The Health News – 30 March 2017

Overview:
• After more than four years of construction, planning and commissioning, the $1.8 billion Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) is staggering the opening of its departments, with the final services to open in the first week of April. It has initially opened with 450 beds and is expected to reach capacity by 2021 with 738 beds.

• Exercise physician and chairman of Sports Medicine Australia Dr Andrew Jowett advises that the key to staying active — without causing further damage — is to do some form of physical activity that keeps your heart rate up.

• The not-for-profit Mercer Supercycle riders will cycle as a group starting from Adelaide. The group hopes to collect between $400,000 and $500,000 for cancer patients as they ride through the Adelaide Hills.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the  30th of March 2017. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-29/sunshine-coast-university-hospital-opens/8397652

Australia’s newest public teaching hospital has opened its doors on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

It has been about 20 years since a completely new public teaching hospital has been opened in Australia.

After more than four years of construction, planning and commissioning, the $1.8 billion Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) is staggering the opening of its departments, with the final services to open in the first week of April.

Spread over a 20-hectare site at Birtinya on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, it will operate in addition to the region’s existing hospitals, except for the Caloundra Hospital emergency department which has now closed.

The newest public hospital in Australia was tipped to be a coup for regional patients with the emergency department alone expected to treat up to 90,000 patients by 2021.

It has initially opened with 450 beds and is expected to reach capacity by 2021 with 738 beds.

With a focus on the environment —SCUH has a target of 4-star Green Star Rating on the Green Building Council of Australia — there’s been an emphasis on bringing the outside in and blending the sterile, clinical nature of a hospital with greenery, open space and art.

And to make traipsing the 165,000 square metre hospital more efficient, automatic guided vehicles will transport food, linen and waste underground from the facilities management centre to the main hospital.

The $200,000 robotic cars, the first of their kind in Queensland, will be guided by infrared lights and would not replace face-to-face contact between staff and patients.

The CEO of the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service, Kevin Hegarty, said it was about working smarter.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2017-03-29/how-to-keep-moving-when-an-injury-slows-you-down/8390364

Having an injury can be debilitating, not to mention painful, but it shouldn’t stop you from moving altogether.

The key to staying active — without causing further damage — is to do some form of physical activity that keeps your heart rate up.

That’s the advice from exercise physician and chairman of Sports Medicine Australia Dr Andrew Jowett.

“Exploring alternatives to regular exercise is an important part of injury management,” Dr Jowett said.

It’s also an opportunity to make gains in other areas of your fitness, said Dr Jowett, so you can start to pay attention to the parts of your body you tend to focus on less.

Gub McNicoll understands the importance of tailoring your exercise regime to your body’s capabilities.

But what if the problem isn’t injury — and instead you’re coming down with a cold or flu-like bug?

Should you push on with your normal exercise load in the hope it might help your immune system shake it off? Or will that stress your body and make the illness worse?

In general, exercise helps boost your immunity. But pushing yourself too hard can temporarily have the opposite effect. Add a looming illness into the equation, and it’s trickier still.

The test used for athletes — and one that’s equally useful for us mere mortals — is something known as the “neck check”.

In general, if symptoms are from the neck up, and not too severe, moderate exercise won’t hurt you (and might even be beneficial), according to Professor David Pyne, senior sports physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport.

“You might have a sore throat or maybe a runny nose or a slight headache. If symptoms are fairly mild … it’s probably OK to go out and undertake some [low-to-moderate-intensity] exercise if you’re feeling up to it,” Professor Pyne said.

But if you feel unwell and your symptoms are more troublesome, and particularly below the neck, pushing on is not recommended.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-29/city-cyclists-pedal-their-way-towards-fundraising-$2m-for-cancer/8396300

A group of cyclists will set off on their seventh 1,000 kilometre ride this weekend, with hopes to surpass $2 million in fundraising for country cancer patients.

The not-for-profit Mercer Supercycle riders will cycle as a group (called a peloton) starting from Adelaide.

The ride passes through Wirrina, Murray Bridge, Tanunda, Burra, Wallaroo and Clare before returning to Adelaide.

The group hopes to collect between $400,000 and $500,000 for cancer patients as they ride through the Adelaide Hills.

What began with just 10 friends getting together for a social ride has now grown into a large-scale event.

In their second year, the group began to raise money for The Hospital Research Foundation’s program to provide accommodation for country cancer patients.

Organisers hope subsequent rides in the future will raise more than $6 million per ride.

The Mercer Supercycle will leave Adelaide on April 1.