The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne (RCH) has achieved a first for an Australian hospital, it has reached 100,000 likes on its Facebook page.

This makes the RCH the most ‘liked’ hospital page in Australia.

The Facebook page launched in 2013 and has become a go-to source of information for not only Victorians, but people across Australia and the world. As well as a platform for the public to provide feedback about the hospital, it’s now the hospital’s main channel for providing important updates directly to the public.

The most prolific post was in October 2015 when 1000 doctors, nurses and clinical support staff gathered outside the hospital to demonstrate their concern about children in immigration detention. This post reached more than 1.3 million people and was shared over 7300 times.

When 400 children presented to the RCH’s emergency department with thunderclap asthma, all eyes were on the Facebook page. A single update to the public generated 629 shares and an audience of more than 200,000 people, demonstrating a thirst for this type of update during an unusual emergency.

Proactive ways to keep the public educated about important child health topics has also become business-as-usual for the Facebook page, and have proved popular. The Dr Margie blog, which includes video and written blogs with her advice as a paediatrician, has become a popular segment, especially among parents.

The most engaged Dr Margie blog was posted following the Bourke Street incident where Dr Margie provided her expert advice on dealing with tragedy. This post reached more than 265,000 people and was shared more than 1400 times.

Over the past four years, the RCH has been able to share important information quicker than ever before, ensuring the public hear the latest RCH news, advice, staff and patient stories, medical breakthroughs and public health messages first and directly from the RCH.

The Facebook page is actively monitored from 6am to 10pm, meaning the public can ask questions or give feedback, and are responded to, well beyond the usual business hours.

The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne thanks patients and families who have bravely shared their stories, and to the community for their support and feedback along the way.

Here’s a look at some of the news we’ve been able to share with you over the years.

The RCH also has active Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

If you have a story idea, we’d love to hear from you! Email media.team@rch.org.au or comment below.

And don’t forget to ‘like’ the RCH Facebook page! Here’s to 100,000 more!