Charleville will soon be home to a major rural health training centre thanks to a $2.5 million investment by the federal government.
Minister for Regional Development, Senator Bridget McKenzie, and Agriculture Minister David Littleproud were in Charleville on Friday to announce the investment for the University of Queensland to build a state-of-the-art health training facility.
Senator McKenzie said increasing opportunities for training in rural areas was a key plank of the government’s $550 million Stronger Rural Health Strategy, announced in the 2018 Budget.
“This is about attracting and retaining health students who intend to work in regional areas because we know that giving trainees experience of life in a rural community will make it more likely that they will continue to work here or in a similar location, after they qualify,” Minister McKenzie said.
“The new clinical training facility in Charleville will bring more health professionals to the area, improving local health care services now and into the future.
“It will ensure that Charleville becomes a key location for training of the emerging rural health workforce.”
Minister Littleproud said the new centre was a positive investment not only for the future health workforce in rural and remote Queensland, but for Charleville itself.
“A project of this size will bring economic and social benefits for the broader community as well as improving the viability and stability of local health services,” Minister Littleproud said.
The facility will support high quality clinical training of nurses, midwives and allied health students in south western Queensland, and include a clinical education simulation room, tutorial rooms, lecture rooms and consulting rooms.
It will also be home to Southern Queensland Rural Health, a collaboration between the University of Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, and South-West Hospital and Health Service.
SQRH is one of three new university departments of rural health announced by the Government three years ago, to increase training opportunities for nursing and allied health students in rural communities.
