With Coomera having been cited as the nation’s fastest growing area, new infrastructures in the area are called for. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, parts of the northern Gold Coast will grow 19 per cent by 2021 and 45 per cent by 2026. With the population expected to double in the next 20 years, a new public hospital is needed in the northern corridor.

Opposition MP Michael Crandon has proposed to build a new hospital on a 13.5 hectare site in Coomera, owned by the Gold Coast Health. The Gold Coast Medical Association supports the petition saying that a hospital like Robina needs to be set up in the area.

Currently, people would need to travel far to Southport or Robina to get treatment. Moreover, one in four patients rushed to hospital would wait for over half an hour in ambulances because the emergency department is full.

However, petitioners add that Gold Coast University and Robina Hospitals first need to be better staffed before another facility was opened.

Meanwhile, when asked whether the State Government was considering building a hospital at Coomera, Health Minister Cameron Dick has said that before any funding decision is made, planning goes through a number of phases, including identifying suitable land for such an infrastructure, concept and business evaluation.