Industry professionals have looked to the future of the region's health and aged care sector.
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About 60 people gathered at the Mid North Coast Health and Aged Care Forum at Charles Sturt University Port Macquarie Campus to discuss challenges and opportunities, and drive the future of health and aged care.
The sector is the largest employer in the region.
Business NSW staged the forum, with support from sponsor Charles Sturt University, on Tuesday, April 4.
Business NSW Mid North Coast regional director Kellon Beard said the forum brought together representatives to identify the sector's challenges and what could be done to help them overcome those issues.
The wage differences between the states, how to grow research, attracting and retaining staff, and ideas around future accommodation arrangements were among the matters up for discussion.
Charles Sturt Faculty of Science and Health executive dean Professor Megan Smith said in order for the education sector to meet the future health demands, it would have to grow the number of health professionals it educated.
She said that would only be achieved in partnerships as a community response was involved.
Professor Smith said people deciding when was the right time to pursue education was one of the challenges from a regional perspective, and that came with questions around job opportunities, salaries, relocation, cost of living and cost of study.
"Here in this region, over the last 10 years we've seen opportunities for education have grown," she said.
Garden Village CEO Craig Wearne said getting people together and talking about collaboration between aged care providers and health providers in our region was extremely important in managing the key issues the sector faced.
"Ultimately, this improves the service we provide to our community," he said.
"These kind of forums bring people together to talk through sensible, proactive, collaborative approaches."
Mid North Coast Local Health District chief executive Stewart Dowrick described the forum as a wonderful opportunity to bring together leaders from a range of health, aged care and social services to talk about opportunities regarding future service provision.
"It is great to have the higher education sector involved, which is critical for future pathways for healthcare workers across all sectors," he said.
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Lisa Tisdell
I'm a Port Macquarie News journalist, keen traveller, angler and cricket fan.
I'm a Port Macquarie News journalist, keen traveller, angler and cricket fan.
