Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital


The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital is a specialist public teaching hospital in East Melbourne, Australia. It is the only hospital in Australia which specialises in both ophthalmology and otolaryngology.

History

The hospital was established as the Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1863, by Andrew Sexton Gray, an Irish medical practitioner who had emigrated to Victoria. Dr Gray founded the infirmary due to the prevalence of eye and ear diseases at the time, particularly amongst miners on the Victorian gold fields, and also due to poor standards of sanitation and hygiene. In 1870, Gray's infirmary merged with Ophthalmic and Orthopaedic Institution operated by Aubrey Bowen and Ewin Jones, and in 1878 the hospital was granted valuable land by the Victorian government in what was called Tank Reserve in East Melbourne.
In 1978, the Eye and Ear was the site of a pioneering operation to install the world's first multi-channel cochlear implant, developed by Graeme Clark. Professor Clark subsequently established the Bionic Ear Institute at the hospital, and one of the laneways through the hospital site was named Bionic Ear Lane to commemorate the research and development by Clark and his team.

Statistics

, the RVEEH has 30 inpatient beds, and a 10-bed Medihotel. In one year, the hospital treats about 180,000 outpatients, admits about 13,000 inpatients, and performs around 14,000 surgeries. The Emergency Department operates 24 hours a day, and handles around 47,000 presentations a year of which approximately 80 per cent are ophthalmology cases.

Geography and redevelopment

The hospital comprises three wings: the Aubrey Bowen Wing, the Peter Howson Wing and the Smorgon Family Wing. There is a tunnel underneath Victoria Parade which links the Eye and Ear to St Vincent's Hospital.
In November 2012, the Victorian Government announced that the hospital would undergo a redevelopment, due to be completed in 2018.