‘We look forward to hospital and health leaders from around the world coming to Brisbane next October for the 42nd World Hospital Congress’, Dr Deborah Cole, Chair of the Board of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, said today.

Dr Cole made the announcement following official handover of the hosting rights to Australia by International Hospital Federation President Dr Francisco Balestrin (Brazil) at the conclusion of this week’s 41st Congress in Taipei.

The official conference hosts in Australia will be the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association in partnership with Queensland Health.

Australian Health Minister, Greg Hunt, joined Australian health leaders in a recorded message inviting international health leaders ‘down under’, saying next year’s conference will be ‘both informative and enjoyable’.

‘We can learn from you, you can learn from us, and together we can help improve the standard of hospital care in each of our countries’, Minister Hunt said.

Queensland Health Deputy Director-General for Clinical Excellence, Dr John Wakefield, congratulated Taiwan on an impressive 2017 congress, while indicating that the 2018 event will focus on ‘driving reliability and effecting transformational change in health to cope with challenges common to many nations around the world’.

‘These include unsustainable healthcare costs, increasing rates of chronic disease, and a growing demand for healthcare services’, Dr Wakefield said.

Conference themes will include value in healthcare, integrating care, and harnessing the benefits of digital health ‘to improve patient outcomes everywhere’.

Potential attendees were also encouraged to come to Brisbane for its many other benefits in addition to the professional conference program. ‘Yes, we’ve got kangaroos and koalas—but we have good hospitals too, and we’ll make sure you get to see some’, Dr Cole said.

Dr Cole presented the Taipei Organising Committee with a boomerang, saying that she hoped it would come back to its home country with many accompanying delegates in 2018.

‘Registrations are now open for the 2018 Congress, and a Call for Abstracts will be issued shortly—so I urge everyone to visit the conference website as soon as possible for more information’, Dr Cole said.

There were two other Australian highlights at the conference today:

• Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Very Important Patients program was a finalist in the 2017 International Hospital Federation Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. The program aims to improve quality of life for patients and reduce readmissions.

• The University of the Sunshine Coast won ‘Best Poster’ for its CEDRiC project. CeDRiC is aimed at improving care for older adults through streamlining acute care in residential aged care facilities, hospital emergency departments and primary and secondary healthcare sectors.

For information on the World Hospital Congress 2018, visit http://event.icebergevents.com.au/whc2018.

For more information on the AHHA, visit http://ahha.asn.au.

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association is the national peak body for public and not-for-profit hospitals, community and primary healthcare services.

Media enquiries: Alison Verhoeven, Chief Executive, Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, 0403 282 501