{"id":315867,"date":"2022-04-05T23:23:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T13:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=315867"},"modified":"2022-04-06T20:31:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T10:31:28","slug":"kingaroys-hospital-officially-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/04\/05\/kingaroys-hospital-officially-opens\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingaroy’s Hospital Officially Opens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with her father, Henry, at the hospital opening on Tuesday … Henry Palaszczuk used to be a frequent visitor to Kingaroy when he was Primary Industries Minister in the Beattie government two decades ago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 5, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s been about 23,200 outpatients visits and 17,500 emergency department presentations already … but Kingaroy’s new $92.5 million hospital was finally officially opened on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Health Minister Yvette D’Ath did the honours, unveiling a plaque which will be affixed to the building.<\/p>\n

Darling Downs\u00a0Hospital and\u00a0Health Board chair Mike Horan said there had also been about 300 births – including one\u00a0on Day 1 as the staff were transitioning into the new building – and 9000 admissions since the first stage of the new building opened.<\/p>\n

The hospital was built in two stages, with the first section – including Emergency – opening in December 2020, just 17 months after the sod-turning ceremony.<\/p>\n

For more than 12 months staff were working surrounded by a construction site.<\/p>\n

The second section, built on the foundations of the old “boomerang” building, was only recently completed and provides a new, main entrance to the hospital.<\/p>\n

Mr Horan said the new hospital had been “delivered on time and within budget”, using local contractors as much as possible.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know where in Australia you would go to a country town and get a more magnificent hospital,” Mr Horan said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“But what’s really important is what’s inside, the equipment, the services and most importantly our staff.”<\/p>\n

Mr Horan said the old building which it replaced had been built mostly by the Americans during World War II.<\/p>\n

“It had well served its time,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Horan said a good facility was important in attracting staff to a rural area:\u00a0“We can say to staff, ‘this is a great place to come to work’.”<\/p>\n

The new Kingaroy Hospital was “one of the best rural hospitals in a country town that you will ever see”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It features contemporary birth suites, medical imaging with a CT scanner that uses the most up-to-date technology available in a public hospital in Queensland,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It has an expanded emergency department and a short-stay unit; it has high-tech operating theatres and a day surgery unit.<\/p>\n

“It has a new cardiac rehabilitation service, an expanded renal dialysis department, a new infusions clinic, a new cancer treatment service, an expanded specialist outpatients department and spacious, contemporary in-patient wards.”<\/p>\n

Footnote: Premier Palaszczuk used the opportunity of a media conference after the official opening to announce a major easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Queensland (see separate report<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Darling Downs Health Board member Cheryl Dalton, chief financial officer Jane Ranger, chair Mike Horan, acting Health Service CEO Shirley-Anne Gardiner and Board member Trish Leddington-Hill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath, Darling Downs Hospital & Health Board chair Mike Horan and South Burnett mayor Brett Otto spoke at the official opening of the new $92.5 million Kingaroy Hospital<\/strong><\/p>\n