Surgery part of medical facility
AN EMERGENCY operating theatre will be part of a new $25 million medical centre to service Cairns’s southern suburbs, however, it could be several months before construction starts on the facility.
The Palaszczuk government on Friday unveiled plans for the Cairns Southern Corridor Medical Centre, the construction contract for which is expected to be awarded within the next financial year.
The centre, which is to be built on a 5.2ha block of land across the road from the Walker Rd, Edmonton, cyclone shelter, will include community health, renal dialysis, community education, administration and waiting rooms.
It will be designed to be used as a temporary emergency response facility in the event of a natural disaster, if services become interrupted at Cairns Hospital.
Mulgrave MP Curtis Pitt, who has been closely involved with the development, said it would also include an emergency operating theatre, to allow clinicians to carry out emergency treatment including birthing services.
Mr Pitt said when the new medical centre was not being used as a back-up facility for Cairns Hospital, it was designed to meet the community needs of the southern corridor.
“Since I was first elected in 2009, I’ve been pushing for the further development of health facilities in the southern corridor,” he said. “It’s taken some time to get this stage.
“While I’d love to see (construction start) next week, that’s clearly not going to occur.
“What I’m seeing is significant progress.
“Thankfully, enough money has been set aside in the Budget to ensure that we can deliver this service.
“I guess the most important thing is it’s going to have the sort of mixed services that the community requires.”
Health Minister Steven Miles said the progress on the health precinct was great news for the southern community of Cairns.
“We know this growing community needs more health services which is why we are delivering this exciting project,” he said.