Allied Health Clinic almost ready for first patient

I am really looking forward to tomorrow when I’ll be touring the new public access Allied Health Clinic at CQUniversity Rockhampton with representatives from Health Workforce Australia.

As the facility nears completion, I can’t stress enough how much it will offer our community and the students enrolled in CQUni’s allied health programs.

Regional areas like Rockhampton are often strapped for qualified health professionals – not to mention modern facilities. Having this clinic on campus not only means that our students can learn their profession in a ‘real life’ environment alongside qualified practitioners; it also means that local people (up to160 a day!) will have greater access to state-of-the-art facilities and treatment, taking the strain off the existing health services in town.

What better way to prove our credentials as ‘Australia’s most engaged university’? It really is a win-win situation.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this new clinic, however, is the potential for students to ‘study local, stay local’. Evidence shows that when a student studies in a regional area, that student is several times more likely to stay in a regional area after graduation. The flow-on effect this will have for the local health profession, and the wellbeing of local people, is just tremendous.

I would also like to acknowledge the role Health Workforce Australia has played in getting this clinic off the ground. Without their major contribution of $9m, we wouldn’t have been able to provide such a world-class facility to our community.

Stay tuned to my blog and Twitter, as I'll let you all know once the clinic is open to the public. I invite as many of you as possible to come down and see it for yourself - it is truly a stunning facility, and one that will have huge community benefit.


For a sneak peek inside the clinic, have a look at this brief YouTube clip -