Austin Hospital, Melbourne

The Austin Hospital is a major teaching public hospital located in Melbourne's north eastern suburb of Heidelberg, and is administrated by Austin Health, along with the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre.

History

The hospital was founded in 1892 as a charitable mental institution.

World War II

During World War II, there were two military hospitals located at the hospital.

115th Australian General Hospital

On 13 March 1941, the 115th Australian General Hospital operated by the Australian Army was located at the hospital. It was disbanded on 19 May 1947.

No. 6 RAAF Hospital

*"see main article: No. 6 RAAF Hospital"In 1942 the 6th RAAF Hospital, operated by the Royal Australian Air Force was located at the hospital. It left the hospital in 1947.

Post War

After the hospital was handed over from the Australian Army to the Repatriation Commission, it became known as Repatriation General Hospital Heidelberg. The Repatriation Commission (Department of Veterans' Affairs) operated the hospital until 31 December 1994.

The hospital provides the only Victorian wide service for acute spinal injuries, liver transplant and is the state referral centre for toxicology. It has a Statewide psychiatry unit for young children (under 12), the Eagle Child Unit. The Victorian Respiratory Support Service (VRSS) is also located at Austin Hospital. The treatment of cancer is particularly important with the most comprehensive cancer service in the Southern Hemisphere with the largest Positron Emission Tomography (PET) service in Victoria. Cancer research based at the hospital is conducted by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Austin Hospital is one of two major teaching hospitals in Melbourne which maintain a filmless radiology department using PACS.

The hospital maintains one of the busiest Thoracic Surgical Units in Australia and also offers an extensive rehabilitation service at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Kew.

The University of Melbourne Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry, Psychology and Physiotherapy are based with "Austin Health", with other tertiary institutions affiliated including Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and La Trobe University for allied health programs. Teaching and training is also offered to students from Monash University, Deakin University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University of Technology and the Australian Catholic University.

Other research institutes affiliated with the Austin Health include the National Stroke Research Institute (NSRI), neurosciences research with the Brain Research Institute (BRI), epilepsy research with the Epilepsy Research Institute (ERI), Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, and the Biological Research Laboratory (BRL) which is a commercial supplier of animals for research establishments.

In 1996 plans by the Victorian State Government of Jeff Kennett to privatise the hospital were leaked to the press. There was much community disquiet over this decision, and confidential reports on the privatisation were withheld from public scrutiny. Most hospital staff opposed this plan, but being bound by confidentiality agreements dared not speak out publicly fearing for their own jobs. The Labor Party pledged its opposition to the privatisation proposal. With the surprise election in 1999 of Steve Bracks, a minority Labor Government was formed with the support of three Independents. Immediately, privatisation plans for the hospital were shelved, and funding increased.

In August 2000 the Victorian Government announced the redevelopment of the Austin Hospital and incorporating the relocation of the Mercy Hospital for Women (MHW) from East Melbourne to Heidelberg. This public project was the largest hospital redevelopment ever undertaken in Victoria, and one of the largest in Australia, costing $376 million. On 7 May, 2005 the Mercy Hospital for Women fulfilled a long term plan and finally opened at Heidelberg.

The Current CEO, Dr Brendan Murphy, was appointed in January 2005.

References

* [http://www.austin.org.au/ Official website]
* [http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/health/Austin_privatisation.html Austin privatisation]
* [http://www.armproject.org/ Austin Health Redevelopment]