THE city’s mayor might not be responsible for the state health system, but he wants Logan to be at the heart of its growth.
He pleaded at parliament house last week for the state government to learn from public-private health consortia in north Brisbane, to work more with the private health sector.
Council has planned to turn Meadowbrook into the city’s most comprehensive health hub.
The hospital, in conjunction with existing health businesses and facilities are set to be joined by a new health hub at Meadowbrook Shopping Centre.
More than 30,000 square metres of private health, medical and related services are expected to be delivered across the city in the short to medium-term.
The Metro North region has rolled out the “Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service” (STARS) hospital project while, the new Mater Health Services project in Springfield will deliver a 174-bed hospital to the satellite city.
Mayor Darren Power spoke at a public hearing at parliament house on Friday.
The hearing was designed to delve into the provision of primary, allied and private health care, aged care and NDIS care services and its impact on the Queensland public health system.
Cr Power suggested to the hearing that public health services could be sub-contracted to private industry.
This would help Logan attract medical and health investment to the city, he said.
He said the trial of a similar model in Brisbane’s north was working well and the time was right to implement something similar in Logan to help ease high demand for health care in the city.
“Council has proactively researched the demand for health services in Logan, and private-public partnerships is the best solution to filling current and future gaps in service delivery,” Cr Power said.
“This could be done through private health developments or real estate investment trusts building private health facilities that Queensland Health could potentially lease.
“Another option is subcontracting elective surgery to the private sector.
“Facilities such as day surgeries are currently being developed in Logan, and our proposed arrangements could potentially draw more investment.
“With our population booming and demand on health services increasing, these are practical measures that will create beds, reduce waiting times and provide better access to health care. Without private-public partnerships, the gaps in health care services will get worse.”
The Metro North region has rolled out the “Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service” (STARS) hospital project while, the new Mater Health Services project in Springfield will deliver a 174-bed hospital to the satellite city.
With the private health industry already poised to invest heavily in Logan, Cr Power said now is the perfect opportunity to develop private-public partnerships in our region.
“The government simply can’t afford to ignore the opportunities private-public partnerships present for improving health care for our region,” Cr Power said.
“Our success in attracting this health and medical investment did not happen by accident. Logan City Council has been proactive in investigating the health sector in Logan, and our economic development team has used this research to approach industry and bring in investment.”
