Government supports plans for an academic precinct in the Mildura Hospital

A new hospital in northern Victorian could break decades of doctor shortages under a plan to build a teaching and research precinct at the site.

Mildura Hospital is determined to “break the cycle” of decades of medical staff shortages as plans to build a training facility edge a step closer to reality.

It comes after health minister Martin Foley confirmed his support for the proposal during parliamentary question time this week.

The state-of-the-art facilities will provide a venue for clinical trials and research infrastructure in what Mildura Base Public Hospital CEO Terry Welch says will be the key to repairing the current education model.

“The current model takes people away,” he said.

“To do medicine you have to leave Mildura. As soon as you take people away they lose that connection, they lose that sense of community.

“This is the only way we ever break the decade on decade cycle of worker shortage.”

La Trobe and Monash Universities have backed the development which Mr Welch says will include students in the hospital environment from the beginning.

Independent State MP Ali Cupper, who has been at the forefront of efforts to build a new hospital, last year called for the Federal Government to do more to help ease the shortages that were crippling Sunraysia.

Mildura Base Public Hospital

Sehar Sahid, an international medical graduate who recently moved to Mildura, said she believed working in a regional area provided more opportunities than working in a metropolitan hospital.

“Everyone interacts with everyone. We get more exposure, I get more of a chance to practice my clinical skills,” she said.

La Trobe University vice-chancellor professor John Dewar said the new precinct would provide opportunities for new students.

“It will attract students and researchers and ensure they stay in the region, making a significant difference to both the health outcomes of local communities and to local economies,” he said.

Professor Shane Bullock, Head of School at Monash University Rural Health, said the university was excited to be playing a part in creating a better health landscape for Mildura and surrounds.

“The impact of the maldistribution of the health workforce between metropolitan and rural communities is very apparent in the Sunraysia district. Health workforce shortages can lead to poorer access to healthcare and poorer health outcomes for this community,” she said.