Construction will soon begin on a new hospital in Toowoomba, but doctors are concerned that an interstate bidding war might leave it short on staff.
will begin as soon as the next financial year, with $20 million allocated for earthworks.
Darling Downs Health chief executive Annette Scott said the hospital would attract more medical staff to the region. The new hospital is one of several commitments made by the Palaszczuk government, with new facilities also to be built in Bundaberg and Coomera.More than 9,000 health staff will hired under Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick's latest budget.
"Big states like Queensland and NSW, with big economies and huge budgets are perhaps more able to do so than small states like Tasmania or the Northern Territory."James Cook University's Dean of Medicine and Dentistry, professor Richard Murray, said there was a danger that hospitals in capital cities could parasitise services in the bush.
"The most important thing that we need to do … is to enrol and graduate more doctors from medical schools based in regional Australia, and then line that up with the training opportunities that are needed after medical school.""You don't turn the tap on overnight and out comes a doctor … it takes years," he said.
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