Modeina’s mums can now deliver their babies in a hospital close to home, following the recent opening of the state-of-the-art Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Precinct at Sunshine Hospital.

Situated on the eastern side of the Sunshine Hospital site, less than fifteen minutes’ drive from Modeina, the 237-bed precinct will provide inpatient and outpatient women’s and children’s services for local families.

The eight-storey building houses 20 birthing rooms, 39 special care nursery cots, four operating theatres and, significantly, the West’s first ever neonatal intensive care unit to care for critically ill babies.

Designed to be family-friendly with a focus on easy access, the building also includes outpatient areas offering a large range of clinical services, 64 women’s inpatient beds and another 32 children’s inpatient beds.

The relocation of some services to the new building from the Sunshine Hospital provides more space for expansion of other services, as the population in Melbourne’s West continues to grow.