The new hospital is a campus of Royal Darwin Hospital and integrated services will provide greater access to healthcare and emergency.
Palmerston Regional Hospital ED will operate 24/7 but critically ill patients requiring intensive care will be transferred to Royal Darwin Hospital, which is the only tertiary hospital in the Northern Territory.
Palmerston has a population of around 34,000 people and is located approximately 20 kilometres from the capital city of Northern Territory, Darwin which has a population of around 142,000. Outpatient clinics plus planned day and elective surgery at Palmerston Hospital will mean patients won’t have to travel in to the capital for some treatments, and the hospital will also offer telehealth care for rural patients. The Palmerston Regional Hospital does not have a birthing suite so pregnant women will still have to deliver at Royal Darwin, however Palmerston Regional Hospital will provide ante-natal and post-natal care services. Other services to be offered at the new hospital are rehabilitation, and geriatric evaluation and management.
The Royal Darwin Hospital was built in 1980 and sees around 70,000 patients each year. Until the opening of the Palmerston Regional Hospital there were only five other hospitals in the Northern Territory, one of which is private. The new regional hospital is predicted to see 15,000 – 20,000 patients each year and the development is expected to create 300 new hospital jobs, with a total staff of 450. Some of the staff will work across both hospitals as much of the equipment is the same within both Palmerston Regional and Royal Darwin. The emergency department, radiology and pharmacy are now operating at the new hospital. Other services will be introduced in stages over the next 18 months until the hospital is fully operational.
Financial incentive offered for new Territorians
In an effort to target workforce shortages, the Northern Territory Government is investing $9.3m to attract more people to the region. As part of the Northern Territory Population Growth Strategy, individuals, couples and families are being offered over $15,000 over five years to move to the area and work in high priority jobs. The financial incentives will cover costs associated with relocation, and include a one-off local spending benefit of $1250 after six months plus a retention bonus after five years.
The 53 hard-to-fill occupations being targeted include general practitioners, finance managers, hairdressers, aged and disabled carers, childcare workers, engineering managers, and forklift drivers. The Growth Strategy aims to create 21,000 jobs and add $10b to the NT economy over the next decade.