Bringing together the Royal Children’s Hospital and Mater Children’s Hospital, the new QCH will be created as a state-of-the-art paediatric health care centre in Queensland, which will provide specialist paediatric care for children from birth to 16 years of age (and up to 18 years for established patients). It will be Queensland’s first children’s hospital.
The QCH will have 359 beds, which is 25% more than the Royal Children’s and Mater Children’s hospitals combined. Including all the specialist services of the Royal Children’s and Mater Children’s hospitals, the QCH will feature new clinics to treat obesity, pain and allergies.
Apart from that it will also provide specialised adolescent services and paediatric renal treatment. The QCH will also feature all the necessary specialised equipment for treatment and diagnosis. It will offer 12 clinical levels with room for expansion. A four-level basement car park will also be built as part of the scheme, which will offer convenient access to multi-level car parks for staff and visitors.
Other features of the QCH includes an academic and research facility, entirely dedicated to child and adolescent health research; helipad for emergency access; and convenient access to public transport (bus, train, ferry) and the South Bank Parklands.
QCH will support regional hospitals through telemedicine and outreach services and new and expanded children’s health services in the greater Brisbane metropolitan area. It is scheduled to open by late 2014.