Charles Sturt University (CSU) has invited rural general practitioners (GPs), dentists, pharmacists and allied health professionals to form partnerships with the University through its clinics in Bathurst and Albury.

Executive Dean of the CSU Faculty of Science, Professor Tim Wess, said the University wanted to hear from healthcare professionals in all clinical disciplines who are interested in securing the long-term provision of rural health services.

"Charles Sturt University is proud of its tradition of providing training and employment for a variety of healthcare professionals essential for regional and rural Australia," Professor Wess said.

"The public services the University provides through its dental and health clinics are an important facet of our relationships with the communities we serve.

"We would now like to build on those services in conjunction with local providers to work collaboratively to improve rural and regional people's access to quality health care."

Professor Wess said the University's newly-built health clinic at CSU in Bathurst, and its health clinic at CSU in Albury, offered possibilities for collaborative healthcare involving providers from the local areas.

"The facilities themselves are first rate," he said.

"At Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, for example, there are consulting rooms for general practitioners or allied health providers, and spaces which would suit a pharmacist or ophthalmologist or other providers with a retail component.

"We're interested in making these clinics work for the community as well as providing student placement opportunities, so we want to find ways of working with local providers to provide the best service we can.

"For a patient, co-locating services can make the whole healthcare experience much more convenient. Think of visiting a GP, who might identify a skin spot that should be further examined, and refer you on to the dermatologist up the hall before you pick up a prescription at the chemist on the way out."

Professor Wess said the University will soon issue an Expression of Interest (EOI) document seeking interest  from all healthcare professionals, and encouraged providers to contact the University by emailing mobrien@csu.edu.au to obtain the EOI pack.

The University received funding of $7.1 million from Health Workforce Australia (HWA), an Australian Government initiative, and $6 million from the Health and Hospitals Fund (HHF) for the construction of the health clinic at CSU in Bathurst.