Qld hospital construction backlog a headache for Palaszczuk

afr.com:

The Queensland government will struggle to build three new hospitals and upgrade 11 of them on time and on budget over the next four years, according to a new analysis of the infrastructure pipeline.

With Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk under pressure over ramping at public hospitals and amid speculation about her leadership, the new study will put more pressure on the long-term Labor government’s ability to solve the health crisis ahead of next year’s state election.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s has come under pressure. AAP

The analysis by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, obtained by The Australian Financial Review, revealed Queensland’s social infrastructure pipeline is the most crowded of any state or territory.

The Palaszczuk government has committed $9 billion to 15 health program projects. This includes $1 billion for hospitals in Coomera, Toowoomba and Bundaberg as well as a new cancer centre and 11 hospital expansions over the next four years.

But there are 15 hospital projects worth $9.5 billion under construction across Australia, with another 38 health projects scheduled to be delivered. The construction phase is expected to peak in 2025.

Only two hospital projects, valued at $860 million, are currently under construction in Queensland; the Caboolture Hospital and Logan Hospital expansions.

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said the hospital infrastructure pipeline in Queensland – to be delivered between the second half of 2024 and 2028 – was “too tight, too crowded and too ambitious”.

“This is not an argument against building more hospitals in Queensland,” he said.

“We absolutely recognise the need for more hospitals in Queensland. However, the concentration of several