minister, Stephen Robertson, at the opening of the Gold Coast Hospital’s new $14.5 million day surgery
centre. This centre consists of three new surgery theatres and is expected to perform 6,000 elective
procedures each year. As at 16 January, 820 procedures had already been performed at the centre. In
the December 2008 quarter, the Gold Coast Health Service District performed 5,205 operative
procedures, including ECT for depression and endoscopy. This compares to 4,716 cases in the same
period in 2007. The increase of 10 per cent plus is largely accounted for by the surgery centre.
Waiting lists for elective surgery on the Gold Coast are continuing to fall due largely to the new
centre and a range of other measures implemented by the Gold Coast Health Service District. The new
centre delivers surgical treatments in the areas of ophthalmology, plastics, neurosurgery, gynaecology,
urology, and general procedures under local and general anaesthetics.
The Bligh government’s record $6 billion investment in the hospital infrastructure program—
Australia’s largest—is history making. The $1.55 billion Gold Coast University Hospital—the largest of
the five state health projects when completed in 2012—will have 750 beds and offer comprehensive
medical services including cancer care, cardiac and trauma services. The Robina Hospital is
undergoing a $287.7 million expansion which will deliver 179 extra beds and enhanced services to Gold
Coast residents. This is another example of the Bligh government getting on with the job of delivering
greater health outcomes for Queenslanders while keeping the state at the forefront of medical research
and innovation.
The Toward Q2 strategy is a blueprint for delivering greater health services to high-population
growth areas such as the Gold Coast. Coincidentally, on the same day the first sod was turned on the
$1.55 billion Gold Coast University Hospital Premier Anna Bligh and health minister Stephen Robertson
were on hand to mark this important milestone of what is currently the country’s biggest health
development. The new hospital will deliver to Gold Coasters a world-class health facility with more
comprehensive services in cancer care, cardiac, neurosciences, neonatal intensive care and trauma
services. With 750 beds, the new hospital will have almost twice the capacity of the existing hospital, so
many more Gold Coast residents and visitors can be treated closer to home.
The new hospital situated at Parklands is colocated with Griffith University and will be both a
teaching and research facility. This will create a shared environment where the teaching of future
generations of health workers will be undertaken alongside the hands-on delivery of patient care. The
new hospital will be a nine-storey structure with a total construction area of 165,000 square metres. That
is about four times the size of the existing Gold Coast Hospital and will have plenty of room for
expansion. Three thousand car parking spaces in two multistorey car parks will provide easy access and
safe parking for staff, patients and visitors.
