2 private health service providers in Rockhampton have been awarded a total of $598,962 from the Australian Governments $36 million Rural Private Access Program. In Rockhampton today to campaign with local Nationals Candidate, Robert Mills, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate, Ron Boswell said that the services were receiving the grants to undertake specific health service delivery projects that would help to provide improved health outcomes to the people of Central Queensland. Senator Boswell presented cheques to : Mercy Health & Aged Care Central Queensland Limited (Rockhampton) - $354,779, to upgrade existing aged and outdated equipment and to acquire new technologies to support up to date orthopaedic surgery and shorten the turnaround time between cases; and Hillcrest Rockhampton Private Hospital - $244,183 to buy new, improved equipment to support increased surgical services. This funding will better enable these local private health providers to deliver quality health services to Central Queenslanders, Senator Boswell said Senator Boswell said that yesterdays election announcement of a significant extension of the Coalitions Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund (RMIF) would further benefit communities like Rockhampton and other communities in Central Queensland. If re-elected, we will make up to $5 million per year available to build new clinics and make rural practice more attractive for doctors and allied health professionals, he said. This will help your local communities in Central Queensland to get better access to funds to improve on-ground health services. Ensuring doctors, dentists and allied health professionals have access to modern facilities is vital to improving health care in rural Australia and that is what the RMIF is all about. We will increase the cap of $400,000 per project to $1 million remove the existing population rules restricting RMIF funding to towns of less than 10,000 people. That means that major regional centres like Rockhampton will be eligible to apply, even though priority will still be given to smaller and more remote communities like Mt Morgan, Collinsville and Clermont in the electorate of Capricornia. Local communities will be able to apply for funds to build clinics in State and Territory owned infrastructure, and private medical practices will be able to apply for small grants of up to $75,000 in certain circumstances. The Coalitions extension to the RMIF is all about getting more and better bricks and mortar medical facilities on the ground in regional Australia, Senator Boswell said. ENDS Media Contact - 3001 8150 or 0428 714 779