Cairns Northern Beaches Hospital expansion to reduce pressure on central facility

Construction will begin next month on a new $145 million hospital serving the northern Cairns suburbs of Trinity Park, Smithfield, and Yorkeys Knob after the Queensland government confirmed funding and the building contractor completed final site preparation works.

The Cairns Northern Beaches Hospital will operate as a separate facility to the existing Cairns Hospital on The Esplanade, providing a 24-hour emergency department with 40 treatment spaces, 96 inpatient beds, and specialist outpatient clinics covering the most common referral pathways from the northern suburbs GP network.

Queensland Health modelling showed the northern suburbs catchment, which has grown by 38 per cent over the past decade, was generating more than 28,000 emergency department presentations annually at Cairns Hospital — a significant portion of the central facility's total load. The Northern Beaches hospital is projected to intercept approximately 60 per cent of those presentations, substantially reducing transfer times for affected patients.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said the northern Cairns community had waited too long for dedicated health infrastructure appropriate to its size. "This hospital will mean faster access to emergency care, shorter distances for local families, and a more sustainable workload for Cairns Hospital's exceptional clinical teams," she said.

The facility will be fully operational by late 2027, with construction works to be managed so as not to disrupt access along the Captain Cook Highway during the tourist season.

This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.