METRO South Health (MSH) has been forced to go back to the drawing board after no tenders to develop the Wynnum Community Health Precinct (WCHP) measured up.
An announcement of the successful tender was due by June but baysiders continue to wait.
Lytton state LNP MP Neil Symes expects plans to be unveiled by the end of the month while MSH claims it could stretch out to December.
A spokeswoman from Health Minister Lawrence Springborg’s office told the Herald a different proposal to develop the WCHP was being considered, admitting no private developer measured up to Queensland Health’s quality standards.
“We haven’t been able to secure a private partner to develop it [the WCHP],” she said. “It [the tenders] just did not meet the standards of quality we wanted.”
Mr Symes said Mr Springborg had approved an alternative proposal but it needed to complete the process before the new plan would be announced.
He expects new plans to be announced by the end of September.
Mr Symes would not confirm if the venture would still involve a public-private partnership but did say it would not be axed like the Wynnum Manly GP Super Clinic. “It [the WCHP] will not be scrapped,” he said.
whether the new plan would be entirely publicly funded but said the government was committed to building the precinct and giving tax payers the “biggest bang for their buck”.
He swore the health precinct would not go the way of the axed Wynnum Manly GP Super Clinic.
MSH chief executive Dr Richard Ashby cited “complex planning requirements” were responsible for the tender delay.
“There are complex planning requirements that need to be met and as such the development planning process is not yet finalised nor is there a definitive time frame at this stage for the commencement,” he said.
TIMELINE:
November 2012: Wynnum Hospital downgraded to Wynnum Health Service
February 2013: Federal government announces Wynnum Manly GP Super Clinic (WMGPSC)
May 2013: Moreton Bay Nursing Care Unit (MBNCU) closes
July 2013: MSH announces plans for WCHP to be built on MBNCU site
March 2014: MBNCU demolished
April 2013: WMGPSC axed