Health

Do you love hiking and nature or care about mental health and suicide prevention? If so, you are invited to join the Hike to Heal Scavenger Hike, a week-long event hosted by Hike to Heal Australia, a local not-for-profit suicide prevention charity.

The Local Health Medical Trust and the Barham community are excited to welcome two medical students for the next two weeks ... Having both come from the hustle and bustle of the biggest cities in Australia, Jake and Daniel relish the quieter way of living, with Barham already welcoming them with open arms.

It will see 125 additional paramedics arriving in regional, rural and remote communities by the middle of this year ... These new paramedics will join a cohort of more than 6,700 NSW Ambulance staff who share a commitment to excellence in serving their communities across NSW.

A woman, a horse and a curious kelpie are on a 900km journey together... Rachel Hill said she couldn’t do the ride from Sydney to Brisbane without her horse, Chase or Cricket the dog ... Her Ride for Hope was sparked by the suicide of her partner – a former jockey.

Council is trialling drone technology to treat mosquito populations as the insect’s breeding season takes full effect after recent heavy rain. It is also calling on the community to help reduce the impact of mosquitoes through a range of simple, protective measures in the home.

Join wheelchair user Chris Kerr as she samples new disability-friendly infrastructure and equipment at Houtman Abrolhos Islands National Park. You can't help but delight in her wonder and excitement as she's able to don mask and snorkel and descend into a magical underwater world at the Abrolhos for the first time. 

Patricia Gill. A Denmark Community Foundation-commissioned report on social isolation has found that Denmark has more people living alone than the rest of WA. Economist Juliet Grist of Rural and Regional Economic Solutions undertook desktop research and case study analysis of social isolation in Denmark.

One of the key steps ahead of construction of the new Toowoomba Hospital build is now complete, with enabling works recently concluding. Darling Downs Health Chief Executive, Annette Scott PSM said the completion of the $20 million enabling works package ... is an important milestone.

Bruce Stewart. On Christmas Eve, 1906, Reginald Fessenden made the first radio broadcast in history … "A Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord". Luke 2: 11. These are the first words spoken on radio in human history.

Regional and rural Queenslanders are seeking access to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) services at a rate that is almost double their inner-city counterparts – a revelation that should send a shiver down the spine of anyone who cares about the equitable delivery of healthcare, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter has said.

Erin McWaters. In November 2022, Shannon and Erin were handed the keys to the Autumn 2021 Shitbox Rally AU Falcon of local Lucindale Survivors Rohan Giles and Andrew Wilks, and began their fundraising campaign to get the face-lifted Sherlee the Shitbox off the Port Douglas start-line on October 13th 2023 for the Spring 2023 Rally, bound for Adelaide via Birdsville.

The State Government’s new health tax is another hit for rural and regional communities, with many GP clinics facing the risk of closure. Labor recently reclassified tenanted medical professionals as employees, not contractors, for payroll tax. This move has left clinics grappling with debts often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, as the tax has been backdated up to five years in many instances.

Established in 2013, the Flying Doctor Mobile Eye Care service delivers comprehensive, accessible eye examinations to rural Victorian communities ... Despite the fact that more than 90% of vision impairment is preventable or treatable, missing regular eye health checks or treatment is too often a reality of rural living, and risks more serious future health concerns. 

Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) is once again under the spotlight as the Barham Hospital had been left with no doctors after the contractual arrangement with Ochre Health ran out on November 30 ... Having the multimillion-dollar facility sitting idle due to a bureaucratic standoff has greatly frustrated local doctors and distressed patients seeking treatment.

It’s been a decade long journey lifting thousands of kilos in the gym and last month Maclean bodybuilder Beccy Pateman achieved her dream when she was crowned overall winner of the Professional Figure category in the Natural Olympia contest, plus overall winner of the Professional Fit Body category at the WNBF World Championships.

Wallaro Hospital should be reclassified to reflect its status as the major hospital in the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network area. That is one of the specific requests in the petition led by Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis calling for better health services in the electorate, which was signed by 10,688 people and presented to the South Australian Parliament in November.

Sixty nurses from the UK and Ireland have been recruited to work in the Northern Rivers ... Indian national Kavitha Mathew will work at Kyogle Multi-Purpose Service ... “I’m very happy to work in Kyogle,” Kavitha said.

Hilltop provides motel style accommodation, at a heavily subsidised cost, to regional cancer patients undergoing treatment at the adjacent Cancer Centre and also their carers if required .. The Cancer Centre was expected to be treating 250 patients a week but this figure has already risen to 350 people.

The Lighting the Way Ambassadors, selected for their genuine affinity with the Flying Doctor, work within their region to advocate for improved health and wellbeing outcomes for rural and remote Queenslanders ... Established in 1943, the Charleville Base services a waiting room of more than 622,000 square kilometres, connecting the residents of the South-West Queensland region to leading, and often lifesaving, health services.

The future of residential aged care in Ardrossan is in doubt as the local hospital tackles challenges which forced it to close its accident and emergency, and acute care ... "We also reluctantly realised our ability to provide sustainable aged care was doubtful and it was unlikely any other private provider would be interested in taking over these services": Ardrossan Community Hospital chairperson Margaret Tomsen.

South Australians living in rural and regional areas will now be eligible for financial support to travel to specialist Prosthetic and Orthotic clinics for health appointments, under an expansion of the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme ... To qualify for this service, people must attend either a public or private hospital or outpatient clinic...

Making scarce and impure bore water in The Centre’s outback fit for use in medical dialysis has earned Alice local Michael C Smith a Distinguished Alumni Award from Flinders University in Adelaide. “I’m proud that one of my designs is working today in Kiwirrkurra, Australia’s most remote Aboriginal community,” says Dr Smith.