Community & Business
19 December, 2025
Back Plains student winner of Name the Crane
The new Toowoomba Hospital site has gained four very special team members, including one named by Hayden Joseph, aged 9, a pupil of Back Plains State School.
The tower cranes installed earlier this year have officially been named Dolly, Lenny, Wardy and the name suggested by Hayden, Hope.
Open to all Darling Downs primary school students, schools were invited to help shape the future of the new Toowoomba Hospital this year by submitting name ideas for the four tower cranes.
“Hope is a great name for a crane as we all need Hope in our lives,” Hayden said.
“I Hope once the hospital is completed it can save many lives.”
Darling Downs Health Chief Executive Annette Scott PSM said it was a great opportunity to have the region’s youngest residents involved in the historic project.
“We received over 400 name suggestions from primary school students right across the region and narrowing them down to four winners was no easy task,” Ms Scott said.
“We’re thrilled to announce the cranes will now be known as Dolly, Lenny, Hope and Wardy.
“But this was more than just a competition – it was an opportunity for Darling Downs Health to continue to engage with our community on this project – and in particular some of its youngest and brightest members.”
“As construction progresses, our cranes - Dolly, Lenny, Hope and Wardy - will be working hard to help bring this landmark hospital project to life,” project manager Dominic Rakei (Managing Contractor, John Holland) said.
The new Toowoomba Hospital is being built on the Baillie Henderson Hospital campus, which will ultimately see all services available in a single location through a staged approach, allowing greater flow of staff and patient movements, efficiency and ease of access.
It will offer at least 118 additional overnight beds, expanded emergency and maternity services, and the region’s only public cardiac catheter laboratory, reducing the need for patients to travel outside the region for care.
