MURWILLUMBAH District Hospital will benefit from increased access to doctors, nurses and allied health workers after a Federal Government grant of $451,480 was pledged this week.

The Murwillumbah Student Education and Accommodation Centre will now be able to provide more beds for visiting medical students.

Currently the Murwillumbah campus has only six beds available and is not able to offer accommodation to all students undertaking training.

In 2010, 268 students undertook training, which was co-ordinated through the University Centre for Rural Health Murwillumbah campus.

“This is a great result for our community and I look forward to seeing this new investment come online,” Richmond MP Justine Elliot said.

“The Gillard Government is investing in Murwillumbah Hospital so that locals can benefit from more doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals.”

The funding will mean the number of students placed at Murwillumbah Hospital will increase significantly, a Northern NSW Local Health Network representative said.

The accommodation centre will now undergo a staged renovation to increase student accommodation by an additional seven bedrooms.

“This staged renovation will ... increase the student placement and participation rates, thus providing opportunities for more students wishing to come to the Northern Rivers and hopefully return to this locality to practice once they have completed their training,” the representative said.

In 2010 students trained for a period of 1157 weeks in various disciplines including medical, nursing and allied health training.

“Murwillumbah is delivering a highly skilled health workforce that is the critical backbone of our health system,” federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon said yesterday.