RCH was located next to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital before it was demolished and the land was used to build the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS).

Mary McConnel, a mother of six and grandmother, grew concerned at the lack of primary care for children in Brisbane.

[1] On 11 March 1878, the Hospital for Sick Children opened in rented premises in Leichhardt Street Spring Hill, on the site of the present St Paul's Presbyterian Church.

The hospital quickly outgrew its 15-bed premises, and was moved to a larger building in Herston on land provided by the Queensland Government.

[5] In November 2016, the Queensland State Government announced the creation of the Herston Quarter Priority Development Area[6] to restore and redevelop the hospital site.