A brand new helipad on the roof of the Monash Children’s Hospital is ready to help save lives by providing a faster and more direct route to vital emergency care.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Jill Hennessy today officially opened the helipad for time-critical emergency air ambulance transfers to both the new Monash Children’s Hospital and Monash Medical Centre.
The Andrews Labor Government provided $3.8 million to build a helipad on the rooftop of the Monash Children’s Hospital, after it was cut from the project by the former Liberal Government.
Previously, Victorians facing life threatening emergencies arriving by helicopter, would land on grass north of the hospital and be transferred by road ambulance to emergency, adding to the time taken to reach the hospital.
The new rooftop helipad means critically-ill adults and kids will be transferred more quickly and efficiently to receive the urgent care they need.
The helipad will provide the fastest, safest and most comfortable transfer possible to the emergency department, neonatal unit, operating theatres and intensive care units.
As home to the largest neonatal unit in Victoria, the most common transfer by helicopter at Monash is premature babies from regional hospitals.
The new helipad will also free up more ambulances to respond to and attend other emergencies, as road ambulance transfers to the hospital will no longer be required.
The new world-class $250 million Monash Children’s Hospital will open its doors to its first patients on 19 April.
Monash Children’s features 230 beds, made up of 96 paediatric beds, 12 dedicated children’s cancer day beds, 20 same day beds, 10 paediatric intensive care beds and 30 neonatal intensive care cots.
It will treat an extra 7000 children and provide an additional 60,000 specialist treatments each year, as well as more than 40,000 admissions every year.
The hospital, and its new helipad, will meet growing demand from Melbourne’s booming south-eastern suburbs, the Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Jill Hennessy
“Every second counts in an emergency, and this new helipad means children in life-threatening situations can now be transported directly to hospital – saving vital seconds and minutes, and ultimately, lives.”
“We stepped in and provided funding for a rooftop helipad for the Monash Children’s Hospital after it was cut by the former Liberal Government.”
“This new hospital will give sick children in Melbourne’s south-east the best care they need, when they need it, in truly world-class facilities.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020