Federal minister visits USQ Fraser Coast

The Federal Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, had a whirlwind tour of the nursing wards at USQ Fraser Coast as part of the lead-up to the Federal Election.

Ms Roxon was in town to announce a grant for a new simulated teaching lab for medical interns at the hospital, but dropped by USQ’s Hervey Bay campus to check out its facilities and discuss opportunities for improved access to clinical experiences for undergraduate nursing students.

Associate Director of the Faculty of Sciences Trudy Yuginovich showed her the campus’s nursing wards and science laboratories, student hub and the Auntie Olga Miller Memorial Garden.

Assoc Professor Yuginovich said at this stage it appeared that the new training facilities, announced by Ms Roxon, would not be available for USQ’s nursing students.

She said they were specifically for medical students from the University of Queensland and local doctors working at the local hospital.

The Federal Government will contribute more than $1.5m for the construction of the two training facilities, at Hervey Bay and Bundaberg hospitals. A further $1.9m will be provided from the University of Queensland and Queensland Health.