ROBOTS TO THE RESCUE
A TOWNSVILLE health business is leading the way in rehabilitation with expanded premises and the use of robotic technology to improve patient outcomes.
Alliance Rehabilitation has launched its Tyromotion clinic in premises at South Townsville this week where the European- made robotic rehabilitation technology is being used to help people with neurological conditions such as strokes, acquired brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.
Requiring an investment of almost $ 500,000, it is the first clinic in Queensland to use the Tyromotion robotic technology, which is common in many European hospitals.
“This equipment has been a significant investment for our service and there is no other public or private clinic in Queensland with this cuttingedge technology at present,” Alliance Rehabilitation director Anna Nicholls said.
“We have recently revamped our premises which provides a full multidisciplinary team in complex rehabilitation in our public- private partnership to provide community rehabilitation with the Townsville Hospital and Health Service.”
Alliance Rehabilitation won a tender to provide the services funded through the service which also provides outreach services to Ayr, Charters Towers, Ingham, Magnetic and Palm islands and services to Richmond and Hughenden.
Formed last year, the company now employs 33 people.
According to local firm DS Economics, Alliance Rehabilitation is one of more than 150 new healthcare and social assistance business registrations in the Townsville region in the past five years.
DS Economics’ Colin Dwyer said the healthcare and social assistance sector had become the leading provider of employment in the Townsville region, recently surpassing public administration and safety, which included the public sector and the defence force.
“We have the biggest hospital in regional Queensland and probably one of the biggest in regional Australia,” Mr Dwyer said. “People come to Townsville for these services.”
Mr Dwyer said healthcare and social assistance provided about 12,000 jobs, about 13.6 per cent of employed people in the Townsville region, ahead of public administration and safety at 11.7 per cent and retail at 11.3 per cent.
He said the growth in healthcare was being fuelled by the improvements in health services and the introduction of programs such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme for which Townsville was one of the first areas to trial the scheme.