Agency
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (Melbourne Hospital 1841 - 1935; The Amalgamated Melbourne and Essendon Hospitals 1986 - 1989)
VA 1048
1841 - present
Agency names
Officially known as: The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Until 1841 provision of medical and hospital services within the Port Phillip District was limited to a Government hospital catering for convicts, prisoners, military and public servants, although non-Government patients without means for medical services could apply to the superintendent for admittance to this hospital. The provision of public hospital services in the District did not however commence until the opening of the Melbourne Hospital on 15 March 1848, although the committee which managed the Hospital dates from 5 March 1841. On that date a public meeting was held in the Police Office, chaired by Superintendent La Trobe, which moved a resolution to establish a public hospital in Melbourne. After the resolution was passed a committee of citizens was appointed to organize a building fund and to approach the Government for financial assistance.
In the meantime, a second meeting, held in January 1842, decided to establish a temporary hospital for urgent cases. For most of its existence this temporary hospital was situated in a two-storied house in Bourke Street West owned by John Pascoe Fawkner.
In 1845 the New South Wales Government finally agreed to a grant of land as well as a building grant of one thousand pounds, providing that a similar amount could be raised locally.
In January 1846, tenders were called and the foundation stone was laid on 20 March that year on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, Melbourne. With the opening of the permanent hospital on 15 March 1848, the temporary hospital closed its doors.
To establish the legal status of various hospitals in the Colony of New South Wales a New South Wales "Act to enable certain Public Hospitals to sue and be sued in the name of their Treasurer, and to provide for the taking and holding of Real Property belonging to such Hospitals" (11 Vict., No. 59) was assented to on 17 June 1847.
By the late 1880s, the hospital’s facilities were becoming increasingly inadequate, accommodation had reached a crisis point, and the building itself was condemned by a Royal Commission in 1892. The Commission recommended that the old site on Lonsdale Street should be abandoned and a new hospital built at Parkville. In addition, since the establishment of the University of Melbourne in 1855, and particularly the Medical School in 1862, there had been constant calls for the hospital to be moved in closer proximity to the University. Arguments over a new hospital site were settled in 1908 when the decision was made to rebuild on the old hospital site. The Edward Wilson (Argus) Trust provided £120,000 to finance the rebuilding and on 23 March 1912 the foundation stone for the new hospital was laid. On 22 July 1913 the new hospital buildings were opened, although sections of the new buildings were not completed until 1916.
In April 1915, the Melbourne Hospital agreed to provide a home for a medical research institute within its new Pathology Department. Established by the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, the Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Research in Pathology and Medicine was opened in 1916 as the first medical research institute in Australia. It is now called the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
The formation of the first auxiliary, the Red Cross Auxiliary, (later called the Toorak and South Yarra Auxiliary) occurred in November-Dec 1921. Auxiliary group numbers and activities grew and a central Executive Council of Auxiliaries was formed on 1 May 1924. In September 2007, diminishing numbers of auxiliary members and changing approaches to fundraising saw the closure of the Central Council of Auxiliaries to be replaced by the RMH Friends and support groups.
In 1925, the Caulfield Hospital, previously a military and repatriation hospital, came under the control of the Melbourne Hospital and convalescent patients were sent there to recuperate. This arrangement remained until 1948, when management of the Caulfield Hospital moved to the Alfred Hospital.
Increasing overcrowding led to the Committee of Management’s decision to build a new hospital on the Cow and Pig Market site at Parkville. A Government Order-in-Council on 30 July 1929 had reserved an area of a little over ten acres of this site and on 9 December 1935 an Act of Parliament was passed which authorised possession of the land (see Victoria Government Gazette 31 July 1929, p 2755).
On 27 March 1935 through Royal Charter, The Melbourne Hospital changed its corporate name to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after approval from King George V. This was formalized by notice in the Victoria Government Gazette No 56 on 27 March 1935, page 1051.
