THERE are $534 million reasons for the Tweed to celebrate following a State Government promise to build a new hospital on a still-to-be-determined greenfield site.

Tweed MP Geoff Provest said the development, announced on Tuesday, would be a once-in-a-generation project for the region and one that had been seven years in the making.

"This has been a long and arduous journey and it's been a journey we haven't taken on our own,” he said.

"I would like to pay credit to Dr Ian McPhee and many of the other clinicians here who have lobbied tirelessly, that have put up extraordinary business cases, but I agree with the Treasurer, this is an exciting day, not only for the Tweed but the lower part of the Gold Coast.”

Tweed Shire Council general manager Troy Green said the project, expected to be completed inside five years, would be a major boon for the area.

"A $534 million infrastructure build focussed on health, which is probably one of the biggest needs for our area, is great news,” he said. "It certainly puts the $48 million planned upgrades of the (current) hospital into insignificance. This is a major investment by the State Government in the Tweed.

"It's going to obviously create jobs, not only in the construction phase, but ongoing jobs because it's going to be a substantial hospital by the sounds of it.”

Tweed Chamber of Commerce president Warren Polglase said the project would kick-start a struggling jobs market.

"I suppose there will be a lot of professional opportunities and I'm sure there would probably be quite a few hundred jobs into the future,” he said.

"Jobs in the shire have been pretty slow at present and if you did want to develop a precinct, health is probably the way to go.

"I think they have the pedal to the metal on this one ... I think a lot of the work's already been done.”

Deputy Premier John Barilaro termed the promise a "significant announcement” and said it would mean more overnight beds, a larger emergency department, more theatres, integrated cancer care and premium health services for the Tweed.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the hospital was "one of the most significant announcements in the upcoming state budget”.

"We know the Tweed community has been crying out for better support here at this hospital for some time now,” he said.

"The local member Geoff Provest, when I became treasurer, was in the door like a flash, arguing the case for more support up here.

"As the Deputy Premier has pointed out, we understand there were commitments made in the past for an upgrade at the Tweed Hospital, but on the advice of clinicians, on the lobbying of the both the local member and the Health Minister ... we are able to announce a half-a-billion-dollars for a new hospital at the Tweed.”

Tweed Medical Staff Council co-chair Rod Davies said the new facility would provide locals with essential medical services currently unavailable in the region.

"On behalf of the medical staff council, I would like to say a very big thank you to the NSW Government,” Dr Davies said.

"We're obviously very grateful and very excited at this funding. It is significant and from a Medical Staff Council point of view we're very hopeful this will provide the services for the community we've been striving to provide and it will provide them not just for the Tweed, but for Murwillumbah and Byron shire as well.

"We need a hospital in the Tweed Shire that will actually provide a lot more services than we can today so the services need to grow. That was part of the clinical services plan that we developed and that was to try and keep as many people as close to home and provide the services for those communities close to home, so our hope is that this funding will go a long way to be able to deliver that.”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said a plan would now be developed to identify how the money would be spent.

He would not identify prospective sites for commercial-in-confidence reasons but said the investment indicated the Tweed's importance to the state.

"In one sense we used our head to get the economy moving and now we're using our heart to deliver right across the state, and particularly for the Tweed,” he said.

"The first regional visit I did as health minister was actually the Tweed. Geoff Provest was on the phone within an hour of me being appointed and was demanding I come up to the Tweed and see what the issues were.

"It wasn't just the fact you have the best seafood on the coast - because you do - it was the fact when we had a walk through and talked to some of the clinicians, it was clear this hospital has done a lot of good work but it is now finding it challenging, particularly with the pressure of increased population.”