General News
28 May, 2025
Hospital pass: Minister baulks at funding for Cloncurry Hospital
Health Minister Tim Nicholls was in Mount Isa on Tuesday, but made no funding promises for local projects.
Queensland Health officials are yet to request any information from Cloncurry Shire Council about the community’s future healthcare needs, says mayor Greg Campbell.
This is despite Health Minister Tim Nicholls claiming in Mount Isa on Tuesday that his department was currently undertaking a review into the number of beds and additional medical services that would be required in a new Cloncurry hospital.
Mr Nicholls stopped in Mount Isa on his way to the Gulf, where he was due to inspect new health facilities in Doomadgee and Mornington Island.
When asked by North West Weekly about any plans to construct a new Cloncurry hospital, Mr Nicholls explained there was a process underway to determine the community’s future needs, which was the initial step required to shape the future hospital.
“It is certainly on the radar, but we are going through the gateway process to determine what a new hospital might look like in terms of number of beds and services offered,” he said.
“I understand the (Cloncurry) mayor’s frustration and I understand the need to deliver those services, but we have to make a sensible decision that people can have confidence in and give people a genuine sense of what they are going to receive.
“It is not a forgotten issue – it is very much front and centre.”
However, Cr Campbell said there had been no approaches from anyone employed by Queensland Health requesting any planning information about expected population or economic growth or healthcare needs in the town.
Cr Campbell said all efforts to advance the case for a new hospital had been spearheaded by his council. He said it demonstrated the state government was not taking his community’s health needs seriously.
“If it wasn’t for our council constantly pushing for a new hospital and raising this issue in the media then I don’t think we would ever hear from Queensland Health or North West Health and Hospital Service,” he said.
“They would be happy to not give any priority to Cloncurry and just act like it is business as usual, which is just a mediocre existence.
“There are hospitals being replaced in Queensland that are younger than our hospital in Cloncurry.
“It makes me wonder where their priorities are.
“If anything was actually progressing, we would be having meeting requests and be receiving progress updates.
“But instead, we just hear nothing unless we raise the issue.”
Cr Campbell said he had recently requested North West HHS conduct service mapping of health providers in the town.
“We hear from North West HHS that there are all these health service providers in Cloncurry, but we want to know who they are and what they do exactly,” he said.
Mr Nicholls also announced a $24 million package, the General Practice Trainee Incentive, which would provide a $40,000 one-off payment to all Queensland doctors who have either commenced or are soon to begin their general practice training in 2025.
“We are doing what we can to help doctors complete their GP training because we know how important GPs are to communities across Queensland,” he said.