Wingecarribee mayor Duncan Gair and Goulburn state MP Pru Goward were on hand to turn the first bit of soil at the $20 million St Henri Property Group development on Argyle Street.
St Henri Group managing director Sam Ibrahim said the centre would be a "one-stop" shop for medical services and Highlands's residents wouldn't have to travel to Wollongong or Sydney for specialist treatments.
Ms Goward said she welcomed the centre and the involvement of Wollongong University.
"The provision of medical, nursing and allied health training in the Southern Highlands is great for our young people. It means they can live and study in the Highlands," she said.
Ms Goward said the significant investment represents a vote of confidence in the economy of the Highlands.
"The Gillian Health Centre will move the emphasis from acute care to early intervention which is not only better value for the tax payer but also for the patient's quality of life," Ms Goward said.
"The Gillian Health Centre is a very special project for the Southern Highlands and is well supported by Council and the community," Cr Gair said.
The mayor said the centre had long-term benefits for the community and the facility was long overdue. He said the St Henri Group had shown great faith in pursuing the project and had worked well to overcome a few last minute traffic issues with the RTA.
He added that approval for the development was unique as it was one of the very few times he had experienced a unanimous vote in support of a DA.
Also participating in the ceremony was Professor Don Iverson, executive dean, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Wollongong. Professor Iverson spoke of the University's interest in the centre as a hub for training.
"Over the past two years, the potential for the Southern Highlands to provide the University of Wollongong with a training hub for health professionals has become obvious. The facilities and services that will be provided by the Gillian Health Centre will create opportunities for training medical, nursing, exercise science and rehabilitation, nutrition/dietetics and clinical psychology students."
The groundbreaking of the centre was the culmination of three years of economic and social impact studies, planning and design. The Gillian Health Centre is the first of a number of such centres to be built in NSW by the St Henri Group.
Mr Ibrahim said the four and half story development would see 300 construction jobs created and the Southern Highlands based development firm was looking to source as much of the labour locally as possible.
Ms Goward said she hoped the construction helped create Highlands jobs.
"There is no excuse not to use local people," she said.
While the economic conditions had changed dramatically since Mr Ibrahim started the 3,875-m2 projects he said the banks love developments such as the Gillian Centre because they were "recession proof."
"We all grow old and get sick. We are confident we will get return on our investment," he said.
Mr Ibrahim said the St Henri Group had all their projects approved by council so far and the Group was in the early stages of developing two retail centres in Mittagong."
This was an interesting comment by Mr Ibrahim in that it was said about the same time that Dr Warwick Ruscoe of the Southern Highlands Division of General Practice was also approaching Wingecarribee Council to try and see if they would be willing to approve the development of a Federally funded Super Clinic over the Council's carpark in Moss Vale (conveniently adjacent to a SHDGP Board member's medical practice). Fortunately Council refused the good doctor's request in favour of the residents of the Shire being able to continue to use their car park.
It is perhaps strange then, that Mr Ibrahim seemed to run into some sertious trouble in getting his development in Moss Vale under way sometime after the Division's failed bid. Socrates can't help but notice the coincidences in this tale of two towns and two developers.