In September 1935, the Victorian Government announced the expenditure of £1,125,000 on state-wide hospital rebuilding and extensions. This sum included £75,000 as a government grant and £75,000 as a loan from unemployment relief moneys for the RMH. In addition a further loan of £500,000 was guaranteed to the hospital. The balance of the cost of rebuilding was to be raised by the Committee of Management of the hospital. In 1940, a public appeal was launched that raised close to £350,000. The foundation stone for the new hospital was laid on 13 November 1941 by the Premier, Mr Albert Dunstan. Plans for immediate public use of the new hospital were abandoned with the outbreak of war in the Pacific. The Commonwealth Government requested that sections of the new buildings be set-aside for the 4th General Hospital, United States Army. From March 1942 to March 1944, the USA Army hospital occupied the Grattan Street Parkville buildings while the RMH continued to operate for the civilians of Melbourne at its old site on Lonsdale Street.
The RMH re-occupied the Parkville site from RMH on 10 December 1944. The old hospital buildings on Lonsdale Street were occupied by the Central Hospital from 1944 to 1946 and then the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital (VA 1254) from 1946 to 1987.
The hospital has been involved in teaching activities from its infancy and has had a close association with the University of Melbourne, with the first students of the Medical School having undertaken clinical training at the hospital in 1864. The Royal Melbourne hospital has also provided extensive nursing training since 1889, with basic nurse training from 1889 to 1993 and post-graduate courses in advanced nursing commencing in 1960. It was also involved with the Melbourne School of Nursing (VA 5263) from 1950-1960. Training in other disciplines, including allied health, that are associated with the treatment and care of patients is also provided.
In 1974, the Board of Medical Research and Ethics Committee on Research was established to co-ordinate and oversee all medical research within the hospital. The RMH Research Foundation was created on 1 May 1994 to secure continued recognition and funding for hospital research activities. On 1 July 2002, this became the Melbourne Health Research Directorate, and then in August 2008, the Office for Research.
On 18 March 1986 the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Essendon and District Memorial Hospital (VA 1247) were formally amalgamated under the Hospital and Charities Act 1958 by the Governor-in-Council to form the Amalgamated Melbourne and Essendon Hospitals (see Victoria Government Gazette 16, 18 March 1986, page 673). The separate Boards of Management were replaced by a single Board.
The Amalgamated Melbourne and Essendon Hospital’s name was changed to The Royal Melbourne Hospital on 12 September 1989 with the hospital operating on two campuses – Parkville and Essendon. The name change was under Section 8(1)(c) of the Health Services Act 1988, and on recommendation of the Minister for Health, the Governor-in-Council amended Schedule 1 of the Act on 12 September 1989. This change was gazetted on 20 September 1989, Victoria Government Gazette G37, page 2427.
The Essendon and District Memorial Hospital had opened in 1964 as a maternity hospital and since amalgamation has expanded to include specialist orthopaedic and rehabilitation services. In May 1993, inpatient maternity services at the Essendon campus were discontinued. By the end of 1998, services at the Essendon site had been gradually phased out and the site was closed.
In July 1995, the RMH assumed responsibility for the some of the psychiatric services of the former Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital (VA 2845). On 19 January 2000, the John Cade Building housing mental health units and services opened, under the umbrella of North Western Mental Health (which was established as the Western Mental Health program in August 1996).
In June 1996, the hospital took over the general infectious diseases services of the former Fairfield Infection Diseases Hospital (VA 1231) after its closure. This was followed, on 7 February 1997, by the official opening of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service at the RMH, including the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Services and Laboratory (VIDRL). In Oct 2002, RMH is designated as a Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Infectious Diseases. The VIDRL service moved to be located at the Doherty Institute, opened on 12 Sept 2014. The Doherty Institute is a joint collaboration between the RMH and the University of Melbourne.
From 1995 the RMH continued to function under its own name while legally part of various networks - Western Health Care Network (VA 5262), 1 August 1995 to 2 November 1997; North Western Health Care Network (VA 5262), 3 November 1997 to 29 June 2000; and Melbourne Health (MH) from 30 June 2000 onwards.
In 1995 the Health Services (Metropolitan Hospitals Act) amended the Health Services Act 1988 to provide for the aggregation of Melbourne metropolitan hospitals into networks.
