Joan Kirner Women's and Children's Hospital

The new 237-bed Joan Kirner Women's and Children's Hospital is a multi-storey facility with: 

• 20 labour delivery rooms 
• 39 special care nursery cots 
• 64 women's inpatient beds 
• 32 children's inpatient beds 
• four operating theatres  
• additional outpatient clinics. 

As part of the project, 55 existing acute adult inpatient beds at Sunshine Hospital were refurbished. 

The Joan Kirner Women's and Children's Hospital project aimed to achieve the following benefits:

More people can receive care

This project consolidated inpatient and outpatient women’s and children’s services at Western Health. This allows more women in Melbourne’s west to give birth closer to home and provides better access to vital children’s services.

With a total of 237 beds in new and refurbished areas, the project delivered an increase of maternity and paediatric beds. The development also freed up existing beds and facilities at Sunshine Hospital, increasing capacity for other patients.

Easily accessed

Located on the Sunshine Hospital site between the hydrotherapy pool and the radiotherapy centre, the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital is easy to access with clear visibility from both the Western Ring Road and Furlong Road.

Meeting future demand

At nine floors, Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital is the tallest building on the Sunshine Hospital site. It was designed to be flexible to ensure it can easily be adapted to meet future healthcare needs. This gives Western Health the room they need to grow and meet future demand.

More local jobs

The new Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital created more than 400 new jobs, including:

• 150 jobs in nursing and midwifery
• many new positions for medical staff, patient services assistants, pharmacists, imaging technicians and allied health
• health support roles such as environmental services, maintenance, and security.

During construction, the project also created up to 600 jobs in Melbourne’s rapidly growing western region.

This project was delivered by the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority in partnership with:

• Western Health
• Lyons (architect)
• Lendlease (builder).

Please note: As of 1 February 2021, the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority (VHHSBA) became the Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA).