Michener’s interprofessional vertical campus
advances toward a new era of health education
TORONTO, April 8, 2009 –The Michener Institute’s Capital Development Project was officially launched on April 7, 2009 with a simulated wall and groundbreaking event on Michener’s premises. The event also marked the groundbreaking ceremony of the CAE/Michener Centre for the Advancement of Simulation in Healthcare, and the launch of Michener’s Capital Fundraising Campaign.
The Michener Institute, along with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, is ushering in a new era of health education with the transformation of Michener’s 36 year-old facility into a 21st century team-based learning campus for all health care providers. The facility at 222 St. Patrick Street, once fully refurbished in two phases over the next few years, will accommodate interprofessionalism and support a variety of team-based health care simulation scenarios, such as pandemics, operating rooms and emergency room situations, in both virtual and physical spaces throughout 15-storeys and 236,000 square feet.
Applied health students, nursing and medical students will be able to simulate together in flexible, student-friendly spaces and teaching environments that will prepare them to work effectively together in integrated health care teams in the clinical environment. Communication, negotiation, collaboration, conflict resolution and interpersonal skills will be emphasized, along with discipline-specific scopes of practice.
“I am very pleased to herald the start of the transformation of The Michener Institute into a state-of-the-art school, modernized to support interprofessional education, advanced infrastructural technologies, and integrated simulated learning,” announced Paul Gamble, President and CEO, The Michener Institute at the simulated wall and groundbreaking event. “Michener’s revitalized space is designed to enhance the student team experience and better prepare our future health care providers to respond to patient needs.”
The Michener Institute will also feature the CAE/Michener Centre for the Advancement of Simulation in Healthcare. Michener is collaborating with CAE to draw on that organization’s vast aviation simulation expertise and combine it with Michener’s innovative curriculum to create best-practices in team-based health care simulation. The Centre will be located on the 3rd and 4th floors of Michener and, when completed in the fall 2009, is expected to provide team-based simulated training to more than 1,500 students and health care practitioners per year.
“We are proud to partner with The Michener Institute to develop cost-effective and cutting edge simulation-based solutions, which will bring increased safety and efficiency to the professional development of health care practitioners,” said Marc Parent, CAE’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “By building on our respective strengths, we will play an important role in transforming the health care training environment.”
Michener’s master plan Capital Development Project is estimated at $69 million, and the campus renovations will be undertaken in stages, led by Toronto-based architects Diamond + Schmitt. Phase 1 of the retrofit is a $10.73 million dollar plan, with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s commitment, and CAE’s lead gift donation of $6.27 and $3 million respectively. The Capital Fundraising Campaign for Michener, boldly named ‘Stronger, Smarter, Better’ to refer to the new calibre of graduate, as well as the impact to the health care system, was also launched to raise the much needed investment capital to bring interprofessional education to fruition.
For more information about Michener, interview requests or media tours please contact:
Iliana Arapis, Senior Director, Communications & PR Katie Schrank, Communications Associate
416-596-3120 / iarapis@michener.ca 416-596-3101 ext. 3482 / kschrank@michener.ca