The Western Health Care Network (WHCN) was created on 1 August 1995 by an order of the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister for Health under Section 65c of the Health Services Act 1988 to aggregate the Royal Melbourne Hospital (VA 1048), North West Hospital (VA 5265), Altona Hospital, Western Hospital, Williamstown Hospital, with Werribee Mercy Hospital joining later that financial year. The aggregation of the hospitals was part of the Kennett Government’s policy for health services in metropolitan Melbourne. As a result, the individual hospital boards were replaced by one Network Board of Management. See Victoria Government Gazette G29, 27 July 1995, page 1981 and to s65(c) of the Health Services Act 1988 for legal effect of aggregation. Refer to s65(c) and s65(d) of the Health Services (Metropolitan Hospitals) Act 1995 which provided for the aggregation of metropolitan hospitals and succession in law.
On 3 November 1997, the Western Health Care Network disaggregated and merged with part of the former North Eastern Health Care Network into the newly named North Western Health Care Network (VA 5262). This occurred under an order of the Governor in Council dated 28 October 1997, acting under section 8(1) of the Health Services Act 1988, and amending Schedule 3 to the Health Services Act, as published in Victorian Government Gazette s139, 3 November 1997, page 1. It comprised the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the other hospitals and services previously under WHCN plus Preston and Northcote Community Hospital (PANCH), Northern Hospital and Bundoora Extended Care Centre.
On 30 June 2000, the North Western Health Care Network was disaggregated and Melbourne Health was proclaimed. Melbourne Health was created and incorporated as a Metropolitan Health Service pursuant to the Health Services (Governance) Act 2000 and an associated Order by the Governor-in-Council dated 22 June 2000 (Victorian Government Gazette s88, 23 June 2000, page 11).
Melbourne Health comprised the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Extended Care and Rehabilitation Service (formerly North West Hospital VA 5265, see Greenvale Centre VA 1277 and Mount Royal Hospital VA 1280), North Western Mental Health (NWMH), North West Dialysis, and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory.
On 24 January 2005, the Melbourne Extended Care and Rehabilitation Service was renamed the Royal Melbourne Hospital – Royal Park Campus. This campus became the hospital’s centre of ambulatory and continuing care services, incorporating geriatric, outpatient and rehabilitation services. At this time, the hospital in Grattan Street, Parkville becomes known at the Royal Melbourne Hospital – City Campus. By circa 2010-11, North West Dialysis was a part of RMH Kidney Care. The VIDRL service moves to be located at the Doherty Institute (joint RMH and University of Melbourne venture), opened on 12 Sept 2014. On 1 July 2020, North Western Mental Health integrated into the RMH organisational structure.
As of 1 July 2020, the hospitals and services that comprised Melbourne Health were subsumed under the Royal Melbourne Hospital umbrella and organisational structure. Although the Melbourne Health name exists as a legal entity for statutory purposes, they rebranded on the 1 July 2020 to operate as the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
In the meantime, a second meeting, held in January 1842, decided to establish a temporary hospital for urgent cases. For most of its existence this temporary hospital was situated in a two-storied house in Bourke Street West owned by John Pascoe Fawkner.
In 1845 the New South Wales Government finally agreed to a grant of land as well as a building grant of one thousand pounds, providing that a similar amount could be raised locally.
In January 1846, tenders were called and the foundation stone was laid on 20 March that year on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, Melbourne. With the opening of the permanent hospital on 15 March 1848, the temporary hospital closed its doors.
To establish the legal status of various hospitals in the Colony of New South Wales a New South Wales "Act to enable certain Public Hospitals to sue and be sued in the name of their Treasurer, and to provide for the taking and holding of Real Property belonging to such Hospitals" (11 Vict., No. 59) was assented to on 17 June 1847.
By the late 1880s, the hospital’s facilities were becoming increasingly inadequate, accommodation had reached a crisis point, and the building itself was condemned by a Royal Commission in 1892. The Commission recommended that the old site on Lonsdale Street should be abandoned and a new hospital built at Parkville. In addition, since the establishment of the University of Melbourne in 1855, and particularly the Medical School in 1862, there had been constant calls for the hospital to be moved in closer proximity to the University. Arguments over a new hospital site were settled in 1908 when the decision was made to rebuild on the old hospital site. The Edward Wilson (Argus) Trust provided £120,000 to finance the rebuilding and on 23 March 1912 the foundation stone for the new hospital was laid. On 22 July 1913 the new hospital buildings were opened, although sections of the new buildings were not completed until 1916.
