Bond University, clinical facility estimates 700 public patient appointments a week

A major Gold Coast university has lifted the lid on a massive new facility expected to be used by thousands each year. See the details.

Bond University unveiled its new $50 million health and sport precinct on Wednesday, which Vice Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford said will help train the next generation of allied health professionals.

Bond University's Vice Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford unveiled the institution's new $50 million health precinct on Wednesday. Picture: Cavan Flynn

According to Bond officials, the 11,500sq m building hosts state-of-the-art facilities modelled from leading specialised health clinics.

Professor Brailsford said the precinct will have a clinical facility for the public, with an estimated peak capacity of 700 patient appointments a week.

Key features include simulated hospital wards, clinician consulting rooms for physiotherapy, nutrition, rehabilitation and occupational therapy and a laboratory featuring pressure sensors and cameras to analyse human movement.

Babe Vaitohi, Bond University student and 100m sprinter at Bond University's new health precinct's 60m gait laboratory featuring pressure sensors and cameras to analyse human movement. Picture: Cavan Flynn

“That’s about 30,000 treatments we’re adding to the system each year at no cost to the taxpayer,” he said.

“We know there’s a shortage of health workers at the moment and Queensland Health are predicting larger shortages in allied health.

“We see the additional training of students here being critical in solving some of the health crisis.”

The new building connects to Bond’s existing high performance training centre, doubling the current space for its allied health programs.

Associate professor Suzanne Gough said the precinct will provide cutting edge, real life immersive experiences for students.

“This is the closest we can get to real life,” Professor Gough said.

“We’re training allied health students to be global practitioners – we can simulate hospital environments from across the globe and teach our students to be responsive to the situations accordingly.

Bond University's $50 million health precinct. Picture: Cavan Flynn

“Whether a highly technological informed teaching in teaching hospitals, or rural remote hospitals – we can drop the levels of equipment to simulate what a rural hospital in the outback is going to be like vs. a metropolitan hospital.”