Labor pledges $10 million to build BIRCH

BALLARAT Innovation and Research Collaboration for Health will receive $10 million to begin building a physical facility if Labor wins the Federal election on 18 May.

Federal Member for Ballarat, Catherine King announced the funding last week, which will come from Labor’s $2.8 billion Building Better Hospitals fund, making BIRCH a reality.

The $10 million will build an educational area for quality medical training and clinical laboratory space, to make Ballarat a base for new research and professional development.

Ms King said access to research in regional areas is critical, and BIRCH will help Ballarat become a “central regional research hub.”

“It’s the research that provides the opportunity for patients to be engaged in clinical trials and improve health outcomes in our community,” she said. “It also means that we’re attracting the best and brightest here in Ballarat, and we retain them here in this community, whether it be our doctors, whether it be our nurses, whether it be the dentists who are training here.

“Providing quality education for health professionals, retaining those here in our community, but also providing the opportunity for the research of the future to be done here in our community.”

Ballarat Health Services’ Dale Fraser said this investment is important for the city.

“Ballarat has the potential to be a very significant player in the national stage for research. Creating a knowledge city for Ballarat is a big vision for our community and today’s announcement is one step forward,” he said.

St John of God Hospital, Ballarat Health Services and Federation University have collaborated to form BIRCH, which will benefit students of Deakin University, The University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, Australian Catholic University and Notre Dame University, as well as Ballarat’s broader medical community.

BIRCH will be partly modelled on the work of Newcastle’s Hunter Medical Research, a leading regional education and research facility in New South Wales.

The Collaboration has also received funding support from the State Government through a seeding grant.