$137.4m for Territory hospital upgrades revealed in 2021-22 NT budget
A number of major upgrades at hospitals and healthcare centres around the Territory will go ahead as more money is also ploughed into the COVID-19 response.
Northern Territory
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MORE money has been tipped into the Territory’s COVID-19 response as the Chief Minister tries to keep the post-pandemic recovery on track.
Aside from major upgrades to the Royal Darwin and Alice Springs hospitals, budget documents show the NT will be paid $274m in the 2021-22 financial year to manage the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
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Revealing a $40m spend on coronavirus-related measures yesterday, Mr Gunner said his priorities were to keep the virus at bay, recover the economy and rebuild the Territory’s shattered finances.
Budget documents show $15m will be spent over the next year on “medical and support staff at quarantine facilities, screening at airports and rail terminals, pandemic clinics and hotlines, and the vaccine rollout”.
Another $20m would be spent on the vaccine rollout and “interim funding” for the pandemic.
“While things are looking good, we take nothing for granted,” Mr Gunner said in his speech yesterday.
“We have beaten the virus so far by always being prepared,” he said.
Mr Gunner said while the threat was “receding”, he was worried
Health is the largest government department by employee numbers, with its $2.1b budget allowing for some 7548 full time workers.
The NT government also will carry out $137.4m in upgrades to health infrastructure.
More than a third, nearly $50m, will go to the Royal Darwin Hospital, including $30m to continue construction of a new mental health inpatient unit expansion.
Another $43m will go toward upgrades of the Alice Springs Hospital, including for a hybrid operating theatre, multistorey carpark and $25.7m for a new ambulatory care centre.
In his budget speech, Mr Gunner said post-pandemic recovery was only ensured by keeping COVID-19 at bay.
“We need to keep protecting the Territory from this virus, for as long as it remains a threat,” he said.
“The threat is now receding, but the threat is still there, which is why the Territory’s frontline workers are still putting in the hours every day to keep us safe.”
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