Emergency department
Cabrini’s Alan, Ada and Eva Selwyn Emergency Department is a vital part of Cabrini Health. As a not-for-profit, catholic provider, we offer round-the-clock service to adults and children requiring urgent medical attention, and have done so for almost 25 years. We treat all acute emergency conditions (except major trauma) with onsite access to a full range of diagnostic services and rapid referral to Cabrini specialists.
About our emergency department
Cabrini’s Alan, Ada and Eva Selwyn Emergency Department (ED) is a Monash University teaching facility staffed by dedicated emergency physicians and highly skilled nurses 24 hours, 7 days a week. We treat all emergency conditions (except major trauma) including cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, general and aged care medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, intensive care, obstetrics, and paediatrics.
Our ED at Cabrini Malvern is accredited by the Australian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM), and has been for 10 years. ACEM accreditation recognises Cabrini’s commitment to excellence in health care, safety and quality.
We welcome all patients, whether they are ‘walk in’, referred to us by their GP, or arrive via ambulance. Services include:
- 24 hour pathology services
- A dedicated radiology suite with 24 hour access to x-ray and CT
- After hours ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI for urgent / life threatening diagnosis
- Rapid access to Cabrini specialists for inpatient or outpatient follow up
We treat more than 24,000 adults, infants, children and adolescents every year. Our focus is to serve our community and provide our patients and their families with high-quality and compassionate care. Our follow-up phone call program after each patient is discharged from the ED reflects our dedication to providing high-quality care and enhancing the patient experience.
If you need to be admitted to hospital after presenting to the ED, your treating team will guide you through the next steps for your care. To ensure your admission is as fast and seamless as possible, the team in ED will organise your admission to the most appropriate Cabrini facility.
Emergency
-
GP Referral Phone
-
Access
Access to the emergency department is via Coonil Crescent (off Wattletree Road).
Infectious Illnesses and Testing
Cabrini’s Emergency Department regularly sees patients with a wide range of infectious illnesses, including respiratory viruses.
If you are experiencing symptoms such as fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny or blocked nose, or a loss or change in sense of smell or taste, you may be assessed for viral infections, including COVID-19 or influenza, as part of your care. Other symptoms that may prompt testing include headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea.
Our team will determine whether any tests are required based on your symptoms and clinical presentation.
If you are experiencing severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, please call 000 and request an ambulance.
If you are attending Cabrini, please ensure your clinical team is made aware if you:
- have any symptoms relating to COVID-19 (cough, runny nose, sore throat, loss of sense of taste or smell, breathlessness, chills or sweats)
- are a known close contact of a positive COVID-19 case
- are awaiting the result of a COVID-19 test
- have been to a COVID-19 exposure site and have not yet completed the directives regarding testing and quarantining
Please visit Cabrini’s Coronavirus page for full information on changes across Cabrini’s campuses.
Our fees
- The emergency attendance fee is a fixed out-of-pocket cost and applies to all Medicare and private health insurance holders. This fee is necessary for us to be able to offer a high-quality emergency service to the community.
- If you are not eligible for Medicare, all emergency attendance fees will be at the non-Medicare rate of $1000.
- Emergency Department fees are not covered by private health insurance as per Private Health Insurance Act 2007. Private health insurance covers patients once admitted into hospital.
- Your total emergency account will vary depending upon the treatment(s) you receive on the day. If you require pathology or medical imaging services, out-of-pocket charges will apply in addition to the attendance fee.
- Payment of accounts:
- Emergency department medical account and discharge pharmacy items are payable prior to discharge.
- Invoices for pathology, medical imaging and take-home items will be mailed to patients.
- If you are admitted to the hospital, we will provide you with financial information relating to your admission.
The below fee estimates are for eligible Medicare-card holders.
School student discount program
We offer $125 discount on our emergency department attendance fee to students of registered primary and secondary schools, aged 17 years and younger.
The discount applies to the attendance fee only and does not include any further out-of-pocket expenses, such as x-rays and blood tests.
