Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne

The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne is one of the major hospitals in the country with a specialisation in paediatrics. Its mission is to improve the health and well-being of young Australians and visitors from other countries.

Such goal has remained unchanged since Doctors John Singleton and William Smith established the hospital over 140 years ago to combat the rising infant mortality in Victoria at the time.

Location and Speciality

Located right at the corner of Flemington Road and Gatehouse Street, the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne has been giving quality healthcare services to the young Australian population since 1870. From its humble beginnings as "Melbourne Free Hospital for Sick Children", it has evolved into a 4,000-strong and highly skilled institution that provides a full range of clinical and tertiary care services to young people.

It is home to the RCH Centre for Adolescent Health, Gender Service, which provides assessment, care, and treatment to children (3 to 17 years old) who experience gender dysphoria.

The hospital is also well-known for its fundraising activities, with annual programs like the Good Friday Appeal, which collects funds to ensure the treatment and care of children with life-threatening illnesses. In 2017 alone, the hospital set a new fundraising record as it collected almost $18 million from generous donors.

In 2011, the RCH in Melbourne moved to its new premises - right next to the old Parkville site - to provide a better and more focused healing environment for sick children and their families. The old site was subsequently demolished and turned into a parkland, which gives the hospital property a warm, friendly vibe. In fact, almost 80% of all patient rooms are oriented to get picture-perfect views of the park and to make optimum use of natural light.

Visitor Parking Options

With the new campus using only 200,000 square meters out of the available 4.1 hectares, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it also has enough room for parking spaces for patients, carers, visitors, and hospital staff. The hospital offers a 2,000-space underground carpark, with parking entrances located at Flemington Road (Entry 1, 2, and 4). There’s a parking indicator system beneath the hospital, which informs drivers of the locations of vacant spots.

Whilst the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne offers a spacious carpark, not all visitors use it because of the high rates that range from $12 for one-hour parking to the daily maximum of $34. It is slightly less expensive if you park at night when it has a flat rate of $8, but it is highly unlikely that visitors will appreciate this as hospital visiting hours end at 8 pm.

If you don’t want to pay the high parking rates, there are some free short-term and metered parking spaces within walking distance of the hospital. You just need to be extra mindful because parking officers in the city are very vigilant.

Long-Term Stay Parking Options

All patients and their respective families are eligible for discounted or concession parking, provided that the young patients either receive a Child Disability allowance or have been confined as inpatient for over 48 hours. You can also avail of the discounted parking if you have a Federal Government Concession (i.e. pension health card) or if you have an official letter from the Social Work Department that issues either a discount or fee exemption to families with financial difficulties.

Eligible patients and carers are given a long-term car park discount card that can be used for six months.

Staff Parking Options

RCH staff and official visitors such as approved service providers or invited members of RCH committees can get complimentary parking if it is cost centre-approved; otherwise, they are charged with the maximum daily casual parking.

Hospital staff and official visitors are required to complete car park exit pass request forms and submit them to the cost centre for approval.

Don’t like these options? Use Parkhound

With Parkhound, you have over 480 cheap and secure parking options in the area, which offer an average hourly rate of $1.58 and an average maximum daily rate of $11.56. You also have the option for long-term parking if you are deemed ineligible for the hospital’s discounted parking. At Parkhound, it will cost you a monthly average rate of $230.

Parkhound works like an AirBnB for cars. It finds available parking spaces for your needs, including private car spaces whose owners are more than willing to share their spaces for a fee. So, if you need to park either overnight, short-term, or long-term and prefer undercover, driveway, garage, or outdoor parking, Parkhound makes it available for you. Just download its app and you are ready to go and park.