Community
11 October, 2024
Private hospital for CBD
A NEW private hospital in the city’s CBD signals the development of the first collaborative healthcare precinct in Northern Australia.
Hailed as a “landmark decision”, by locally owned Integrated Medical Services (IMS) Group, which won the tender, the hospital would complement other health care services on the James Cook University’s Dugurrdja medical site.
“It will address critical healthcare infrastructure issues and facilitate collaboration between clinicians, researchers, educators, and students,” said IMS chief executive Dr Stefan Antoniou.
“This is a landmark collaboration, and we’re delighted to have been selected as the successful proponent for a precinct that will become the epicentre of health innovation for our region.
“We will be transitioning all of our current Cairns services to the Dugurrdja health and innovation precinct, and our Far North Day Hospital will expand to become a Far North Private Hospital.
“This will provide access to higher acuity services with overnight and short stay capabilities. These services will include the Far North Oncology and Infusion Centre, allied health services, IMS specialist consulting suites, pharmacy, radiology, pathology, men’s and women’s health, our multidisciplinary Cancer Care Centre, and our remote patient care for outreach communities.
“IMS will integrate with JCU and Cairns hospital in the Dugurrdja precinct to support local expansion of clinical services. This will reduce the patient wait times for clinical care and the number of patients that have to leave our community for care elsewhere,” he said.
The new private hospital will cost an approximate $150 million to build and it’s still to be announced how many stories the building will have and the full catalogue of services.
The building is expected to be finalised at the end of 2026, while the whole Dugurrdja health precinct could take three to four years to be completed.
JCU Vice Chancellor Professor Simon Biggs said the IMS proposal was of the highest quality in what had been a “highly competitive tender process”.
“We wanted a proponent who would take a big-picture view of our region’s future, and IMS have done exactly that, putting together an impressive proposal that will be a real game-changer to health services, research and education.”
The IMS Group, which operates the Far North Day Hospital (FNDH) and a network of healthcare facilities in Far North Queensland, will finance, design, and construct the hospital, and relocate all current services, infrastructure and staff to the Dugurrdja precinct.
The Precinct will offer extended hours day-care for healthcare staff, oncology treatments and extensive onsite car parking, which will complement the proposed components of JCU and Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS), including the university’s Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre (CTEC), due for completion in mid-2025.
CHHHS CEO Leena Singh said the development was set to become a world-class precinct.
“The proximity of this new private hospital to Cairns Hospital will create opportunities for joint research initiatives and the exchange of knowledge and expertise between medical professionals from both facilities,” Ms Singh said.
“This development will not only expand the range of healthcare options available to Far North Queenslanders but also contribute to the overall growth and development of the region.”
