Rockhampton Hospital ED upgrade plans almost complete after three months

Plans for upgrading Rockhampton Hospital’s “war zone” Emergency Department are nearing completion three months after the Premier said he was “throwing everything” at the crisis.

Social media pictures of Queensland Premier David Crisafulli during his visit to North Queensland this week - Premier pictured visiting Rockhampton Hospital Picture facebook

Plans for upgrading Rockhampton Hospital’s “war zone” Emergency Department are nearing completion three months after Premier David Crisafulli said he was “throwing everything” at the crisis.

A spokesman for health Minister Tim Nicholls said on Tuesday, February 18 the much-anticipated ED upgrade was included in a master plan for the Rockhampton Hospital which was in its final stages.

He said details on what the upgrade involved and its costings were expected to be part of the Queensland Budget handed down in June.

Mr Crisafulli sent the Health Minister to Rockhampton in November, 2024 to find out what was needed to fix the outdated and cramped facility after it was labelled a “war zone” by LNP shadow health spokeswoman Ros Bates during the election campaign.

The Emergency Department at Rockhampton hospital in Rockhampton, Queensland, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

Labor responded to that a week later by pledging $50m to double the size of the ED from 14 to 28 spaces if elected.

Mr Nicholl’s spokesman said that type of funding announcement was typical of “Labor’s reckless election promises”.

He said an audit had revealed the State’s Hospital Capacity Expansion Program had blown out from a $9.785 billion program to $16 billion under Labor’s control.

“As a general observation, the Labor Party’s track record in health, which has been exposed time and time again, was to make elaborate promises that were incapable of delivery,” he said.

“Overcoming 3,500 days of inertia entrenched under Labor was never going to be a ‘wave a magic wand’ solution.”

He said the Health Minister was addressing the issues required to “provide easier and better access to health services throughout the state” and to ensure commitments can be delivered.

Labor Opposition health spokesman Mark Bailey visited Rockhampton Hospital last week to push for the urgent ED upgrade.

He said it was the “key priority in the health sector in Rockhampton”.

“That’s the feedback from practitioners in the health sector,” he said.

“I’m calling on David Crisafulli and (Rockhampton MP) Donna Kirkland to get the funding together and get the upgrade done because this hospital, this community deserves it.

“It would have happened under Labor. It needs to happen with the new government.”

RAMPING: A family has spoken about a 15 hour wait time in Rockhampton Base Hospital's Emergency Department on Monday.

The Health Minister’s spokesman said “the gap between Labor’s promises and the budget to fulfil them could be measured in billions of dollars”.

He said saving the hospital expansion program was a top priority of the Crisafulli Government and included expanding 11 existing hospitals as well as building three new hospitals and the Queensland Cancer Centre.

He said more space for the Rockhampton ED would be freed up the coming months when a new fracture/orthopaedic clinic opened.

Health Infrastructure Queensland is delivering the clinic as a separate structure to the ED with completion expected late March 2025.

The spokesman said orthopaedics will continue to operate as normal during construction with a temporary clinic located behind the ED.

The main structure, floor, wall framing and roof installation has been completed with building services, windows and the sheeting of internal partitions now commenced.

Once the build is complete, the orthopaedics clinic will move into the new space with delivery of services expected in April, 2025.

Originally published as Rockhampton Hospital ED upgrade plans almost complete after three months