QLD budget lacks funding detail for new Moranbah Hospital

Moranbah desperately needs a new hospital, but this week’s budget pledge of support is big on promise and short on detail. Some Central Queensland leaders are sceptical the project will ever come off.

Leaders across Central Queensland are concerned the government’s support for a new Moranbah Hospital lacks sufficient funding detail to be credible.

The Queensland Government announced it would fund the desperately needed health facility for the Bowen Basin coal hub in its budget on Tuesday, part of a larger $943.5m spend on rural and remote hospitals.

But the budget papers lack basic details about the funding, including how much of the $943.5m will go towards Moranbah.

Forward estimates for the build are also entirely absent from the document.

The government's support for the new Moranbah Hospital is outlined on Pg 157 of the Budget Measures. There is no clear figure presented for the hospital and forward estimates are absent. Source: Queensland Government

Sources have told this publication $54m has been allocated to the build.

Burdekin MP Dale Last expressed scepticism $54m would be sufficient.

“I would be highly sceptical of that figure,” he said.

“Particularly if they are going to construct a hospital to meet future growth in that community and that’s what they should be doing.

“Hospitals are prohibitively expensive to build and given the rising cost of materials and construction, you would have to think it is in that ballpark of $100m plus.”

Burdekin MP Dale Last. Picture: Evan Morgan

A Queensland Health spokesman said the specific allocation of funding to the new Moranbah Hospital would depend on the outcomes of necessary upcoming design development work as well as the future tender process.

“Through the program, Moranbah Hospital will be managed and delivered to ensure it provides for the healthcare needs of the community while representing value for taxpayers,” the spokesman said.

An artist's impression of the new Moranbah Hospital. Picture: Contributed

Mr Last said the absence of a specific allocation could prolong the project into the “never never”.

“The fact they (Queensland Health) have come back like this confirms this was a last minute decision to appease the Moranbah community off the back of their royalties grab and that is a disgrace.

“Show us the money and stop treating Moranbah residents like mushrooms.”

Moranbah, with a population base of 9000, is the heart of Queensland’s coal mining industry and serves as a service centre for the entire Bowen Basin but its current 12-bed hospital is rundown after years of service.

Patient Jennifer Malcolm was admitted to the hospital in April 2021 and expressed shock at the dilapidated state of the facility.

While she felt she received one of the better rooms, it still had exposed openings in the walls, visible termite damage and a cracked ceiling around the air conditioner which left her thinking it could have fallen at any time.

Structural damage photographed by a patient at the Moranbah Hospital on April 27, 2021.

The new hospital will likely be built off Mills Ave on the existing grounds and all services will be incorporated within a single footprint, Mackay HHS has stated.

The new facility will provide expanded emergency department treatment spaces and incorporate enhanced outpatient, allied health, community health and community mental health spaces.

Other potential improvements could include a new helipad to reduce reliance on Queensland Ambulance Service and make inter-hospital transfers more efficient, an airlock entrance providing enhanced staff and patient safety, particularly after hours as it allows staff to assess the patient prior to them entering the facility, and medical imaging expansion to include CT.

Moranbah Hospital and Community Health Centre. Moranbah Hospital. Picture: Tara Miko

The hospital will also improve the capacity of health workers to respond to emergency situations, including mine disasters such as the shocking 2020 Grosvenor Mine blast that left five workers on the edge of death.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane is sceptical the government’s move to soak up more money from mining companies will result in more dollars flow back into the regions.

“Regional Queensland is once again being short-changed,” he said.

“It’s just smoke and mirrors to say the extra taxes raised from royalties will be going into regional projects like the Moranbah Hospital upgrade.

“If you look at the budget papers, there is no money allocated to upgrade the hospital until at least 2025-26.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane. Picture: Dan Peled

“That’s at least three years away, yet resources companies will start paying these exorbitant new royalty taxes from next week.

“Where is this royalty money going?

“I can tell you where.

“The extra taxes raised will be going back into Southeast Queensland to pay for new infrastructure and services and to start preparing for the Olympics.”

Whitsunday MP Amanda Camm argued an absence of detail was widespread in the budget.

“Even down to some of the youth justice programs that are about combating disengaged youth and combating early intervention to youth crime, which is a major issue across all of the North Queensland communities, those line items are all blank,” she said.

“All zero zero zero.

An artist's impression of the new Moranbah Hospital. Picture: Contributed

“I don’t know how you can print budget statements, budget outlook strategy, any particular line item where there has been an announcement and commitment, and there’s a zero allocated next to it.”

Isaac Mayor Anne Baker has been advocating for the hospital for years and says it will give more certainty and security to workers across her massive region.

“It provides security and confidence to our community, that a fit-for-purpose facility is going to be available to them,” she said.

“I feel like for a very long time we have been advocating and our region has punched well above our weight for an extra amount of time, if you talk about the royalties we have delivered.”

Originally published as QLD budget lacks funding detail for new Moranbah Hospital