September 25, 2018
The site of the current Baillie Henderson mental health service in Toowoomba North has been identified as the preferred location for a new Toowoomba Hospital.
The State Government announced on Tuesday an extra $6 million would be allocated to develop a detailed master plan for the site.
This is on top of the $3 million already invested in the project.
“Toowoomba is a growing city and a key challenge is ensuring that infrastructure and services are keeping pace with this growth,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“The doctors, nurses and healthcare staff at Toowoomba Hospital do a tremendous job caring for their community but we need to do the planning for a new hospital now so we’re ready to meet the community’s healthcare needs into the future.
“The detailed design, which is expected to be developed over the next 18 months, will include a full master plan of the site.”
Darling Downs Hospital and Health Board chairman Mike Horan said the announcement was tremendous news.
“On behalf of the Board, the Darling Downs Health Executive management team, and all our staff, I would like to thank the Premier and Minister for this announcement today,” Mr Horan said.
“Having a site that is 75ha, or around 180 acres in size, directly adjacent to the Second Toowoomba Range Crossing, provides endless opportunities for a master-planned facility, which we envisage as not just a hospital, but as a health precinct to rival anything in the world.
“In the meantime I would like to say a special thank you to our staff at Toowoomba Hospital.
“We are operating at capacity almost all the time, and the growth within our region means there is ever increasing demand for our services as the principal referral hospital for the Darling Downs, Southern Downs, inner Western Downs and South Burnett.
“In the face of this our staff continue to perform at levels which help to maintain our position as one of the best performing health services in the state, and that is something we are very proud of.”
