Grace Centre for Newborn Care
About the Grace Centre for Newborn Care
Grace Centre for Newborn Care (GCNC) takes its name from Grace Bros Staff Aid to Charities, an organisation which promotes fundraising for many hospitals. The Children's Hospital has been a major beneficiary since 1924. The Grace family also has close links with the Hospital. Mrs BA Grace was appointed to the Board of Management in 1951, becoming Vice President in 1971.
Grace Ward is a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which specialises in caring for babies with surgical, cardiac and complex medical conditions. The neonatal period is defined as the first 28 days of life but the Centre does care for babies older than that, depending on the condition they have and if they have been born prematurely. GCNC works closely with the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and many babies are admitted there if they are outside Grace's criteria.
Over eighty staff are employed on shifts to care for 23 babies at any one time. The Centre is currently funded to have 8 ventilator beds and 16 High Dependency beds. Behind the front office there are many back office staff - lactation specialists, occupational therapists and a research team studying the development of babies who have been operated on in the crucial first 90 days of life.
Click here  to learn more about the staff looking after you and your baby.
What is the Grace Centre for Newborn Care (GCNC) Parent Advisory Council?
The team at Grace Centre for Newborn Care (GCNC) believe that families are the cornerstone of all activities and processes that occur in the unit. In an effort to provide the highest standard of care for babies and their families during their stay in GCNC, the GCNC Parent Advisory Council was established in 2004.
The GCNC Parent Advisory Council is a forum for families to provide their ideas or raise concerns. The Council also provides a family perspective to the GCNC unit on decisions that need to be made or changes that are being developed for improving family and newborn care.
We get involved in a range of activities, including:
- communication & information for parents, such as the GCNC information booklet
- arranging facilities such as the Parent's Library
- seeking donations for products for the Parent Care Packs
- fundraising for the unit, such as the Grace Gala
- being available to speak with parents whose baby is in GCNC
Who are we?
We are a group of volunteers who have had babies in GCNC. Through our personal experiences, we understand that having a baby in GCNC is a very traumatic time.
How can you contact us?
The group meets on the last Thursday of each month from 10.30am to 12.30pm.
You can complete your details on the GCNC Parent Advisory Council contact form and drop it in the suggestion box located in the Parent's Tea Room, just near the reception desk. You can also email us at gcnc@chw.edu.au
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