We have all heard about the negative impact of job losses in the manufacturing sector and the urgent need for government and business to take action on creating jobs for the future.
Creating and sustaining new jobs is certainly challenging, but the picture may not be as dire as it appears. In fact, a quiet revolution is occurring in the Illawarra and it is happening in the health care and social assistance sector.
According to national labour market information, health care and social assistance is already the largest employer in the region, employing more than 24,500 people, or 12.7 per cent of the Illawarra workforce, compared with 11.5 per cent for the state average. On this solid foundation, we can build and develop a vibrant, health-based economy that will create more jobs and attract new capital.
Recent changes to the health landscape and at the University of Wollongong (UOW) are likely to accelerate this growth and create new opportunities for the existing pool of highly qualified and talented people.
One of the key changes is the creation of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD), which replaced the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service just over a year ago. And, on January 1, Illawarra Shoalhaven Medicare Local (operating as Grand Pacific Health) replaced the Illawarra and Shoalhaven Divisions of General Practice.
The ISLHD and Grand Pacific Health now have responsibility for guiding the development and co-ordination of health and hospital services for Illawarra and Shoalhaven residents.
Add to the above the continued development of the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), the proposed development of the UOW's iAccelerator and Health Precinct and the creation of the Illawarra Stakeholder Taskforce and you have a potent mix.
IHMRI, a joint venture between the ISLHD and UOW, is already paying dividends, with the scope of its research activities expanding significantly over the past 18 months.
IHMRI's Clinical Trials Research Unit expects a two- to three-fold increase in the number of clinical trials running in 2012, creating opportunities for residents to access new treatment options as well as bringing new money into the region.
iAccelerator, meanwhile, provides an environment for the ideas and discoveries of UOW students and faculty staff to evolve into products and services that spur the creation of new companies.
It is expected that the proposed health precinct will create more than 1000 new health and medical jobs and develop the sector as a whole. It will also facilitate the development of health and medical-related research companies as the sector matures.
For these opportunities to be fully realised, however, it is essential that our leaders work together in a co-operative manner, which is why the creation of the Illawarra Stakeholder Taskforce is so important.
All the health stars are now aligned, and we have a real opportunity to develop a new and expanded health-based economy.
A health-based economy can be a primary driver of the region's evolutionary growth. Apart from improving the scope and quality of health and medical services that residents can access, a health-based economy will create a range of new companies and jobs.
The Illawarra has never been in better health.
Professor Don Iverson is executive director of the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute
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