Kathy Kruger | Gold Coast Health & Knowledge Precinct

Filed Under: HEALTH

THE COVID PIVOT – precinct innovators get creative

In the three months since Australia went into COVID-19 lockdown, Precinct innovators have proven themselves adaptive and resilient, even exploiting new business opportunities. We bring you just some examples of how they’ve demonstrated that adversity is the mother of invention.

In the three months since Australia went into COVID-19 lockdown, Precinct innovators have proven themselves adaptive and resilient, stepping up to the challenge and even exploiting new business opportunities.

We bring you just some examples of how they’ve demonstrated that adversity is the mother of invention.

Cleaning up new business

It was only back in February (but feels like years ago) that we brought you the success story of Virtual Mgr, a compliance-based software company that specialises in providing enterprise-level software to manage cleaning, food safety and other risk and compliance issues for large organisations.

Having already deployed their software into hospitals and aged care facilities in the United States, based from their global headquarters at Cohort and a US office in Rochester, New York, the pandemic has proven a major opportunity to pivot into simpler software that can be quickly introduced into smaller organisations and temporary hospital facilities, with added tracing abilities.

Utilising some of the smarts of their premium Health Clean product they quickly developed a Smart Clean app designed to track COVID-19 cleaning, along with a Smart Shield app for movement tracing that rely on QR codes to track and trace.

“It’s an instant and cost-effective solution, ” explains CEO Anil Patel.

We’re now in 28 hospitals representing 130 buildings in the US; the Queensland Government has had the confidence to utilise the app in their Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct buildings; and we are working with a major Australian sporting organisation to use our SmartShield suite of products at their events, so watch this space.

We’ve actually hired more people and launched in the UK, which we were planning to do pre-COVID, and so far it has gone well.”

Tele-health helping ease the pain

Online patient waiting rooms are making a big difference for a growing number of Gold Coast Health patients using virtual consultations to help manage their persistent pain.

From initial set-up of virtual services to aid remote patients back in 2014, the pandemic has seen the Gold Coast Health service expanded to deliver over 700 consultations to Gold Coasters living with pain since pandemic restrictions began.

Gold Coast Health Telehealth Program Manager Priyanka Mishra said Virtual Clinics were now providing 31 different services to patients with approximately 1000 consultations per month.

Researchers respond

Researchers across Griffith University and within Gold Coast Health have responded in many ways to the challenges of COVID-19 – none more so than Professor Michael Good AO (above), a member of the National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee and chair of the working group on convalescent plasma therapy, a passive immune therapy he believes deserves support for Australian research and clinical trials.

COHORT continues to get creative

Creativity is in the DNA of the team at our COHORT co-working and innovation space – even now that they’re back with a COVID-safe plan to operate their co-working space, meeting rooms and future events, they continue to increase their digital footprint.

If you haven’t already tuned into COHORT TV, you can find an ever-increasing number of useful business resources. Live stream and podcasting services are also available for hire, with initial training provided.

Trying a little more kindness

Gold Coast Health Emergency Physician Dr Shahina Braganza has spread the love of the Pandemic Kindness Movement (PKM) to her colleagues.

Designed to support staff wellbeing, the PKM concept, originally developed by a Melbourne paediatrician, has been given the Gold Coast gratitude treatment, manifesting in an increase in random acts of kindness connecting the community to health workers and supporting closer connections between staff.

“Acts of kindness can give us the licence or the conduit to connect with each other, creating that sense of belonging and of community that become our safety net both practically and emotionally”, says Dr Braganza.

Micro-credentials – just the ticket

As digital disruption becomes a reality, the ability to analyse vast quantities of data to extract relevant intelligence and assess threats to information security is fast becoming an essential skill for commercial and government sectors – responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this transformation.

In response, Griffith University has launched two new micro-credentials delivered online – Graduate Certificates in Cyber Security and Data Analytics and Cyber Security.

“Griffith University is proud to be offering these Graduate Certificates as part of the Federal Government’s package to support those who may have been made redundant due to the COVID-19 crisis,” Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Debra Henly says.

A free ticket to tourism recovery

Meanwhile Griffith Institute for Tourism is offering a micro-credential course to help tourism businesses accelerate their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, free of charge.

Created by GIFT Deputy Director Dr Sarah Gardiner (above), the self-paced Tourism – Ready for Recovery course is offered online in a four module format and builds on Dr Gardiner’s work helping Binna Burra Mountain Lodge recover after devastating bushfires last year.

For the latest COVID-19 updates from the Precinct, visit our dedicated page.

Filed Under: People of the Precinct, STUDY

BEST AND BRIGHTEST PROVIDE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

Talented students are hope of tomorrow

As adults, the challenges of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic have been many and we can certainly spare a thought for the young people who are navigating their final years of schooling in such difficult and uncertain times.

With the official youth unemployment rate in Australia in May sitting above 16 percent, but likely to be far higher given lower participation rates, the spectre of a significant lag in starting a career looms large for school and tertiary students.

For Vanessa Rebgetz, Principal of the Precinct’s only secondary school, the elite Queensland Academy for Health Sciences (QAHS), there is only room for hope, even in the midst of a pandemic.

