{"id":202398,"date":"2018-02-28T00:37:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T14:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=202398"},"modified":"2020-08-06T15:30:45","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T05:30:45","slug":"hospital-build-to-begin-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/02\/28\/hospital-build-to-begin-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospital Build To Begin In 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dentist Dr David Heitkonig chatted with Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service chairman Mike Horan after Tuesday’s announcement about Kingaroy Hospital’s building schedule<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 27, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Construction work on the new Kingaroy Hospital is likely to begin in either January or February next year.<\/p>\n

And if all goes to plan, the new facility will begin operating in 2021.<\/p>\n

Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) chairman Mike Horan explained the schedule at a morning tea held at Kingaroy Hospital’s new Matron Farr building on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Board alternates its meetings between Toowoomba and the different areas the DDHHS covers; this time it was the South Burnett’s turn.<\/p>\n

Mr Horan and the Board spent Monday visiting Murgon and Wondai hospitals and came to Kingaroy on Tuesday to look over the new Matron Farr building.<\/p>\n

Since their last visit, $4 million has been spent on Kingaroy’s health facilities, including upgrading the hospital’s dentistry services from four chairs to 10, and the renal unit from 18 chairs to 24.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the biggest change has been the commitment from the State Government to spend $62.5 million upgrading the hospital, including $8 million this year.<\/p>\n

Mr Horan said design work for the upgrade had begun, and he expected this would be completed by July or August.<\/p>\n

After this, the work to clear the footprint for the new hospital would be put out to tender.<\/p>\n

He believed a successful tenderer would be chosen by the end of the year, with work starting in January or February, 2019.<\/p>\n

“The DDHHS has been in existence for five years, and I expect we’ll see the new hospital completed by the eighth year,” he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Horan noted that last financial year the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) delivered clinical services to 280,000 people via 31 health facilities.<\/p>\n

They are also one of the largest employers in the 90,000 sq km area they cover, employing more than 5000 people and managing an annual budget of more than $700 million.<\/p>\n

The DDHHS is also rated as a Tier 1 health service by Queensland Health, one of only three of the State’s 16 health services to achieve the highest grading.<\/p>\n

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