Kingaroy Hospital: Premier opens new $92.5 million dollar facility on ‘historic day’ for region
More than 100 years after Kingaroy’s first hospital opened, the Premier has joined local leaders and health professionals to announce the official opening of the town’s brand new state-of-the-art hospital. Here’s what it will bring to the community:
South Burnett
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After more than 100 years since the first Kingaroy Hospital opened, the town has stepped into a new age of hi-tech medical care with a brand new $92.5 million facility.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk arrived in Kingaroy for the official opening on Tuesday, saying it was a “historic day” as Kingaroy entered a new era of healthcare that was previously only available by travelling to a city.
This includes a new birthing suite, expanded emergency department and renal dialysis, a new cardiac rehabilitation service, and a new cancer treatment service.
“For the first time, Kingaroy Hospital now includes a state of the art CT Scanner, saving patients a four-hour round trip to Toowoomba,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Darling Downs Health Board chairman Mike Horan told the South Burnett Times the past two years has been especially difficult for healthcare workers.
He said “quietly courageous” staffers were even working double shifts to keep the hospitals running as nearly 250 DDH medical professionals undergo Covid quarantine.
Mr Horan said the hospital would play a key role in attracting and keeping more doctors and nurses, who would be met with a modern facility and opportunities to learn and grow in their profession.
“It’s always been difficult to get staff to come to rural areas, particularly in the past two years since the commencement of Covid and the lack of people coming in from overseas,” he said.
“But right here in the South Burnett we’ve got one of the best facilities in Australia and we can say to staff this is a great place to come work.”
Mr Horan said the new hospital also represented a step forward for mental health service in the South Burnett region, which has the highest rate of suicide in Queensland.
But this will not extend to severe cases.
“This hospital does have facilities within it for people who come to the emergency department to be assessed, and if necessary, to stay here for a short time,” he said.
“But if the illness is serious, then they will be transferred to a facility within the Toowoomba Hospital where there are psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health nurses.”
Mr Horan said through the hospital's telehealth capability, Kingaroy’s trained mental health workers could easily access specialist advice from outside the region.
But there are lingering concerns over the project, with the lack of dedicated mental health beds at the facility a major contention.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington attended the opening and expressed disappointment there was no announcement of further mental health services, saying the need had been raised repeatedly over the past 10 years.
“It's wonderful to have a beautiful new building, but we need improved services within the building,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“Not only do we need a safe room, but we need dedicated mental health beds.
“We need more dedicated staff that are trained in mental health services.”
She also raised concerns over repeated leaks in the hospital roofing that caused the hospital to close more than half its beds last year and damaged the new CT scanner.
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