The Prince Charles Hospital

The Prince Charles Hospital is located at Rode Road Chermside on Brisbane’s north side. It is a specialist hospital with specialities in cardio-thoracic medicine, orthopaedics, mental health, medical imaging, and geriatric medicine and rehabilitation. The hospital now has an emergency department and general medical service.

The Hospital started as a specialist chest hospital treating many patients with tuberculosis. It is still the only heart and lung transplant service in Queensland, one of four in Australia.

The Prince Charles Hospital is a major teaching hospital and a world class medical research centre.

Specialty areas

Cardiology and cardiac surgery
Cardiology services and cardiac surgery are probably the best known services at The Prince Charles Hospital. Since the 1950s, the Hospital has been developing its expertise in this field of medicine and is recognised world-wide for its surgical and intervention work.

The Prince Charles Hospital has the largest cardio-thoracic service in Australia and is one of the largest in the southern hemisphere. The Hospital is also the site of the Queensland Heart Valve Bank.

Thoracic medicine
The Prince Charles Hospital has Queensland’s lung tissue laboratory and a world wide reputation for thoracic medicine, research and lung transplantation.

The Hospital is the state specialty centre for adult cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension and complex adult chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The hospital also has specialists in asthma, asbestos diseases and lung cancers, and a sleep disorder laboratory.

Orthopaedics
Although it is not the biggest orthopaedic service in Queensland, The Prince Charles Hospital has a highly regarded specialist joint replacement service. The team are often visited by, or asked to visit, international orthopaedic surgeons to learn from their expertise in hip and knee replacements.

The Prince Charles Hospital is home to the Medical Engineering Research Facility, a research centre jointly owned by Queensland University of Technology.

Critical Care
The Prince Charles Hospital’s Intensive Care unit is highly specialised in managing transplant and cardiac surgical recovery, as well as general intensive medicine.

Critical Care also includes Anaesthesia and the new Emergency Department which has grown from 12,000 to 36,000 patients in under two years.

Internal Medicine
Internal Medicine is relatively new as its own department at The Prince Charles Hospital and has been established with a strong focus on geriatric medicine and rehabilitation. The department has a new multidisciplinary Early-assessment and Management Unit (known as the EMU), which uses world class methods to assess, treat and develop management plans for patients in under 48 hours.

The Hospital has a service agreement with the Royal Brisbane Hospital to deliver renal, gastro, neurology and endocrinology specialist services to patients at The Prince Charles Hospital.

Medical Imaging
The Prince Charles Hospital’s Medical Imaging service the most sophisticated cardiac imaging service in Australia. The service includes specialist MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computer tomography) and nuclear imaging as well as ultrasound and x-ray.

Medical Imaging at The Prince Charles Hospital includes cardiologists and respiratory physicians to ensure an integrated service for patients.

Mental Health
A district wide Mental Health service operates from The Prince Charles Hospital which includes acute care, extended care, community outreach, and general mental health services.

The service provides screening and referrals, counselling, consumer support workers, support for older people, mobile intensive support, and a consumer companion program.

Primary and Community Care
Primary and Community Care services are located at The Prince Charles Hospital campus and provides separate community health services such as breast screening, indigenous health services, and general primary health services such as infant and family health.

The service directly overlaps with The Prince Charles Hospital for chronic disease consultation and rehabilitation, acute and post acute home based care, and the Community Hospital Interface Protocol (CHIP) nursing program.

Drug and alcohol services, sexual health and HIV services, aged care, children’s health and acquired brain injury services are managed by Primary and Community Care and located around Brisbane.

Palliative Care
Palliative Care provides in-patient and consultation services for The Prince Charles Hospital, private practice clinics, Holy Spirit Northside and outreach services for the wider health district.

The service has Queensland’s only Nurse Practitioner in Palliative Care, and provides equipment, support and counselling services for patients and families.