Construction begins on JCU’s Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre, first piece to the FNQ Health and Innovation Precinct
A highly anticipated $50m health project in the city has officially taken off the ground, marking an important step in catapulting Cairns Hospital to university status.
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Construction of the highly anticipated James Cook University Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre (CTEC), a key piece of the puzzle in transitioning Cairns Hospital to tertiary status, has begun.
A turning of the first sod and smoking ceremony marked the occasion in the presence of key dignitaries on Wednesday.
The $50m project will stand alongside Cairns Hospital’s new 32-bed surgical centre on Charles Street in North Cairns, which will form part of the Far North Queensland Health Innovation Precinct and allow for stronger links between teaching, learning and research.
The four-storey CTEC building will house a multidisciplinary clinic on the ground floor, with teaching and research facilities on the floors above and will also be a meeting point where health and medical staff can connect with JCU’s engineers, data scientists, and IT specialists.
JCU Vice Chancellor Simon Biggs said creating this centre would serve as a focal point for work health force training, highlighting the long-term contribution to the economy it would bring if they could train enough students in the region.
“All professions are impacted by us not being able to train enough people so we are absolutely vigorously working to build a stronger pipeline of students to support the economy,” he said.
Mr Biggs said they were currently very keen on securing some extra places for medical programs in North and Far North Queensland and the centre would hopefully allow for this to progress.
“JCU recruits around 170-180 medical students a year and we started the first full six year cohort this year in Cairns with 40 medical students commencing this year which we hope to keep increasing,” he said.
“We know in regional Queensland there is a deficit of 20 per cent medical and health professionals across regional and remote areas.
“We would love to double the size of our program but of course that would depend on support from the federal government.”
Mr Biggs said they were hopeful the federal government would find a way, in time, to offer support, not just to them but other regional providers of health professions as well.
CHHHS chief executive Leena Singh said the CTEC would attract people all across Australia and internationally, generating solutions to unique health issues in the Far North and allow for those ideas to be shared worldwide.
In regards to the Cairns Health Innovation Centre (CHIC), a purpose-built education and training, research and innovation centre critical to the hospital’s transition to becoming a university hospital, a detailed business case was underway to be ready by the end of the year, she said.
Ms Singh said she was pushing for the project to be included in next year’s state budget.
“I am directly involved in that and working with our partners in Brisbane around acquiring some expertise around civil engineering, to have a look at our site and make sure we have the right site but also to make sure on how it is going to work between all our partners,” she said.
“It will bring significant benefits to the Far North region so we will do our best to sell that idea.”
Additional precinct partners were welcome to come forward and would have to go through the process of a normal commercial arrangement over the next year, she added.
Earlier this month, the Opposition reconfirmed their commitment to the CHIC, after questions from the Cairns Post.
The key project was left out of the state budget this year, meaning there is just one more budget to be handed down before the next state election.
The traditional name of Dugurrdja, meaning the Milky Way, was gifted to the health and innovation precinct by Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elder Henrietta Marrie followed by a traditional smoking ceremony and singing to commemorate the occasion.
“The Milky Way is seen across the world, across Australia, that links us with many different tribal groups and regions throughout Australia and the world,” Ms Marrie said.
“It is very symbolic of this precinct to be here and to be able to reach out and extend the arm of welcoming people to this country but at the same time also ensuring it is protected under Dugurrdja.”
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch took the opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of Advance Cairns’ Trent Twomey in acquiring the site and the money, the owner of Cock and Bull Graham “Johnno” Johnson for stepping up and saying he was ready to go and David Craig from JCU regarding land acquisition negotiations.
The Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre is expected to generate 150 jobs during its construction, and is planned for completion by early 2025.
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Originally published as Construction begins on JCU’s Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre, first piece to the FNQ Health and Innovation Precinct
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