Our History

1896 Queen Victoria Hospital was the first women’s hospital established in Victoria

1920 Dr Elizabeth Ross was appointed the first staff Pathologist at Melbourne Homeopathic Hospital. Dr. Ross’ tenure was short lived due to a lack of resources

1937 Janet Lindsay Greig Pathology block opens at Queen Victoria Hospital.

c 1940 J.D. Hicks was employed as the first fully-resourced pathologist at Melbourne Homeopathic Hospital.

1942 Dandenong Hospital opened.

1951 J.F. Funder was appointed Prince Henry’s first Director of Pathology Services

1960 Prince Henry’s Medical Research Centre was established

1968 Dandenong laboratory moved into its current location

1975 Moorabbin Hospital opened

1977 Queen Victoria Hospital amalgamated with the Jessie McPherson Hospital and McCulloch House to form The Queen Victoria Medical Centre

c 1979 Computers introduced into routine laboratory use at Dandenong Hospital

c1981 Immunohistochemistry was introduced at the Dandenong laboratory

1982 Abbott TDx Blood Chemistry Analyser introduced to Dandenong laboratory which enabled therapeutic drugs to be resulted in a time which affected patient care i.e. dosage could be adjusted same day

1986 New pathology laboratory opened under the direction of the Pathology department of Dandenong Hospital to service Korumburra, Mirboo North, Foster and Toora.

1987 New site for the Queen Victoria Medical Centre in Clayton opened
Prince Henry’s was amalgamated with the Queen Victoria Medical Centre and Moorabbin Hospital to form the Monash Medical Centre.

1989 Clinical Genetics Laboratory was formed under Prof Don Bowden with Janice Brasch and Andrea Twomey, world renowned experts in DNA technology attracting international interest in their assay techniques.
Immunohistochemistry was introduced into Anatomical Pathology at Clayton

1992 First random access immunoassay instrument introduced to the Dandenong laboratory allowing same day results for endocrine tests.

1992 Computerised databases of patient details and histopathology reports were introduced c1993 Purpose built pathology laboratory opens within Moorabbin Hospital.

1995 Southern Health Care Network created combining Monash Medical Centre and Dandenong Hospital. Integration of Dandenong and Monash Medical Centre pathology laboratories commenced.

1998 Introduction of automated Haematoxylin and Eosin staining in Anatomical Pathology.

2000 Clinical Genetics shifted focus to Thalassaemia molecular testing

2001 Introduction of automated Sanger Sequencing in Clinical Genetics

2004 Casey Hospital opened.
Total laboratory automation introduced into Biochemistry

2006 Introduction of Haemophilia A and haemophilia B sequencing

2007 Introduction of automated immunohistochemistry, by 2013 there were three instruments performing over 23,000 tests per year with 141 antibodies and 5 molecular probes for in-situ testing.

2010 Anatomical Pathology implemented state of the art specimen handling systems ensuring the integrity of tissue samples. Part of this was the Symphony, which stains histology slides individually. This instrument was the first one of its kind installed in the Asia Pacific. The concurrent installation of an electronic specimen tracking system provides the tools for electronically record the flow of specimens from the time they arrive in the laboratory; this allows identification, at any given time, the stage of processing including a record of staff performing each critical step.

2012 Kingston Centre site undergoes a major redevelopment.

Mass Spectrometers installed in Biochemistry

Introduction of Next Generation Sequencing (massively parallel sequencing)

2013 Southern Health changed its name to Monash Health.Southern Cross Pathology Australia changed its name to Monash Pathology.

Genetics and Molecular laboratory commenced operating at the Clayton Site.

The Clinical Genetics laboratory was renamed Thalassaemia and Haemophilia Molecular Reference Laboratory.