Community dismayed with beloved cafe at Sydney Children’s Hospital set to close

by GRACE JOHNSON

For over two decades, Sunny’s Cafe at the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick has been a source of comfort and respite for medical staff and the families of sick children.

But now, the beloved cafe is facing closure with a phased withdrawal of their lease, leaving staff with an uncertain future.

Located inside the High Street entrance of the hospital, the cafe is run by the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF), who made an announcement in the staff intranet that they were considering closing the cafe.

The reason for the closure is unknown, but the foundation has said that running the cafe is no longer financially viable – it will likely be replaced with a commercial entity.

The loss would be a devastating blow not only to staff, but to all the hospital workers and visitors that rely on the cafe as a place to relax and recharge in an otherwise stressful environment.

“A monumental loss to us all” 

On February 6, the SCHF made an announcement to all hospital staff in the intranet that they were considering the phased closure of the cafe by the end of the financial year.

The impersonal announcement came as a shock to the cafe, being the first time staff heard about the possibility of closure.

Sari Jurie, who has worked at the hospital for almost a decade, sent an email, which was set up during the consultation period, urging the foundation to reconsider closing the cafe.

SCHF set up a generic inbox after they began receiving too many emails, presumably from families and staff that go to Sunny’s.

“To close Sunny’s Café will not only be a monumental loss to us all, but it will say a lot about the service not offered at Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick,” she wrote.

“As a member of staff here for nearly ten years, I can attest that Sunny’s Café has been a hub for patients, families, and all staff,” she continued. “A safe space that are welcoming to all to visit.”

In response, the SCHF said, “We are really proud that Sunny’s has played such an important role in the SCHF community over the past 20 years and this has been a really difficult decision for us.”

Though the foundation cannot decide to shut the cafe, they are withdrawing their lease, leaving the fate of the cafe to future operators.

In the email, SCHF continued, “We understand you’d like SCHF to continue running the café. We’d love to be able too [sic] but the reality is that SCHF is very good at fundraising, less so at operating a café.”

“Over the past 4 years SCHF has raised over a quarter of a billion dollars for the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, which has funded clinical care, research, patient experience, new buildings and equipment in the Network.”

“The reality is that very little of this fundraising revenue comes from the cafe.”

The email went on to say that the foundation is actually having to divert resources from fundraising to keep the cafe operational with rising food and staff costs.

But the cafe’s last financial statement reportedly showed over a million dollars in profits, despite trying to keep food costs as affordable as possible for patrons.

The foundation declined to comment in response to City Hub inquiries.

Respite for “frequent fliers”  

Lovers of Sunny’s Cafe have maintained that its significance to the community cannot be quantified.

Far from the cold offerings of packages sandwiches and commercial muffins, Sunny’s offers hot meals made in-kitchen in addition to regular items like burgers.

Specials change daily and include comfort foods like Malaysian laksa, Thai curries, Japanese katsu chicken and a range of Indian dishes, catering to the multicultural community of the hospital.

Sari from the hospital told City Hub that the cafe’s value cannot be quantified.

“Sunny’s gives families a place they can go where they can have respite from their appointments,” she said.

“It’s a place where they can relax, and enjoy their food and coffee in a welcoming space.”

The location on the ground floor of the hospital is especially important for patients in wheelchairs or attached to intravenous (IV) poles, or who have had medical infusions or chemotherapy. Such patients might not be able to leave the grounds, and their families and visitors are often in need of a quick bite to eat.

Staff at Sunny’s have built strong relationships with hospital workers and families alike – frontline staff Louise, Ekkie and Irene know all the regulars’ orders by heart.

Diana Mailata has been a regular at Sunny’s Cafe since her son was born at the Royal Women’s Hospital next door.

A “frequent flier” (a term used jokingly between hospital regulars), Diana has been going to Sunny’s since 2016, when her son Harvey was born 26 weeks premature and diagnosed with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita.

Arthrogryposis means a child has been born with joint contractures, meaning they cannot move their joints much and may even be stuck in one position.

“This is the kind of place where you go to take your mind off things,” she told City Hub, “when there’s appointment after appointment, when you’re getting medical jargon thrown at you and long waiting times, here is where you can let your brain rest for a second.”

“The staff at the cafe are always smiling and bubbly, there’s a lot of laughter and joy here, no matter what’s going on in your life or with your child,” she continued. “So many parents are grateful to have that cafe there.”

“It’s not going to be the same without it.”

What’s next for Sunny’s 

Now that the foundation says profits from Sunny’s aren’t enough to justify continuing to run the cafe, the SCHF will begin the phased withdrawal of their retail lease over the next four months.

This is supposedly to give the hospital enough time to source a new cafe operator.

In their initial correspondences, the foundation said they were “considering” the phased withdrawal of their lease and “consulting” with their staff in the interim about the “proposed change”.

But City Hub can confirm that staff had already been offered redundancies, even during the consultation period. Clearly, the foundation had already made up their mind about the fate of Sunny’s.

In an email to Sari, the foundation said Sunny’s will move to a “light service model” in March, providing sandwiches, salads, snacks, and coffee.

“Now the decision has been made, the Network will seek expressions of interest from operators as well as seek extended hours of operation to improve the offerings,” the email said.

Since then, Sari has begun a petition on change.org with the goal of 10,000 signatures before May.

The foundation does great work, she said, but she’s still hoping the petition will persuade them to consider keeping the cafe open, for the good of everyone at the hospital.