York advances new School of Medicine plan

Excal.on.ca
March 7, 2022
Jannat Yaqobi

On February 16, 2022, York announced its next steps in the progress of the new School of Medicine. With the vote in favour from the the City of Vaughan’s Council, York’s role will be established in the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct along with Mackenzie Health.

“These two critical steps forward make clear that York’s advanced planning for a new School of Medicine is on track with strong, supportive partners to deliver the primary care physicians who will shape the future of health care in the province,” said Rhonda Lenton, President and Vice-Chancellor of York in a statement to York media relations.

“We are delighted that the City of Vaughan, Mayor Bevilacqua and Members of Council have expressed clear support to proceed with discussions related to acquiring and developing land within the Healthcare Precinct, working closely with Mackenzie Health and ventureLAB providing a unique opportunity to integrate health programming, research, and innovation in building a stronger health care system in the province of Ontario and Canada,” Lenton continued.

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, City of Vaughan, says, “Since becoming Mayor in 2010, I have been determined to make Vaughan a truly world-class city. York’s effort to establish a new School of Medicine perfectly aligns with this vision and builds upon the continued partnership between the City of Vaughan and York.”

Mayor Bevilacqua further says that in 2021, “we created the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct Task Force. Our mandate is to oversee the development of the vision to position Vaughan as a globally recognized example of a healthy city. Recently, Vaughan Council endorsed the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct – Enabling Next Steps Report, which marks yet another important milestone in our partnership.”

York’s aim with the new advances is to create a setting that will focus primarily on “training family and primary care doctors in an integrated community setting,” according to York media relations, hoping to achieve a more “holistic and preventative model” while providing health equity for underprivileged groups.

Mackenzie Health provides a statement, saying they are “proud of the long-standing collaborative partnership we have with York. We are already partners in innovation and in nursing education and look forward to further opportunities to work together, including collaborating as part of the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct to further establish our region as a centre for excellence in health care.”

“Mackenzie Health was pleased to provide a letter of support to York as part of their conceptual proposal for the School of Medicine that was submitted to the provincial government in early February. We have a shared vision with York and look forward to our work together in building an integrated health care system centred on the needs of patients closer to home.”