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Sound Healing: Pictured is Sound Therapist Ashe Burns at Perth Childrens Hospital with a group of volunteers. The Hospital will soon start free sound healing sessions for parents and carers. Michael Wilson

WA NewsThe unique therapy hoped to help parents of sick kids

At the often busy and stressful environment of Perth Children’s Hospital, there is a place where staff — and soon the parents of their young patients — will be able to destress with a unique new therapy.

Angela Pownall

A flight from Indonesia has been listed as an exposure site after health authorities confirmed two new cases of measles in WA.

HealthCommentsHealth alert as busy flight to Perth listed as exposure site

WA Health put out a public health alert on Thursday morning.

Hannah Cross

More than 20,000 text messages were sent to almost 10,000 Australian parents as part of the AuTOMATIC trial, conducted by The Kids Research Institute, in an effort to see if it would improve children getting their scheduled vaccinations on-time.

HealthCommentsPremiumGP text nudges could vaccinate 35,000 more WA children

A simple text message reminder could increase the number of children receiving their vaccinations on time, a WA study has revealed.

Claire Sadler

West Australian and Victorian cancer researchers have found a way to turbocharge cancer-fighting cells to further improve a life-saving immunotherapy.

HealthCommentsPremiumResearchers uncover way to turbocharge cancer-fighting cells

West Australian and Victorian cancer researchers have found a way to turbocharge cancer-fighting cells to further improve a life-saving immunotherapy.

Hannah Cross

Both the Albany Health Campus and Meekatharra Hospital expansion projects went out for tender on November 14. Laurie Benson/Danella Bevis

Hospital UpgradePremiumTender awarded for Albany and Meekatharra hospital upgrades

Construction tenders for upgrading hospitals in both the Great Southern and Mid West have been awarded to a single contractor.

Amy Towers

Dr Andy Robertson has urged parents to get their children vaccinated.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
WA NewsCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
COVID hero’s parting warning to parents: Get kids vaccinated

Western Australia’s top doctor says children and adults could die unless vaccination rates improve, warning about misinformation from the anti-vaccination lobby.

Joe Spagnolo

New data has revealed that Western Australia performed the worst in emergency department wait times for patients requiring urgent care within 30 minutes of their arrival.

HealthWA’s hospital wait times worst in Australia, report says

Shadow health minister Libby Mettam has slammed the report’s results as “shameful” after WA’s wait times were exposed as slower than any other State.

Brooke Rolfe

Emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital.

HealthCommentsPremiumWA doctors flee public hospitals as ED wait times soar

WA doctors are leaving the public hospital workforce in droves — more than anywhere else in the country — as emergency department wait times blow out and people forego seeing medical professionals due to cost.

Hannah Cross

Cwen Paget, Cassandra Felton and Constance Meyers are grateful for the Women’s Health Great Southern clinic.

bottleneck reliefPremiumSaving women from getting lost in the health system

As the Great Southern’s population continues to grow and pressure on the public health system mounts, a specialist clinic has emerged to save oft-forgotten regional patients from falling through the cracks. 

Melissa Sheil

The owners of the former Southern Sound store have been served a notice saying the building is unfit for human habitation.

Unfit for business PremiumYork Street building declared unfit for human habitation

A York Street business that has been closed for more than half a decade has been declared unfit for human habitation. 

Melissa Sheil

Four cases of meningococcal have been reported to health authorities. 

HealthCommentsHealth alert as four new meningococcal cases reported in WA

Four cases of meningococcal disease have been reported to WA health authorities. 

Hannah Cross

Professor Gina Ravenscroft with her team at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
HealthComments
The West Australian exclusive
Review ordered into WA medical research funding bias

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has ordered a review of all applications in a national medical research grant program after an open letter from WA researchers raised concerns over potential anti-WA bias. 

Hannah Cross

Zoonoses expert tells The Nightly what you need to know about Nipah virus.

HealthCommentsNipah virus: Could Australia be forced into lockdown again?

It’s far deadlier than COVID-19, so could Australia be plunged into another lockdown over a Nipah virus outbreak? Here is what the experts say.

Max Corstorphan

The Federal and State Governments have struck a landmark deal on hospital funding and the NDIS.

Federal PoliticsCommentsNational cabinet strikes $219b hospital funding deal

The Federal and State governments have struck a landmark deal on hospital funding and the NDIS that will lead to an extra $25 billion in Commonwealth money flowing into health systems.

Katina Curtis

The cost of living in a residential aged care facility in WA has ballooned to more than $119,000 a year, on average.

HealthCommentsREVEALED: Ballooning cost of residential aged care

The price tag has seen a major spike in the past two years alone.

Hannah Cross

Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the hubs would ‘improve how the broader healthcare system works’.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
WA NewsComments
The West Australian exclusive
First older adult health hub opening in Perth’s south

The first of three health hubs designed in part to help WA seniors stay out of the hospital system has started seeing patients ahead of its official opening in the coming months.

Oliver Lane

Medical intern Ainsley Somers (right) pictured with Alysha Stewart and her newborn baby Kali Poppy Stewart at Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, on Wednesday.

HealthCommentsMeet the new junior doctors choosing WA to work

A first-of-its-kind support service for junior doctors has improved workforce shortages at one of the State’s biggest hospital service providers. 

Claire Sadler

EYP Dental Health Project representatives at the awards ceremony.

HEALTH AWARDSPremiumVital rural dental project receives State award

The Central Great Southern Early Years Partnership Dental Health Project has won a State award for its work in health and wellbeing. 

Amy Towers

Leading WA medical researchers have pressed the panic button on a “catastrophic” rate of grants being rejected by the Federal Government’s primary funding body. 

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Public HealthCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Eastern states bias blamed for WA research funding collapse

Leading WA medical researchers have pressed the panic button on a “catastrophic” rate of grants being rejected by the Federal Government’s primary funding body.

John Flint

Sick child with red rash spots from measles.

HealthCommentsPopular supermarket identified as measles exposure site

A Bunnings store, pharmacy and golf club were also listed as exposure sites.

Hannah Cross

Symptoms of measles include fever, fatigue, runny nose, red eyes as well as a cough, which is followed several days later by a prominent red rash.

HealthCommentsExposure sites named as first measles case of year hits WA

Western Australia has recorded its first measles case of 2026, with the infection confirmed in a returned traveller from Bali. SEE THE LIST

Caitlin Vinci

Students from Perth Universiities started their regional health care placements at Albany Health Campus on Tuesday.

HEALTH PremiumMedical students begin placement at Albany Health Campus

Medical students from Perth universities started their placements at Albany Health Campus this week, marking the 21st cohort of students from the Rural Clinical School of WA beginning their careers in Albany.

Amy Towers

Respiratory paediatrician Dr James Gibbons gives Greyson Allis, 2, a check-up at Respiratory Care WA.

Young lungsPremiumPop-up respiratory clinic aims for early diagnosis

Respiratory Care WA are bringing their specialist children’s respiratory care pop-up clinic to Albany for the first time this week, with dozens of families expected to take advantage of it. 

Jacki Elezovich

Long-term exposure to air pollution could increase a person’s risk of developing motor neurone disease and accelerate its progression, according to new research. 

HealthCommentsResearch suggests links between air pollution and MND

Long-term exposure to air pollution could increase a person’s risk of developing motor neurone disease and accelerate its progression, according to new research. 

Hannah Cross