RURAL health experts have gathered in Mount Isa this morning with the aim of influencing the direction of state and federal health policy in Australia.
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Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health director Professor Sabina Knight said guests invited to the city’s rural health conference led conversations nationally and internationally about strategies to improve health in the regions.
Professor Knight said training courses, keynote speakers and panel discussions over three days would promote healthcare and training models MICRRH had worked with the community to develop.
“We have enormous challenges: a dispersed population, high health needs, we’re a long way from any metropolitan centre, but we have assets and our success comes from our need – the mother of invention,” she said.
“Policies are shaped by regions like this and we’re able to demonstrate our successes and we’re not scared to admit when things don’t work.
“To bring people together to share that information and planning shows we’re in for the long haul.”
Professor Knight said the conference’s keynote speakers would share their experiences in improving health outcomes in rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory.
The conference will also travel to Cloncurry on Saturday to look at training programs run by MICRRH at the Flinders Medical Centre.
Professor Knight said the use of the tele-health hall to host the conference and the field trip to Cloncurry would show how MICRRH had worked with community organisations to improve health outcomes in the North West.