Emotions run deep as old Royal Adelaide Hospital farewells its final patient
THERE have been cheers, tears and hugs as a spontaneous honour guard of staff gathered to farewell the old RAH’s final patient, a wag who gave the new RAH an amusing nickname.
CHEERS, tears and a farewell siren blast from the ambulance carrying the last patient ever from the old Royal Adelaide Hospital marked an emotional closure of the former flagship hospital, ending a proud tradition of health care on the North Tce-Frome Rd site.
An honour guard of about 100 staff members gathered outside the now-closed ED and spontaneously cheered and applauded as Ronald Thomas, 83, was wheeled out the doors and carefully loaded into an ambulance for the trip to the $2.3 billion new RAH.
When the ambulance doors slammed shut at 12.06pm, the applause and cheers erupted again as the enormity of the moment sank in and the ambulance gave a quick siren salute as it headed for the gates.
Health Minister Jack Snelling was as touched by the emotion of the moment as any in the crowd including many long-term staffers who hugged, cried, laughed and took plenty of selfies to record the end of an era.
“It’s the greatest moment of my political career,” Mr Snelling said.
“There was a bit of a tear in my eye, to be honest. It was an honour to be there, I was deeply moved by the reaction for the staff as Ronald was moved out.”
A total of 297 patients were moved by ambulance from the old hospital to the new over three days without incident in what Mr Snelling described as a ‘masterclass in planning and logistics’ by the SA Ambulance Service and SA Health.
Mr Thomas, a former schoolteacher of Campbelltown, was one of the last patients admitted to the old RAH after arriving on Monday with a chest infection and blood pressure problems.
He said he was pleased to be moving to the new ‘Trump Tower down the road’ and was not fussed that he was the last patient transferred.
“The staff here have been magnificent, I could not have wished for better care and that is the most important thing,” he said.
The old RAH now resembles a ghost complex with empty wards and corridors, fencing around the former ED and just a handful of workers still packing boxes.
In contrast the gleaming new RAH is full of thousands of workers, patients and visitors, with cafes busy and even a pianist in the lobby.
The new hospital’s ED treated more than 190 patients on Tuesday and the hospital will resume urgent elective surgery within the next few days.
The 800-bed hospital now has more than 300 inpatients and officials are asking the public to be patient as staff get used to the new facility, including working with the electronic patient record system EPAS.
As the RAH gets up to full speed, other hospitals continue to struggle with overcrowding — on Wednesday afternoon Flinders Medical Centre, Lyell McEwin Hospital, Modbury Hospital and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital were all on Code White with their EDs treating more people than their capacity.
