Charters Towers Regional Council has called for improved health services to be delivered in the local region.
Mayor Frank Beveridge met with assistant minister for health Julieanne Gilbert in Mackay on July 8 to discuss the region's need for better health facilities.
Mr Beveridge said the council had and continued to advocate strongly for the local region.
"During our meeting, I was able to impress on the Minister that our health facilities are below the standard expected by our community," he said.
"Our hospital, as a health and medical facility, is outdated and many of its treatments and service areas do not currently meet contemporary standards."
Mr Beveridge said the current hospital facilities required attention to improve.
"The current Charters Towers hospital site has many limitations, including being heritage listed and no physical room to expand and develop new buildings," he said.
"Residents in our region and the western Queensland communities of Hughenden and Richmond are having to conduct frequent travel to Townsville to receive essential, life-saving medical treatments, including computerised tomography (CT) scanning.
"This puts additional pressure on the Townsville university hospital to cope with additional patients and causes undue financial, physical, and emotional distress to travelling patients."
Mr Beveridge said discussions with minister Gilbert centred on the need for a CT machine at the local hospital.
"Whilst we continue to push for a new hospital, a focus of our discussions was around the need for a CT scanner at the current facility now," he said.
"I feel the meeting with assistant minister Gilbert was a very positive one and the need for CT scanning in our region, as a matter of priority, was well received."
Mr Beveridge outlined within the Charters Towers Regional Council's corporate plan 2021-2025, improved health services through continued advocacy for state funding was highlighted as a priority.
"To do this, the council has committed to be a strong and respected local government voice to promote and facilitate growth on behalf of the community," he said.
The council's corporate plan 2021-2025 can be viewed on the Charters Towers Regional Council website.
Zoe Thomas
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