In April 1915, the Melbourne Hospital agreed to provide a home for a medical research institute within its new Pathology Department. Established by the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, the Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Research in Pathology and Medicine was opened in 1916 as the first medical research institute in Australia. It is now called the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
The formation of the first auxiliary, the Red Cross Auxiliary, (later called the Toorak and South Yarra Auxiliary) occurred in November-Dec 1921. Auxiliary group numbers and activities grew and a central Executive Council of Auxiliaries was formed on 1 May 1924. In September 2007, diminishing numbers of auxiliary members and changing approaches to fundraising saw the closure of the Central Council of Auxiliaries to be replaced by the RMH Friends and support groups.
In 1925, the Caulfield Hospital, previously a military and repatriation hospital, came under the control of the Melbourne Hospital and convalescent patients were sent there to recuperate. This arrangement remained until 1948, when management of the Caulfield Hospital moved to the Alfred Hospital.
Increasing overcrowding led to the Committee of Management’s decision to build a new hospital on the Cow and Pig Market site at Parkville. A Government Order-in-Council on 30 July 1929 had reserved an area of a little over ten acres of this site and on 9 December 1935 an Act of Parliament was passed which authorised possession of the land (see Victoria Government Gazette 31 July 1929, p 2755).
On 27 March 1935 through Royal Charter, The Melbourne Hospital changed its corporate name to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after approval from King George V. This was formalized by notice in the Victoria Government Gazette No 56 on 27 March 1935, page 1051.
In September 1935, the Victorian Government announced the expenditure of £1,125,000 on state-wide hospital rebuilding and extensions. This sum included £75,000 as a government grant and £75,000 as a loan from unemployment relief moneys for the RMH. In addition a further loan of £500,000 was guaranteed to the hospital. The balance of the cost of rebuilding was to be raised by the Committee of Management of the hospital. In 1940, a public appeal was launched that raised close to £350,000. The foundation stone for the new hospital was laid on 13 November 1941 by the Premier, Mr Albert Dunstan. Plans for immediate public use of the new hospital were abandoned with the outbreak of war in the Pacific. The Commonwealth Government requested that sections of the new buildings be set-aside for the 4th General Hospital, United States Army. From March 1942 to March 1944, the USA Army hospital occupied the Grattan Street Parkville buildings while the RMH continued to operate for the civilians of Melbourne at its old site on Lonsdale Street.
The RMH re-occupied the Parkville site from RMH on 10 December 1944. The old hospital buildings on Lonsdale Street were occupied by the Central Hospital from 1944 to 1946 and then the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital (VA 1254) from 1946 to 1987.
The hospital has been involved in teaching activities from its infancy and has had a close association with the University of Melbourne, with the first students of the Medical School having undertaken clinical training at the hospital in 1864. The Royal Melbourne hospital has also provided extensive nursing training since 1889, with basic nurse training from 1889 to 1993 and post-graduate courses in advanced nursing commencing in 1960. It was also involved with the Melbourne School of Nursing (VA 5263) from 1950-1960. Training in other disciplines, including allied health, that are associated with the treatment and care of patients is also provided.
In 1974, the Board of Medical Research and Ethics Committee on Research was established to co-ordinate and oversee all medical research within the hospital. The RMH Research Foundation was created on 1 May 1994 to secure continued recognition and funding for hospital research activities. On 1 July 2002, this became the Melbourne Health Research Directorate, and then in August 2008, the Office for Research.
On 18 March 1986 the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Essendon and District Memorial Hospital (VA 1247) were formally amalgamated under the Hospital and Charities Act 1958 by the Governor-in-Council to form the Amalgamated Melbourne and Essendon Hospitals (see Victoria Government Gazette 16, 18 March 1986, page 673). The separate Boards of Management were replaced by a single Board.
The Amalgamated Melbourne and Essendon Hospital’s name was changed to The Royal Melbourne Hospital on 12 September 1989 with the hospital operating on two campuses – Parkville and Essendon. The name change was under Section 8(1)(c) of the Health Services Act 1988, and on recommendation of the Minister for Health, the Governor-in-Council amended Schedule 1 of the Act on 12 September 1989. This change was gazetted on 20 September 1989, Victoria Government Gazette G37, page 2427.
The Essendon and District Memorial Hospital had opened in 1964 as a maternity hospital and since amalgamation has expanded to include specialist orthopaedic and rehabilitation services. In May 1993, inpatient maternity services at the Essendon campus were discontinued. By the end of 1998, services at the Essendon site had been gradually phased out and the site was closed.
