John Hunter Hospital 6.13

The John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Childrens' Hospital is the principal referral centre and a tertiary hospital for Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and northern New South Wales, Australia. The 796 bed hospital is the main teaching hospital of the University of Newcastle. The hospital contains the only trauma centre in New South Wales outside the Sydney Metropolitan Area, and has the busiest emergency department in the state. John Hunter is the busiest trauma hospital in the state, and the second-busiest in the country behind The Alfred Hospital in Victoria.OverviewThe John Hunter health complex consists of 796 beds in total, and is co-located next to the 174 bed Newcastle Private Hospital, as well as the regional Hunter Area Pathology Service which provides tertiary level pathology testing. The complex consists of a single building, which is divided into 694 adult beds and another 101 paediatric beds in the John Hunter Children's Hospital. The Royal Newcastle Centre (formerly Royal Newcastle Hospital), opened as an extension wing to the John Hunter Hospital in April 2006, providing 144 of these beds. Patients from the Hunter Region and beyond are referred to John Hunter for treatment in a range of specialities. The John Hunter Children's Hospital and Royal Newcastle Centre are located within the same building as the John Hunter Hospital. Also on the same grounds are Rankin Park Hospital (Rehab), Newcastle Private Hospital and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI).