The new Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital will open on November 29 following a decision by the Childrenâs Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service board.
The opening means families and patients will no longer be able to present at the Royal Childrenâs Hospital and the Mater Childrenâs Hospital for treatment from that date, with Lady Cilento to be the public hospital for most Brisbane children and the tertiary referral hospital for the state.
People will be able to look through the South Brisbane hospital, however they need to register first, because staff can only manage 6000 people.
Children’s Health Queensland chief executive Peter Steer said the health service was excited to put Queensland’s “most advanced children’s hospital” on show.
“This open day will provide a unique opportunity to visit what will likely become one of our iconic buildings in Queensland,” Dr Steer said.
He said allowing 6000 people through the hospital gave everybody 30 minutes to view the facilities.
“In an ideal world, we would have liked to have invited everybody through,” Dr Steer said.
“But in reality, many parts of the hospital have been fully fitted out and cleaned thoroughly for opening later this year,” he said.
“Allowing 6000 people through will allow us to provide people with a guided 30-minute tour and give them a real sense of the benefits this hospital will deliver.”
Tours will run from 8am to 4pm, on Sunday 12 October.
To book a tour time, go to the website and select the ‘Register for the LCCH Sneak Peek’ link.
Closed-in flat shoes are compulsory on the tour.
The bright green new children’s hospital is on Stanley Street at South Brisbane, beside Sommerville House girls school.
The Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital is expected to open before the end of the year.
Childrenâs Health Queensland board chair Susan Johnston said appointment letters for the new hospital would start arriving within the next four weeks, ahead of the opening.
âIâm pleased to be able to confirm our opening date two months ahead of time to give our patients and families, and of course our staff, a sense of certainty moving toward the end of the year,â she said.
âIt will be the public hospital for most children in Brisbane and Queenslandâs tertiary referral hospital for serious childhood injury and illness,
âHaving all of Queenslandâs paediatric service under one roof will also provide tremendous relief to families with complex care needs who might previously have had to move between campuses for treatment.â
The hospital will have 359 beds, 25 per cent more than the Royal Childrenâs Hospital and Mater Childrenâs Hospital combined, with the majority of the inpatient rooms single with an ensuite and provision for a parent or carer to stay at the patientâs bedside.
It will house 14 operating theatres and 48 emergency department treatment bays.
Other features include rooftop terraces and gardens and a child and youth mental health unit.
VIDEO: An inside tour of the $1.5 billion Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital at South Brisbane