THE sale of Cairns airport will fund a $450 million expansion of the city's existing hospital and eventually a new facility.

Construction is expected to start in the first half of next year on Cairns Base Hospital’s long-mooted Block D, allowing a 60 per cent increase in bed numbers to 540, a dedicated day surgery unit and expanded services for heart, elderly and cancer patients, including radiation treatment facilities.

The existing hospital’s Block B will also get a major makeover within the five-year construction timeframe to provide a new home for specialist clinics and pathology, with four floors to be freed up to provide for future expansion and the car park moved across the road.

The mental health unit will be expanded into the existing Block A on the southern side of the hospital.

Some of the money will also be used to buy a large land parcel on the city’s southside for a future new hospital, with the search to start immediately.

"This makes sure Cairns gets what it deserves," Premier Anna Bligh told The Cairns Post.

The State Government’s shock announcement yesterday morning hit hospital staff "like a bombshell" as they worked towards a mid-May deadline for the release of a master plan supposed to reveal what the future holds for the hospital. Instead, the plan will have to be updated with the latest decisions.

"It’s a district-wide plan… and it is still an important planning process and it is not in any way devalued by this decision today," Health Minister Stephen Robertson said after flying to Cairns to brief hospital staff yesterday afternoon.

The Minister said the 41 per cent growth in admissions revealed in the recently released health services plan had convinced the Government of the need to act now to expand existing infrastructure.

Asked if expanding the under-pressure hospital for a second time in less than 10 years was just another temporary fix, Mr Robertson said: "If $450 million is a Band-Aid, it’s a pretty big Band-Aid that gives a pretty good fix to the pressures Cairns is under."

Premier Anna Bligh said the $450 million revamp meant it was "unlikely" a new hospital would be needed within the next 15 years but if circumstances changed that would be brought forward. She gave a commitment all money raised from the airport’s sale would go back into the Cairns region.

Ms Bligh said she began discussing how to fund an expansion at Cairns hospital with Treasurer Andrew Fraser at the start of the year, with the airport sale option first put on the table four-six weeks ago and signed off by Cabinet
yesterday.

She praised The Cairns Post Building a Healthier Future campaign for getting the Far North’s health care to the top of the Government’s agenda.

"The voice of the people of Cairns has been critical to my resolution on this," she said.

"Congratulations to your newspaper on the work you’ve done to bring the voice of the people of Cairns to public attention and my attention.

"This is an issue people have on top of their agenda and I’m not going to ignore it."

Cairns Mayor Val Schier last night welcomed the Government’s decision because a new hospital would take 5-10 years to build and "you have to do something in the interim".

"They’re trying to do both," Ms Schier said.

She said while it was always a concern when government assets were sold, there were positives in that the money would go towards local health services and having a private airport operator with global networks may bring extra opportunities for the region.

Share this article