MORE than 25 health professionals in the Far North will be able to advance their skills and knowledge courtesy of grants provided by the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation.
Foundation CEO Tony Franz announced this week that this year’s education and training grants would total more than $35,000 and go to a variety of health professionals.
“We have nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, a dementia psychologist, an occupational therapist and a senior speech pathologist among the successful recipients this year,” Mr Franz said.
Staff from Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, and Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service, cover the fields of cancer, emergency, urology, tropical medicine, obstetrics, paediatrics, renal medicine, sexual health, pain management, bereavement support, online communication for GP’s, cancer, hepatitis C and developing the listening and language skills of children with hearing loss.
“We’re really pleased with the calibre and variety of applications this year and we can see that skills are advancing which is leading to greater health outcomes for the people of Far North Queensland,” Mr Franz said.
Successful applicants receive up to $1500 each which enables them to take part in online courses, conferences and other educational opportunities, he said.
To date, the Foundation has contributed more than $50,000 to improving the educational opportunities for health staff.
“We aim to contribute to improvement in the quality of health care in Far North Queensland through the funding of modern equipment, facilities, education, training and research and through the provision of support services,” Mr Franz said.
“The benefit of these grants is that we are assisting health professionals, in a whole range of fields, to improve their knowledge and skills,” he said.
The Foundation contributes about $1.3 million to improving health services through education, training and research grants, as well as purchasing equipment that is in addition to what is already provided by the health services.
Because profits from the Foundation’s commercial operations cover all administrative costs, every cent donated to us, goes to its intended cause.

PHOTO: Veronica Mashinge from the Cancer Care Ward at Cairns Hospital is thrilled with the new skills she has learnt in the field of therapeutic plasma exchange.