Official Opening of the University of Newcastle's Education Centre

Friday 1 April 2005

The University of Newcastle's new Multi-disciplinary Education Centre will be formally opened by The Hon Tony Abbott, Minister for Health and Ageing, this Sunday.

The Education Centre, in the grounds of Tamworth Base Hospital, is the home of the University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) - Northern New South Wales. Director of UDRH, Professor Peter Jones, says the Education Centre is a state of the art $4.2 million facility.

"It contains a 188 seat tiered lecture theatre, a new library, a computer training facility, a clinical skills laboratory, a suite of tutorial and student rooms, staff areas to support more than 20 staff and is equipped with $300,000 worth of videoconferencing equipment," says Professor Jones.

"The community support for this project has been quite astonishing. In addition to the contributions to the building project from the University of Newcastle, the Hunter New England Area Service and the Commonwealth Government there have been contributions from 20 different individuals and organisations that have enabled the completion of an outstanding facility."

The Education Centre was funded through a $2.2m grant from the Commonwealth Government with an additional $2 million raised through contributions from the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Area Health Service, the North-West Charitable Trust of visiting medical officers, a substantial bequest from the Dowdell family and a grant from NSW Health to establish a clinical skills laboratory and community fundraising.

"The Education Centre will provide for the education, training, recruitment and retention of health professionals in New England. The UDRH commenced operations in 2002 and in the time it has been operating, the number of doctors working at Tamworth Base Hospital has increased by 40%."

"The opening of the centre marks the beginning of a bright future for the health professional workforce in Tamworth and the community they will treat," says Professor Jones.

The UDRH-Northern NSW is part of the Faculty of Health of the University of Newcastle working in collaboration with Hunter New England Area Health Service and the University of New England; it is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health.

Media are invited to attend the opening of the Multi-disciplinary Education Centre at Tamworth Base Hospital, Tamworth at 1pm on Sunday 3 April 2005.

For media interviews: Director of UDRH, Professor Peter Jones, on (02) 6767 8462.