Cranes come down at Royal Children's Hospital

The last of the cranes used in the construction of the new world-class Royal Children’s Hospital was dismantled on Sunday 1 August, marking the next stage of the development.

The nine massive cranes on the construction site were all named after young patients treated at the existing Royal Children’s Hospital.

The dismantling of the last remaining crane named Rosie marks an important milestone in the construction of the new state-of-the-art hospital, with the structure of the hospital now complete.

Construction work will now move onto fitting out the interior of the hospital including flooring and walls, infrastructure such as air conditioning and sprinkler systems and the latest medical equipment.

The idea to name cranes after patients came from the crane drivers and has since become a tradition on the construction site.

The cranes were named Kyle and Cameron, Alexander, George, Matthew, Jordyn, Tyler, Rosie, Tammy and Moutaz, with many of the children to be patients in the new hospital.

The landmark new hospital will provide expanded facilities and will treat an extra 35,000 patients a year and will have 50 extra beds, including an additional 13 intensive care beds and eight neonatal cots.

Eighty five per cent of beds will be in single rooms, providing more privacy for patients and families, the highest percentage of any public hospital in Australia.

The new hospital would also double the space for research undertaken by the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and includes a new integrated Education Centre operated together with Melbourne University.

The development is progressing well and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.

The nine cranes on site were:

Kyle and Cameron	Kyle and Cameron Bajada, twin 11-year-old boys, have short gut syndrome and have been patients all their lives. They will be patients in new hospital.
Alexander	Alexander Gilbert, 5, has cerebral palsy and has been a patient at the Royal Children’s Hospital since a baby and will continue to be a patient at the new hospital.
George	George Gibb, 2, has a rare neuromuscular condition. He spent the first six months of his life in the Royal Children’s Hospital Neonatal Unit and will continue to be a patient at the new hospital.
Matt	Matthew Ristovski, 8, is recovering from major heart failure at age 5. He will be a patient at the new hospital.
Jordyn	Jordyn Griffin, 15, had a liver transplant as a baby and at the time was the youngest baby to receive liver transplant in Australia. She is now 15 and will continue to be a patient at the new hospital.
Tyler	Tyler Woodward, 11, recently had a kidney transplant and he will continue to be a patient at the new hospital.
Rosie	Rosie Morgan, 8, is receiving ongoing treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital for cancer. She hopes to complete her treatment in 2010.
Tammy	Tammy, 14, has cystic fibrosis. She will be a patient at the new hospital.
Moutaz	Moutaz Elnoush, 6, lives very near the new Royal Children’s Hospital and is a user of the immigrant health clinic. He will continue to be a patient at the new hospital.

Further information

For further information on the facilities and services of the Royal Children’s Hospital go to The Royal Children's Hospital website.