$11m cash splash for mental health and outpatient services
The Labor Government has committed funds to health services in Mackay and Proserpine.
Whitsunday
Don't miss out on the headlines from Whitsunday. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IMPROVEMENTS to mental health facilities and outpatient care in Mackay and Proserpine are among Labor's latest election commitments.
The $11 million pledge includes a $6 million boost to refurbish Mackay's community mental health service and $5 million to upgrade Proserpine Hospital's Acute Primary Care Clinic.
The upgrades were also flagged to support 31 local construction jobs across Mackay and the Whitsundays.
The commitment joins a raft of health promises from the Labor Government including $6 million to establish kidney dialysis services at Proserpine and Clermont and $2.7 million to plan for a major expansion of the Mackay Base Hospital and redevelopments of the Bowen and Moranbah hospitals.
Labor's Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert said upgrades to Mackay's community mental health service on Nelson St would improve safety and increase privacy for patients.
"The upgrade will include specially designed rooms suited to community mental health care like group therapy rooms," she said.
"This will deliver better care to more people in the community who would otherwise have to be admitted to hospital, taking pressure off our busy Mackay Base Hospital.
More stories
Luxury hotel in the pipeline for Port of Airlie
'I'll be hanging your kids on your clothesline': Vile threat
Foul-mouthed father unleashes tirade on Whitsunday students
"This much needed upgrade will support 17 construction jobs in Mackay, which will also provide a boost for other local businesses and jobs as our community recovers from the impact of COVID-19."
Labor's Whitsunday candidate Angie Kelly said the upgrades at Proserpine would create 14 jobs in the town while supporting residents' health.
If re-elected, the Labor government has also committed to more jobs in the Mackay health sector including 46 doctors, 166 nurses and midwives and 45 health professionals.
MAPPED: Every SEQ croc sighting as fisherman shares shock encounter
A fisherman who says he’s seen the “humanised” campground croc rangers are searching for has spoken out as an expert explains why the “vagrant” reptile’s future is likely bleak and the history of recent southern sightings is revealed.
Four dead in four years: Inside notorious Qld jail
Following the latest death in custody at a Queensland jail, we look back at others who have died there in just a few years and the 20-year history of the grey cellblocks known for housing some of the state’s most high-profile prisoners.