$1.9 MILLION BOOST TO HEALTH TRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE

A new $1 million custom-built mobile health clinic offering supervised student allied health services to residents along the NSW Far South Coast was officially launched at the University of Canberra by the Federal Member for Fraser, Dr Andrew Leigh on 8 December 2011. (visit Andrew Leigh’s blog.)

The mobile clinic is part of a $1.9 million project undertaken by the University of Canberra and funded by the Australian Government under its $90 million Innovative Clinical Teaching and Training Grants program.

The mobile clinic is 14 metres long and 2.5 metres wide, expanding to 16.5 metres long and 7.5 metres wide when operational and weighs 20 tonnes. It includes three stretchers/ consultation rooms, classroom space, a kitchenette, storage, office, lounge area and electric hydraulic wheelchair lift.

The service will alternate regularly between Narooma and Moruya, as well as scheduled services to the Eden region.

The student-led clinic will help address a shortage of health care professionals by providing an additional 56 new clinical placements within the Greater Southern Area Health Service.

The new service means that the University of Canberra’s allied health students will get to work in a variety of community settings — outside the public hospitals that are their traditional training ground. Ultimately, that will mean better and more understanding care for the different kinds of patients in our communities and more broadly-experienced health care professionals.

For further information