The Australian Government is planning for Mackay's future health workforce needs with an investment of $1.1 million for construction and fit-out of a new clinical training facility at Mater Misericordiae Hospital.
In Mackay, the Prime Minister announced that the funding will be provided to James Cook University and will allow for approximately 98 additional placements for medicine, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy and physiotherapy students.
The initial phase of the project will provide an immediate boost to the local economy, via more jobs and investment in the construction sector, and once complete, there will be the ongoing benefits of more students training in the region.
Students who live and learn locally are more likely to stay after graduation - and this investment will deliver more doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and physiotherapists to care for Mackay's growing and ageing population.
The project aims to provide innovative clinical training placements through constructing and equipping a new teaching and study facility at Mater Misericordiae and engaging private specialist clinicians in teaching.
It builds on the Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon's announcement last week that Mackay would benefit from more than $5 million in funding for a state-of-the-art dental training facility and affordable 20-bed student accommodation at Mackay Base Hospital.
The projects are part of the Rudd Government's strategy to work with organisations involved in providing clinical training to build training capacity and enhance the long-term sustainability of the health workforce.
The Rudd Government is building a health system to meet the needs of all Australians, now and into the future.
Under the National Health and Hospitals Network, the Rudd Government will fund 60 per cent of the cost of services delivered in a public hospital into the future.
The National Health and Hospitals Network will see health services funded nationally and run locally through local hospital networks to deliver better health and better hospitals for local communities.