In July 1995, the RMH assumed responsibility for the some of the psychiatric services of the former Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital (VA 2845). On 19 January 2000, the John Cade Building housing mental health units and services opened, under the umbrella of North Western Mental Health (which was established as the Western Mental Health program in August 1996).
In June 1996, the hospital took over the general infectious diseases services of the former Fairfield Infection Diseases Hospital (VA 1231) after its closure. This was followed, on 7 February 1997, by the official opening of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service at the RMH, including the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Services and Laboratory (VIDRL). In Oct 2002, RMH is designated as a Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Infectious Diseases. The VIDRL service moved to be located at the Doherty Institute, opened on 12 Sept 2014. The Doherty Institute is a joint collaboration between the RMH and the University of Melbourne.
From 1995 the RMH continued to function under its own name while legally part of various networks - Western Health Care Network (VA 5262), 1 August 1995 to 2 November 1997; North Western Health Care Network (VA 5262), 3 November 1997 to 29 June 2000; and Melbourne Health (MH) from 30 June 2000 onwards.
In 1995 the Health Services (Metropolitan Hospitals Act) amended the Health Services Act 1988 to provide for the aggregation of Melbourne metropolitan hospitals into networks.
The Western Health Care Network (WHCN) was created on 1 August 1995 by an order of the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister for Health under Section 65c of the Health Services Act 1988 to aggregate the Royal Melbourne Hospital (VA 1048), North West Hospital (VA 5265), Altona Hospital, Western Hospital, Williamstown Hospital, with Werribee Mercy Hospital joining later that financial year. The aggregation of the hospitals was part of the Kennett Government’s policy for health services in metropolitan Melbourne. As a result, the individual hospital boards were replaced by one Network Board of Management. See Victoria Government Gazette G29, 27 July 1995, page 1981 and to s65(c) of the Health Services Act 1988 for legal effect of aggregation. Refer to s65(c) and s65(d) of the Health Services (Metropolitan Hospitals) Act 1995 which provided for the aggregation of metropolitan hospitals and succession in law.
On 3 November 1997, the Western Health Care Network disaggregated and merged with part of the former North Eastern Health Care Network into the newly named North Western Health Care Network (VA 5262). This occurred under an order of the Governor in Council dated 28 October 1997, acting under section 8(1) of the Health Services Act 1988, and amending Schedule 3 to the Health Services Act, as published in Victorian Government Gazette s139, 3 November 1997, page 1. It comprised the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the other hospitals and services previously under WHCN plus Preston and Northcote Community Hospital (PANCH), Northern Hospital and Bundoora Extended Care Centre.
On 30 June 2000, the North Western Health Care Network was disaggregated and Melbourne Health was proclaimed. Melbourne Health was created and incorporated as a Metropolitan Health Service pursuant to the Health Services (Governance) Act 2000 and an associated Order by the Governor-in-Council dated 22 June 2000 (Victorian Government Gazette s88, 23 June 2000, page 11).
Melbourne Health comprised the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Extended Care and Rehabilitation Service (formerly North West Hospital VA 5265, see Greenvale Centre VA 1277 and Mount Royal Hospital VA 1280), North Western Mental Health (NWMH), North West Dialysis, and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory.
On 24 January 2005, the Melbourne Extended Care and Rehabilitation Service was renamed the Royal Melbourne Hospital – Royal Park Campus. This campus became the hospital’s centre of ambulatory and continuing care services, incorporating geriatric, outpatient and rehabilitation services. At this time, the hospital in Grattan Street, Parkville becomes known at the Royal Melbourne Hospital – City Campus. By circa 2010-11, North West Dialysis was a part of RMH Kidney Care. The VIDRL service moves to be located at the Doherty Institute (joint RMH and University of Melbourne venture), opened on 12 Sept 2014. On 1 July 2020, North Western Mental Health integrated into the RMH organisational structure.
As of 1 July 2020, the hospitals and services that comprised Melbourne Health were subsumed under the Royal Melbourne Hospital umbrella and organisational structure. Although the Melbourne Health name exists as a legal entity for statutory purposes, they rebranded on the 1 July 2020 to operate as the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Jurisdiction: Victoria