List of registered pre-schools, primary and secondary schools
Sporting club partnerships
Cabrini Emergency Department proudly supports junior football clubs in the South-Eastern region of Melbourne. We offer a 50 per cent discount on our emergency attendance fee, and if required a bulk-billed sports physician follow-up visit on the Monday for cases seen on the weekend.
If you attend our ED as a result of a sporting incident, your club insurance may cover some of your medical costs. Please take your receipts to the club once they have been paid for possible reimbursement.
Participating sporting clubs are:
List of participating South Metro Junior Football League Clubs
Patient information
We have prepared an extensive series of patient information sheets that relate to many of the common injuries and ailments of people presenting to our emergency department. The following sheets detail the typical treatments, what to expect, follow up information and how to seek help if symptoms or conditions don’t improve.
- Abdominal pain
- Allergy and anaphylaxis
- Ankle sprain
- Asthma
- Atrial fibrillation
- Back pain
- Bell’s Palsy
- Cellulitis
- Chest infection
- Chest pain
- Concussion
- Constipation
- Colds (see separate sheet for influenza)
- COVID-19
- Crutches – use of crutches
- Ear issue – Earwax
- Ear issue – Otitis externa (swimmer’s ear)
Child information sheets
- Epistaxis (nose bleeds)
- Eye injury – flash burns
- Eye injury – foreign body
- Fainting and collapse
- Fractures and plaster care
- Gastritis
- Gastroenteritis
- Gout and pseudogout
- Headache – Migraine headache
- Headache – Tension headache
- Heatwave self-care
- Hives
- Influenza
- Intravenous Regional Anaesthesia (IVRA)
- Knee injuries
- Medications for pain relief
- Osteoarthritis
- Pregnancy – bleeding in early pregnancy
- Pregnancy – miscarriage
- PV Bleeding – irregular vaginal bleeding
- Renal Colic
- Rib fracture
- Sedation – Procedural sedation for adults
- Seizures
- Shingles
- Shoulder dislocation
- Snake bite
- Soft tissue injuries
- Tonsillitis and pharyngitis
- Urinary Retention
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)
- Urinary Tract Cystitis in women
- Vertigo
- Wound care – skin tears
- Wound care – staples
Education and clinical research are important elements of what we do. Cabrini’s emergency medicine research department is part of Monash Partners, an innovative partnership program connecting researchers, clinicians and community to innovate for better health for Victorians.
We have an active emergency specialist training program, accredited by the Australian College for Emergency Medicine.
Our emergency physicians and staff are involved with several leading research initiatives including our medical scribes program. Click here to find out more about our researchers and academic publications.
If you are interested in conducting research with us, whether as a collaborator or trainee, please contact Director of ED, Ian Turner via email: iturner@cabrini.com.au or lbrichko@cabrini.com.au call (03) 9508 1550.
We welcome support from our valued donors who fund our research projects. If you are interested in learning more about making a tax-deductible donation to our emergency medicine research programs, please get in touch with Cabrini Foundation on (03) 9508 1380.
Our emergency benefactors
The naming of the Cabrini expanded emergency department located in the Gandel Wing of the hospital is a testimony to the legacy of Alan Selwyn.
Alan was a man who was gracious and humble, kind and had a heart of gold. He considered himself blessed in every way. He adored his wife Ada for each and every day of their 66 years of marriage and treasured his daughter.
Alan attended The University of Leeds, where he studied textile engineering. As a businessman and multi-linguist, Alan pioneered Australian-Japanese economic ties, was a founding member of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce and was twice a delegate to the International Economic Conference.
He had a long history of philanthropic endeavours and supported hospitals, universities, medical research, museums and the arts, including as a patron of the Melbourne Arts Centre. He was a governor of Tel Aviv University, by which he was also bestowed an Honorary Fellowship. He and Ada also established a Chair in Clinical Infertility Research and Molecular Medicine. In his spare time he was a keen bridge player and twice represented Australia at the Maccabiah Games as captain of the bridge team.
To know Alan was to realise he was a great man, an optimist who lived life to the fullest, a man of integrity and respected by all.
– Eva Selwyn