Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service – the body responsible for all South Burnett hospitals – received a $46 million boost in this week’s State Budget.
Treasurer Jackie Trad said the total budget for Darling Downs Health for 2019-20 would be $847.3 million, up $46.2 million over 2018-19.
Key priorities for the health service over the next 12 months will be:
- The continued redevelopment of the Kingaroy Hospital ($23.8 million to be spent in 2019-20),
- Planning for a new Toowoomba Hospital to meet the continued increase in demand,
- Continuation of the HealthPathways project, in conjunction with the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network, to improve co-ordination of care for health consumers
- Creation of a digital strategy to assist with the future transformation to digital hospitals to streamline service delivery, and
- Establishment of a clinical decision unit and a co-ordination hub at Toowoomba Hospital to streamline patient flow management.
Queensland Health’s total budget for 2019-20 is $19.233 billion.
This includes an operating budget of $18.455 billion, up $1.137 billion from last year.
The Budget includes $14 million to support the Queensland Emergency Helicopter Network.
