Add Category
Construction on the new $1.2 billion Bundaberg Hospital will start this year, but there are questions over the level of health care it will provide.
Key points:
- Details revealed on the construction timeline for the new Bundaberg Hospital
- Concerns the current healthcare crisis has been ignored in the state budget
- Mental health beds increased on the Fraser Coast
The funding announcement was made in Tuesday's state budget as part of the government's major investment into health.
Bundaberg MP Tom Smith said the community needed and deserved the hospital.
The hospital will be built on a 60-hectare parcel of land about 5 kilometres south of the Bundaberg central business district.
Mr Smith said the hospital would include more than 120 beds, with work on a service road to start this year.
Completion is forecast by the end of 2027.
Health crisis failure
Hervey Bay GP and Australian Medical Association vice-president Nick Yim welcomed the announcement but said the government failed to address an immediate shortage of hospital beds and staff across the region.
"2027, that's five years away," Dr Yim said.
"Bundaberg as a community, they need doctors and beds now."
He said there was population growth in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay and a deficit of beds.
Mr Smith addressed questions over the correct definition or category of the hospital and said it while it was not a level five hospital, it would be "able to provide level five services".
"Don't worry about the technical terminology, just know that we've got the best hospital and it's the best outcome for our community."
More for mental health
Budget documents show $39.6 million for mental health services in the Wide Bay region, including a new 22-bed acute inpatient unit at Hervey Bay Hospital.
An existing inpatient unit at Maryborough Hospital will also be transformed into a refurbished 10-bed sub-acute specialist unit.
Dr Yim said it was a good step for mental health care, but he believed there needed to be more focus on getting specialist staff to region.
"We need the psychiatrists, we need the psychologists, we need the counsellors [and] we also need the nurses to also look after the patients," he said.
The investment will more than double the current bed capacity for mental health patients across the two hospitals.
The inpatient units are scheduled for completion in mid-2023.