” Western Health Foundation Chair, Bob Scarborough said.
“We can especially thank Jenny Sadler for her leadership and for engaging the McDonald’s community in this project.
“Our past three Western Health Community Racedays have each raised over $100,000. And we thank our race sponsors and all who have supported the events. I would particularly like to acknowledge the Zouki Group, Dorevitch Pathology, Johnstaff Projects and Lanec Services for their continuing commitment to these important dates in the Foundation calendar.
“Fiona Bacash and her team at Bacash Restaurant in South Yarra hosted a fundraising lunch and raised over $60,000 on the day.
“And across town, this was matched by the Watergardens Hotel in Caroline Springs and we thank Alex Robertson for his support,” Bob added.
Western Health Chief Executive, Associate Professor Alex Cockram, said the ward is now prepared to meet the challenges of the next generation of children who will come through its doors.
“Worldwide, it is well established that patient settings can make a significant difference to a paediatric patient’s ability to recover from a traumatic illness, accident or surgery,” A/Prof Alex Cockram said.
“A time of considerable stress can be made a little easier by providing a positive, engaging and warm environment. When a child is in pain, distraction is very important as it deflects the child’s mind away from the trauma.
“The best designed children’s wards provide interest, colour and a sense of discovery within the surroundings, to help bring some relief for the children. This renovation has achieved all of this.
“The Children’s Ward has been transformed from one of the most rundown wards within Western Health, to one of the most engaging. Thank you to all who have helped us achieve this wonderful transformation,” A/Prof Cockram added.
