THE IMPACT OF GIVING
A YEAR OF GREAT CARE
t an d co m m it m en yo ur de di cati on si ck ch ild r en to su pp or ti ng e, le is r em ar ka bl an d yo un g pe op wh at ha s pa r ti cu la r ly in le ng in g an d be en a ve r y ch al l. ye ar fo r us al un pr ec ed en te d
ON BEHALF OF THE RCH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT. 2020 MARKS 150 YEARS SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE MELBOURNE FREE HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN. ON 9 SEPTEMBER 1870, THE HOSPITAL OPENED ITS DOORS WITH JUST SIX BEDS. THROUGHOUT THE PAST 150 YEARS, THE RCH HAS GROWN TO BECOME ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS. Today, we are the major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, with 350 beds and a dedicated team of more than 6,000 staff committed to providing sick children and young people with the best healthcare. Philanthropy has been a part of the hospital since the very beginning and it is thanks to the support from the RCH Foundation, and its community of donors and fundraisers that we are able to go above and beyond to deliver great care – everywhere. Thank you for supporting more than 200 projects and initiatives across our campus throughout 2019/20. Your dedication and commitment to supporting sick children and young people is remarkable, particularly in what has been a very challenging and unprecedented year for us all.
The RCH, like so many others, has had to adapt and innovate to ensure we can continue to provide sick children with the very best healthcare. At the height of the pandemic, more than 70 per cent of outpatient appointments were delivered via telehealth, up from just eight per cent in previous years. Most importantly, this service has not only provided high quality clinical outcomes, but has also been hugely beneficial to families and is currently being researched by campus partner MCRI to ensure we meet all of their needs. This is thanks to the telehealth program that you made possible. Your support also enabled our teams to focus on delivering world leading patient care. A record number of our staff undertook learning and education opportunities that you helped fund, and our child life therapy and education teams adapted and innovated to engage with patients digitally through remote-learning and the delivery of interactive programming through RCH TV. COVID-19 has presented us with enormous challenges – and along with it, unprecedented opportunity to leverage the agility and innovation we have shown throughout 2020. As we reflect on 150 years of the RCH and all that has been achieved, it is timely to look forward, and to think what might be possible in the next 150 years. With your support, our future looks bright. On behalf of all of the staff, patients and their families at the RCH, thank you for helping to create a world leading children’s hospital. John Stanway Chief Executive Officer The Royal Children’s Hospital
John Stanway, Chief Executive Officer, the RCH
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