Advance Cairns wants funds to push for new acute services building at Cairns Hospital

Funding for the marine precinct and Far North roads is important - but for one Cairns peak body, the number one state budget priority is addressing a growing crisis at Cairns Hospital.

ADVANCE Cairns is calling on the state government to provide money for a business case on building a new 300-bed acute clinical services building next to the Cairns Health and Innovation precinct.

Advance Cairns executive chairman Nick Trompf said he hoped Tuesday’s state budget would deliver on health priorities for the Far North.

He said average number of daily presentations in the emergency department last year was 236 and recently a record 314 patients presented.

“So we’ve got a facility that is under enormous stress, and that stress is increasing with the return of tourism,” Mr Trompf said.

“What’s needed urgently is extra beds - 100 beds are needed soon to address that shortage, so the immediate focus is more beds.”

He wants the state government to build the acute clinical services building next to the $50m JCU Health and Innovation Precinct, which is expected to free up space at the hospital.

Advance Cairns executive chairman Nick Trompf says addressing a crisis at Cairns Hospital is the number one priority for the region ahead of the state government budget on June 21. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Give us beds - they’re badly needed now, and get cracking on the new building on the innovation side, because you’ve got to free up space in the existing building,” Mr Trompf said.

He said while the detailed business case on the Innovation Centre would not be completed before the budget, Advance Cairns wanted to see money put into forward estimates for it.

“The business case is under way, the journey has very much begun, but given the pressures that are acute in the hospital today, we will be arguing that the journey needs to accelerate,” Mr Trompf said.

He said the hospital supported an estimated 259,000 people and in 2019-20 there were 71,690 presentations to the emergency department, with an average of 236 patients presenting daily in 2021.

Increased demand for specialist services and elective surgery placed further strain on the hospital, Mr Trompf said.

Ambulance ramping at Cairns Hospital is not uncommon with an emergency department bursting at the seams. PICTURE: STEWART McLEAN

He said a during recent meeting at the hospital with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Health Minister Yvette D’Ath “it was very obvious to us that they are fully aware of the challenges that Cairns hospital faces”.

“Cairns Hospital has been what used to be called code yellow, and is now tier 3, every day since April and as we move into the peak tourism season, it will be in tier three every day – it means elective surgery has to be delayed, the model in normal processes is changed and it has a real knock on effect,” Mr Trompf said.

“We respect there’s pressures on the health system right across the state – but Cairns is top of the pile in terms of the stresses that are there.”

Originally published as Advance Cairns wants funds to push for new acute services building at Cairns Hospital