By Alistair Gray
Our sparkling new satellite hospital is open and ready to provide free health care to the Bribie community. Open from 8am-10pm daily, it will give much-needed urgent care for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries, such as simple fractures, simple infections, minor burns and minor head injuries. In addition, much-needed outpatient services, such as kidney dialysis and mental health support.
In the second stage, available in early 2025, the hospital will offer cancer care, including chairs for chemotherapy, oral health care and a range of allied health services. The new hospital will be a blessing for many critical care patients who have had to travel several hours to receive treatment, sometimes daily, when they have needed all their strength to fight their illness.
The new satellite hospital is a big positive for our community. However, it is disappointing that the opportunity to combine the hospital with a medical centre and GP support has been missed. The hospital is not permanently staffed with a doctor, with nurses and nurse practitioners to provide service delivery. There are no doctors available to handle emergencies and in all serious emergency situations, like a cardiac arrest or car accident, an ambulance should be called by dialling 000, or if practical, the patient should be taken directly to Caboolture Hospital.
Unfortunately the satellite hospital is not equipped to handle serious emergencies.
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