“Young people fill me with hope,” Principal Rebgetz writes in her School Welcome.

My experience in education has shown me that young people are an inspiration. I believe as Principal of the Queensland Academies Health Sciences Campus, and having the opportunity to work with these students and staff, I have been given the chance to change the world.”

In its 13th year as one of only three specialised academies for high-performing students in Queensland, QAHS offers students in Years 10 to 12 the opportunity to study the world-class International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, and works in close partnership with Griffith University to provide unique opportunities and enrichment activities for students interested in futures in research, science and academia.

State-of-the-art facilities include a fully wireless campus, air-conditioned classrooms, university standard science laboratories, a 500 seat lecture theatre and a gymnasium. While the Health Sciences are a focus area, programs are offered across Languages, the Arts, Social Sciences, Business and the full STEM spectrum, while the unique IB core component ‘Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS)’ offers a rich framework for experiential learning.

Student numbers are growing, with almost 430 students enrolled in 2020 and the 2021 cohort expected to number around 470, with a maximum capacity of 500 students.

Student achievements are outstanding by global standards, with the mean QAHS IB Score for 2019 being 35, well above the global mean of 29. Four students achieved IB43 and three earned coveted top IB44 scores, one point shy of the perfect score.

Almost 40 percent of students received an OP 1 or 2 ranking, putting them in the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre’s (QTAC) top band for university admission.

Students also won a string of academic awards in 2019, including earning outstanding results in the CSIRO CREST Research Awards, Australia’s premier research awards in Science, with 3 Gold, 11 Silver and 54 Bronze National Research Awards.

And in the midst of a stressful and disrupted 2020, one of QAHS’s best and brightest, Year 12 student Angie Zhou, has recently earned one of only four spots to represent Australia in the Science Olympiad in Biology, the first Queensland student to win a spot on the team in seven years.

“School during the time of a global pandemic is testing students’ self-efficacy and changing their outlook,” says Principal Rebgetz.

Students have been fast-tracked in their growth as independent learners and the social importance of learning together has been reinvigorated.

Persistence characterises Academy students’ success in the IB generally. Covid-19 may be changing the world around them and it is abundantly serving new ways of navigating through unprecedented conditions. As 21st century future leaders in their fields, the necessary skills of finding the calm, control and continuity amidst the global chaos is the silver lining delivered to Academy students by 2020.”

New scholarships smooth path to Griffith University

Griffith University awards credit into a range of undergraduate degree courses for studies completed in an IB Diploma up to the equivalent of a full-time semester of University study, with the amount of credit based upon the IB subjects studied and the Griffith program the student has been admitted to.

High achieving high school students keen to study at Griffith in 2021 will be eligible for 80 new Sir Samuel Griffith scholarships worth up to $24,000 each, which Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Debra Henly says, are in recognition of the increased pressure on 2020 high school graduates, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From July Griffith will offer 80 Sir Samuel Griffith Scholarships to academically gifted students who demonstrate qualities including leadership, civic responsibility and social awareness,” Professor Henly says.

Griffith has recently moved up 17 spots in the latest edition of the world’s leading university ranking. (QS World Rankings)

Learn more

Filed Under: LIVE, People of the Precinct

Community builds during COVID-19 lockdown

Resilient retailers and residents come together

Building a strong sense of community takes time, and there’s nothing like a pandemic to bring people together, even in isolation! We asked Alex Slingsby, Marketing and Community Manager at Smith Collective for an update on how the Smiths are surviving and thriving.

Just over 2 years on from the Commonwealth Games and we are now a thriving community with over 1700 residents! From baby boomers and young families, to university students, millennials, Gen Z’s and healthcare workers, there is something for everyone.

While things were a little quieter than normal during Covid-19 lockdown, we were resilient and our community rallied together in more ways than one. We saw huge generosity from our cafes & restaurants offering up some unbeatable specials, especially for those incredible healthcare workers.

Residents also took matters into their own hands with reports of healthcare workers receiving deliciously cooked dinners from their fellow Smiths. Our retailers were extremely nimble and quickly adapted their businesses to takeaway and delivery to do what they could to keep their doors open. The random acts of kindness were and continue to be flowing in and around the precinct which is such a testament to our residents feeling part of a genuine community that cares for each other.

The pandemic unfortunately impacted across diverse areas, from residents losing their jobs and income, others needing to move back home with their folks and some of our international students having to return home until the dust settles. It has been a tough time for our community and the management team has been tirelessly working through providing customised solutions with individual residents to help them through this unprecedented period.

With restrictions easing, we are so pleased to see residents out and about once more with their furry-friend in tow, enjoying a workout in our resident gyms and taking advantage of our FREE resident Yoga classes.

Meet Georgia, healthcare work and ‘Smith’.

Hi there, I’m Georgia! I am a 27 year old iced latte and book lover with a silky terrier cross chihuahua named Duke. He is the main reason I moved into Smith as so many rentals don’t allow dogs. I love walking around the Smith Collective community with him every morning and night. I love that Smith offers FREE resident Yoga and that there is a coffee shop, Woolworths and BWS on our doorstep AND I also love that it is walking distance to my work.