Photo: Gold Coast Bulletin

A new hospital is badly needed in Gold Coast’s fast-growing northern suburbs. It was only four years ago, that the Gold Coast University Hospital was built yet it has recently become the second busiest medical facility in Australia.

In 2005, former Gaven MP Dr. Alex Douglas has warned Labor of a possible health crisis which became apparent when the population in Pacific Pines, Upper Coomera, and Gaven ballooned by almost 30,000 between 2001 and 2011. The government then opened the University Hospital at Parklands in September 2013.

Recently, with the population expanding around and Pimpama, the city can no longer afford to wait a decade for another mid-range hospital to be built. The recent number of births has almost doubled from five years ago. Moreover, bottlenecks have become commonplace in the hospital’s ED with staffs often confronted by record presentations.

Dr. Judy Searle, member of the Gold Coast Hospital Board and a Labor candidate for Southport has said that Queensland Health had begun planning for a new hospital. Dr. Searle was among those who campaigned on a platform to increase frontline services during the election. She emphasizes that a growth in health all services in the north is very important. She added that a new hospital has been in the Gold Coast Health’s regional plan. Currently, sites are being explored with costing in the pipeline.

According to Dr. Alex Douglas, Coomera would be an ideal location for the new hospital which needs to be built no later than 2021.