Settling In

I am settling in to my new space in the new Building. The RCH Revue on Thursday night was a well attended event. Needless to say there was a lot of bashing over the trials an tribulations of the move planning. An ongoing comedy skit of Captain Spotless (the security and cleaning management Company) ensuring no one made a mess of the new place, included a kid coming to the front door with an icecream and the getting wrapped in plastic by orange clad Captain Spotless. A whole roll of glad wrap! Lots of amusement from passers by! But no-one batted an eye lid. It is a kids hospital after all!

However have you seen the cartoon of a child's swing set being designed by a committee, well obviously the RCH design team was not told of the Function or practice of something!
I was in outpatients last week to weigh a baby who was attending clinic, and I went to weight her, Luckily she is a tiny dot!

Where do you put the baby to undress?? The gadget at R is for length

However so not to be negative here is a view of the decoration in the lifts and a view out West from the 3rd floor

I particularly love the cow!

Dylan climbing

Seeing Dylan last week it is no surprise to see he is now climbing! Have to move things up higher!
He had a box with a new push toy that Sean had not unpacked but he tipped it over, then decided to try climbing.

Toddlers always look so precarious but have  a good sense of their centre of gravity.

All done!

And for a finale he showed his head stand!!

Aren't his curls lovely!

He also learned the trick, that when he doesn't want to be picked up he just makes his shoulders all limp, so your hands just slip up his arms!!

The new RCH

It has been a long 5 years in the building of the new Hospital but it has also sped by and hard to believe that we moved in last week!
It was a time of packing up and discarding years of papers books toys etc. A lot was taken home as there was no space or new systems that meant we could not have what we had before. We had a crate each and our computer.

I am now settled at a new work station. (I was going to show a comparison of my office space but after loading photos from my iPhone, my iPhoto library has disappeared!) along side many of the paediatricians with whom I work daily.

 The clinical offices is a huge area, stretching along the whole front of the building I am on the third floor at the end where the red shades (Emergency) change to pale green.

The huge open space of 'Main Street" creates a wonderful light filled area, and a great view as I walk from the wards to the offices (the wards are at the west end back so still a fair hike if I don't co-ordinate my travels!)

The main enquiry desk with one of the walkways with timber surfaces

View from level 2 The main Street goes up the 5 floors

The Creature in the foyer. Off to the left of it is the Outpatients area and the Meerkats

Nurses' desks

 The wards are in a star shape design with 3 Pods of single rooms radiating out from central work office and reception desk, so each room has an outside window.
In the centre of each pod is a Nurses' station; One catch is that there is no real landmark to help visualize where you had been except the room number.
In old place it was 3rd section bed on the right.etc. But I guess we will work out a new way of remembering.

A quiet space at the end of one of the pods.

The Play room

A single room with the mother's bed area.

The room above the mother had set up a playmat for the baby on the floor. His cot is to the right of the picture. On the left the wall is the corner of the en suite.

The wards are all named for the level they are on. Lower ground is underwater, so Dolphin Short stay ward. Ground floor Main street so services like food outlets chemist, gift shop Immunisation centre etc (we still have McDonalds but it is no bigger than the adjacent Sushi place) 

1st floor Country. Banksia and Kelpie; 

2nd Floor Forest. Sugar gliders (my main ward) and Kookaburra

3rd floor Treetops.  Koala and Rosella, and the Possum Surgical Day stay Unit

4th floor Mountain tops  Cockatoo and Platypus (yes!!) Kids already pointing out they have never seen a platypus in a tree!! but I guess they are in mountain streams.

5th floor Sky Butterfly Neonatal Unit.

The art work is all in keeping with the level.

The Sugar Glider

The pillars by the ward lifts have pictures and information re the level

And then there are the open spaces, play areas and view from all angles all looking at gardens or parkland.

The Back door. Into the garden and park from Main Street.

The children's playground from the floors above

A inner courtyard from the Outpatient waiting area

View from an east facing child's room

The Meerkat enclosure(one in middle of pic.)

The Aquarium is a huge tube rising through three levels from emergency

View from an Outpatient area to an inner courtyard