Townsville HHS finishes year with multimillion dollar redevelopment, innovation, and tech to improve patient care

The Townsville Hospital and Health Service (HHS) has released its annual report marking a year of significant advancements in patient care, infrastructure development, and technological innovations.

During the 2023-2024 financial year the HHS achieved several milestones including turning the sod on the temporary helipad at Townsville University Hospital to signal the start of the $530 million, 143-bed expansion; it continued work on a state-of-the-art $17 million hybrid operating theatre; it performed 816 more elective and emergency surgeries compared to the previous financial year.

Complex factors like an ageing community and the burden of chronic disease continued to impact the service and during the 2023-2024 financial year the HHS delivered an additional $17 million in activity to meet on-going demand resulting in a $6 million deficit.

Townsville Hospital and Health Board Chair Tony Mooney said the year had not been without its challenges and thanked the staff across the HHS’s 21 facilities for their hard work.

“There has continued to be a strong focus on getting waitlists down in the face of unprecedented demand,” Mr Mooney said.

“We continue to use telehealth services, Surgery Connect, and partnerships with GPs to manage and reduce wait lists.

“We opened an expanded fetal maternal medicine service with extra clinic space, more sonography rooms, and fetal cardiology services for more than 700 women in north Queensland with high-risk pregnancies.

“We have also started recruiting to the North Queensland Kidney Transplant Service, the only transplant service in a regional area in the state.”

Townsville HHS chief executive Kieran Keyes said he was proud of the work the HHS had achieved over the past year and the continued concerted focus to get waitlists down and treat people in time.

“There are few health services in the country with a broader range of services across a bigger footprint,” Mr Keyes said.

“Many of our communities face a higher burden of chronic disease and social, economic, and geographic disadvantage.

“It’s why we have continued to invest across the HHS in technologies, staff, and our facilities to meet the demand.

“We continue to have a focus on Closing the Gap in Indigenous health outcomes, and I’m delighted to see us grow our First Nations workforce to just over four per cent against a target of six per cent.

“I’d like to especially thank our staff who have worked tirelessly to care for our patients in acute, emergency, community, rehabilitative, and palliative settings throughout the year.”

Key information
• The HHS performed 816 more elective and emergency surgeries in 2023-2024 than in the previous year.
• Complex factors like an ageing community and the burden of chronic disease continued to place increasing demand on the service.
• The HHS delivered an additional $17 million in activity to meet on-going demand for services resulting in a $6 million deficit.
• Construction started on the temporary helipad at Townsville University signalling the start of the $530 million, 143-bed expansion.
• Work continued to expand the outpatient space for children and adults with diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
• Work also continued to build a $17 million hybrid theatre incorporating medical imaging capabilities, reducing the need to relocate patients for x-rays and other
scans mid-surgery.
• Recruitment started for the North Queensland Kidney Transplant Service.
• The expanded Fetal Maternal Medicine Service was opened with extra clinic space, more sonography rooms, and fetal cardiology services for women with high-risk pregnancies.
• More than $1 million was invested in local research.
• Babycams, livestreaming pre-terms babies to their parents wherever they live, were installed on 50 neonatal cots.
• ‘Deadly Start’ created opportunities for Year 11 First Nations students to start a career in healthcare by completing a Certificate III in Heath Service or Allied Health Assistance.
• The health service prioritised the most acutely unwell patients for emergency and elective care and continues to manage increasingly high demand on inpatient units, theatres, and emergency departments.

The Townsville Hospital and Health Service 2023-2024 Annual Report is available here.