First sod turned for $21 million Biomedical Sciences Centre at Wagga Base Hospital

University of New South Wales vice-chancellor and president Professor Atilla Brungs and Member for the Riverina Michael McCormack broke the first ground for the Biomedical Sciences Centre at the Wagga Base Hospital on Friday.

Set to be completed by the end of next year, the new building means medical students will be able to study in Wagga for their entire degree.

In the past, students could only complete the last three years of the six year degree in the region.

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UNSW director of medical education and head of the Rural Clinical Campus Dr Rashid Hashmi said the new facility was "a long time coming".

"It's great to see that we have come to the point where hopefully early next year we'll have the real shovel, and the bulldozers there to get the ball rolling," he said.

"Once we have the new building ... it will be a huge number of students and our current building is not really equipped to give the students the best experience."

The three-storey centre will have the facilities to support basic medical science classes for first year students, and possible research in the future, with an advanced medical lab in the designs.

Dr Hasmi said it was an asset the school and the community could use as a "springboard" to begin training other health professions.

"Doctors can't do anything if we are alone, we need the technologists, we need the therapists, we need the nurses, allied health staff," he said.

"We probably will use the new building as a springboard to also enhance those other health-related subjects and get some room for placement for those things like optometrists, physiotherapists, pharmacists."

The school is part of the Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network, with other centres based in Orange, Dubbo and Shepparton in Victoria.

Mr McCormack said Friday's ceremony marked a significant milestone for the $21 million facility and called the network his "crowning achievement".

"What happens is that young people if they do their training wholly and solely in a country setting, they tend to stay there," he said.

"Wagga is the best city in Australia, it truly is, but we need better health outcomes and this enables that."

The development application for the medical school was first secured in 2020 but was since redesigned to include undercover car parking for students and faculty staff.

The building will form part of the Wagga Base Hospital precinct.

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