MORE hospital beds and services are a step closer for Queensland’s fastest growing area, with the Ripley Hospital Sub-Acute Expansion project receiving the green light.
The project will deliver a three-storey, 90-bed facility and onsite multi-storey car park to support the growing demand for health services in the region.
The new facility aims to reduce pressure on local hospital’s emergency departments, freeing up capacity for acute patients.
According to Health Minister, Shannon Fentiman, there are currently 41 patients taking up valuable beds in the West Moreton Health system who could have been placed in a facility such as this one.
“It will be co-located with the recently opened Ripley Satellite Hospital and is expected to provide a range of healthcare services, including geriatric, palliative and interim care, as well as rehabilitation,” the minister said.
The project has received Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) approval, a government process that streamlines the delivery of essential infrastructure like hospitals.
With MID approval in hand, the facility is now one step closer to reality, with construction forecast to be completed in the first half of 2025.
The budget for this project is also being reviewed and will be updated as designs are finalised. The project will construct a new internal road on Providence Parade, providing access to the multi-storey car park, hospital back-of-house areas, and associated landscaping and pedestrian walkways that will provide access.
The Ripley project is part of the Government’s $269m Accelerated Infrastructure Delivery Program (AIDP), which will deliver 289 beds across seven projects in rapidly growing communities across Southeast Queensland and Cairns, In addition to the new Ripley Satellite Hospital, the Queensland Government is also investing $710 million in the Stage 2 expansion of the Ipswich Hospital, which will deliver 200 additional beds.
