Gold Coast development: Mental Health Hospital to be built next to Coomera shopping centre

Plans for a new hospital which will inject more than $70m in the economy have been unveiled, with the complex to be built next to one of the Gold Coast’s biggest shopping centres. DETAILS

Coomera will be at the epicentre of the Gold Coast’s multibillion-dollar health revolution, with three hospitals now planned for neighbouring sites.

Private developers and the state government are fast-tracking plans to transform the land around the Coomera Town Centre shopping complex into a multibillion-dollar health precinct.

The latest is Northwest Healthcare, which has lodged plans with the Gold Coast City Council for a dedicated mental health hospital on Foxwell Rd. The three-storey Aurora hospital will have 60 beds and is the second stage of the health precinct, which will become one of the key planks of the rapidly growing suburb’s future.

An economics report filed with the council reveals the project will inject $30m into the economy during the 12-month construction period, and another $70m once active.

“Once complete, the proposed development will support a range of ongoing investment and employment activities related to the various health and medical services operations onsite,” the report reads.

“This onsite economic and employment activity supports offsite economic activity and employment opportunities in the related sectors, such as construction, manufacturing, and transport and logistics.

“The scale of proposed health and medical services onsite is expected to support a total of 308 full-time jobs, which is expected to generate an overall economic impact of $69.8m per annum in economic output, $43.0m per annum in gross value add and $32.3m per annum in income based on the combined direct and indirect impacts (attributed to economic flow on effects).”

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It will be built on a site neighbouring the proposed Gold Coast public hospital, which the state government plans to build in the late-2020s and near the $1bn Foxwell health precinct pitched by joint venture partners Keylin and Kinstone Group.

The latter project will feature a $700m, 400-bed, 60,000sq m, state-of-the-art hospital, which will be built as part of the masterplan.

The health sector is now the city’s biggest non-tourism industry, generating more than $3bn annually.

According to documents lodged with council, the ­mental hospital:

■ Will not allow visitors to patients within the first week of their stay, with visiting hours restricted to 2pm-4pm each day. Just 10 visitors will be allowed inside the facility at any time.

■ It will have a maximum of 30 staff, which will be split between two 12-hour shifts which will either begin or end at 6am or 6pm.

“The proposed mental health hospital has patients that, on average, have a length of stay of 21 days, rather than overnight or weekly, given the specialised nature of the (facility),” the report reads.

“It is anticipated that the hospital will have between two and three patients in and out each day.

“The hospital has a strict policy of no driving, meaning all patients are dropped off/picked up via a private car, uber, taxi or public transport.”

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Originally published as Gold Coast development: Mental Health Hospital to be built next to Coomera shopping centre