Maranoa Mayor Cr Robert Loughnan has warmly welcomed a pledge by the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to commit $70 million toward a rebuild of the Roma Hospital.
“This is the most significant funding announcement for an infrastructure project in the Maranoa in over fifty years,” Cr Loughnan said.
“After advocating for this project for many years, I absolutely applaud this move to create a completely modern facility. It will have the ability to attract and retain health professionals and doctors in south west Queensland.”
The mayor publicly thanked the Premier and the government, and in particular the strong understanding demonstrated by the Minister for Health Cameron Dick.
“For the Minister for Health to recommend funding a project of this magnitude to replace an ageing facility is a great gesture and one that will be appreciated by all of our residents and by the broader population of southwest Queensland.
“I am delighted to see this government demonstrating such a strong commitment to good asset management principles over politics.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said initial planning for the new hospital indicated an increase in capacity from 3000 to 3500 patients per year at a cost of around $70 million.
“It’s expected that the project will deliver more than 250 jobs to the region over the construction period,” she said.
Community consultation would shortly kick off, to ensure the right design was chosen, according to the Premier.
“The South West Hospital and Health Service will then use the feedback from the consultation process to help finalise designs and the costing for the new hospital.
“Details of the consultation times, dates and locations will be provided locally in the coming weeks.’’
Cr Loughnan also congratulated the South West Hospital and Health board, led by Cr Lindsay Godfrey.
“The board put in place such a persuasive case for this rebuild, which will remove a major structural liability off its books and replace it with something that will provide the Maranoa and the broader catchment with a health hub for the next 50 years,”Cr Loughnan said.
Cr Loughnan said he initially believed a complete rebuild would be in the order of $$60 million – $80 million.
“I feel the figure announced today certainly represents a total rebuild rather than another partial fix,” he said.
“Aside from the health outcomes, the construction jobs associated with this rebuild will reinvigorate our economy due the the slowing of LNG activities.”
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said parts of the hospital were over 70 years old with a number of maintenance issues.
“We have decided a new build is the most cost-effective option for the future of the hospital,” he said.