Clarity on Redcliffe Hospital’s redevelopment

Rumours have been circulating on social media, raising doubts about the future of Redcliffe Hospital’s $1.1 billion redevelopment under the new LNP State Government.

Moreton Daily asked Queensland Health if there was any chance the redevelopment would not proceed and received a swift response from Heath Minister Tim Nicholls’ office.

“Misinformation about the delivery of the Hospital Capital Expansion Program is being maliciously spread by political opponents of the Crisafulli Government,” a spokesman said.

“The Crisafulli Government will not only deliver this upgrade, we’ll do it sooner than Labor ever would have because Labor failed to fund it.”

Redcliffe Hospital’s expansion is the biggest in Queensland and is expected to cost $1.1 billion.

Preparatory work has started, with construction of a nine-storey clinical services building the first element to be built.

The full project will deliver 204 new beds, ambulatory care and a significant expansion of existing services including theatres, birthing, endoscopy and a range of other clinical and support services.

It is expected to be finished in 2028, weather and construction conditions permitting.

Redcliffe Hospital Executive Director Cang Dang told Moreton Daily last September the development would bring care closer to home for many patients and hopefully meet increasing demand due to huge population growth in recent years which is expected to continue.

In a media statement released late last year, the incoming State Government said it had appointed a team led by hospital infrastructure specialist Sam Sangster to “scrutinise delivery timelines and construction sector constraints to save Queensland’s Hospital Capacity Expansion Program”.

It said cost of delivering 11 critical projects, which include Redcliffe Hospital’s expansion, had “blown out by billions”.

Mr Nicholls said scrutiny by the team would help inform the Government’s approach to ensuring the Capacity Expansion Program (CEP) was effectively resourced, supported, delivered and enhanced.

"We need to restore public confidence in the Capacity Expansion Program, by ensuring public funds are used efficiently and high-quality infrastructure projects can be delivered on time and within budget,” he said in the statement.

"There will always be challenges in delivering such a large-scale and complex build program so we must do as much as we can to identify and address any deficiencies.”