Hervey Bay hospital’s $40m expansion sparks debate

The timeline for a promised extension of Hervey Bay’s under-pressure hospital has sparked seething attacks from both sides of the political fence.

Queensland’s Treasurer has talked up funding at Hervey Bay’s busy hospital but the pledge hasn’t come without criticism.

As Cameron Dick celebrated the Palaszczuk Government’s recent $40m budget announcement for a hospital extension and the ongoing construction of the long-awaited mental health unit during his visit to Hervey Bay on Friday, Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates accused him of “peddling false hope”.

She said an expansion, which wouldn’t take place until at least 2025, wasn’t helpful when the hospital was in crisis “right now” with ambulance ramping at an all-time high of 42% and emergency wait times (almost half of patients not seen on time) were “worse than any Brisbane Public Hospital”.

“Hervey Bay residents need new beds now,” she said in a statement

“The incredibly hardworking doctors and nurses of Hervey Bay Hospital need new beds now.

“There’s no line item in his budget for the Hervey Bay Hospital.

“The Treasurer is pedalling false hope to the people of Hervey Bay. You can’t trust him.

“As a registered nurse of 40 years and a former hospital administrator I can safely say that (Health Minister) Yvette D’Ath and Cameron Dick have absolutely no credibility in health. Mr Dick was the architect of the Queensland Health Crisis.”

Speaking to the Chronicle at an event in Hervey Bay on Friday afternoon, Hervey Bay MP Adrian Tantari lashed the comments.

“I’d like to challenge Ros Bates to say something positive about the Hervey Bay Hospital,” Mr Tantari said.

He said the expansion to the hospital will commence in 2023 once the appropriate design work is done, and has been advised the actual expansion will be complete and commissioned in 2024.

He also said this year’s state budget brought another $40m to Hervey Bay to improve services, highlighting the hospital’s new emergency department which was commissioned in 2018.

“We’ve had an ambulance station that was commissioned in 2020, we’re about to get a new mental hub that’s commissioned in 2023, we’re going to get this expansion commissioned in 2024, that’s hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth in investment into the area,” he said.

“I’m getting tired as a local member of people like Ros Bates driving up the Bruce Highway and telling the people of Hervey Bay how bad their hospital service is here.

“I know as a local member I get phone calls in my office everyday saying the great work that doctors and nurses and the ambos are doing there … and it’s positive.

“Yes, we do get adverse outcomes but can Ros Bates really tell me that she’s going to put in a system that’s 100% positive outcomes … I’m challenging her and David Crisafulli to stand up and tell the people of Hervey Bay that they’re going to give them a health system that gives them 100% positive outcomes.

“The last time they were in government, they slashed our nurses, they slashed our doctors … they crippled our health services in Hervey Bay.”

While Mr Tantari said he could not comment on the hospital ramping figures, which Ms Bates indicated was at 42%, Mr Tantari said the last figures he was shown indicated a decline in ramping at the hospital.

Earlier, Mr Dick said the expansion would provide around 35 additional beds, including 10 more intensive care beds, and a new rooftop helipad.

“We’re also continuing development of the hospital’s new 22-bed acute mental health inpatient unit, with $17 million allocated in this year’s budget towards the facility,” he said

“The unit will enable us to transition the existing mental health inpatient unit at Maryborough Hospital to a 10-bed subacute specialist unit for older people.

“This increase and repositioning of services will better serve the needs of the community and will lead to improved health outcomes.

“Together these two projects at Hervey Bay Hospital will support 215 construction jobs, while the new mental health inpatient unit will create 30 full-time health jobs locally,” he said.

Ms D’Ath said in the same statement the Wide Bay would also benefit from a new 10-year, $334 million deal between the Queensland Government and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).