Sunshine Hospital

Sunshine Hospital
Western Health
Geography
Location St Albans, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates 37°45′36″S 144°48′54″E / 37.760°S 144.815°E / -37.760; 144.815Coordinates: 37°45′36″S 144°48′54″E / 37.760°S 144.815°E / -37.760; 144.815
Organisation
Care system Medicare
Funding Public hospital
Hospital type General
Services
Emergency department Yes
Helipad No

Sunshine Hospital is a public hospital located on Furlong Road in St Albans, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It is one of three major hospitals operated by Western Health in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The hospital takes its name from the major suburb of Sunshine near which it is located.

History

The first hospital around Sunshine was established in the 1920s by two nursing sisters at 9 King Edward Avenue, Albion, and was called St Andrews, with 14 beds.[1] It was renamed Sunshine and District Community Hospital in 1946, and was then merged with Western General Hospital in Eleanor Street, Footscray, to become the Maribyrnong Medical Centre.

In 1989, the small hospital at King Edward Avenue was demolished and replaced by the extensive new Sunshine Hospital on Furlong Road in St Albans, while the hospital in Footscray was renamed the Western Hospital. In 1996, both hospitals became part of the Western Health Care Network, which was expanded in 1997 to become the North Western Health Care Network, and then reduced in size in 2000 to become Western Health.[2]

In 2015, a 13-bed intensive care unit was opened at the hospital.[3] A specialist women's and children's hospital, to be called the Joan Kirner Women's and Children's Hospital, is expected to open on the Sunshine Hospital site in the second half of 2018. It will include maternity and post-natal facilities.[4]

Facilties

The hospital has approximately 600 beds. This includes an emergency department, an intensive care unit, a cardiac care unit, women's and children's facilities, and mental health wards, along with aged care and rehabilitation facilities.[5]

Performance

The Sunshine Hospital emergency department processes more than 200 patients on average daily, with about 60 ambulances and 160 patients otherwise presented. As a consequence of this high volume, the hospital has the worst-performing emergency department of the three operated by Western Health, with the lowest rates of patients seen within the recommended four-hour time. The introduction of an intensive care unit in 2015 significantly increased the number of emergency presentations at Sunshine.[6]

In 2014, 5230 babies were born at the hospital, making it the third-busiest maternity hospital in Victoria. This number is expected to rise to 7000 by 2026 in line with high growth in the western suburbs of Melbourne.[7]

In 2016, Sunshine Hospital was ranked the third-best hospital in Melbourne for its efficiency in dealing with severe medical conditions in a report by the Auditor-General of Victoria.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Photograph (1963) - SUNSHINE & DISTRICT COMMUNITY HOSPITAL". Victorian Collections. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Sunshine Hospital (1989 – current)". Wards of the State: Department of Heath, State of Victoria.
  3. ↑ Capone, Alesha (12 March 2015). "Intensive Care Unit opens at Sunshine Hospital". Brimbank Leader. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Laskie, Alexandra (31 October 2016). "First sod turned at Sunshine's new women's and children's hospital". Star Weekly Brimbank. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Sunshine Hospital". www.westernhealth.org.au. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Cameron, Ben (18 October 2016). "Extra 7000 patients treated at Sunshine Hospital's emergency department this year". Star Weekly Brimbank. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Alexandra, Laskie (29 November 2016). "Sunshine's baby boom continues". Star Weekly Brimbank. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  8. ↑ Cameron, Ben (15 February 2016). "Sunshine Hospital among most efficient". Star Weekly Brimbank. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
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