UOIT and Lakeridge Health explore ways to improve health-care delivery

The latest health care innovations are a daily item on the news; but without collaboration, innovative health care practices would not be possible. Recognizing the importance of building collaboration amongst health care professionals, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Lakeridge Health partnered to present renowned lecturer Dr. John H.V. Gilbert to Durham Region and discuss how shared roles and responsibilities can improve patient-centered care.

“Bringing UOIT researchers together with our partners at Lakeridge Health was an ideal fit for Dr. Gilbert’s lecture,” said Dr. Ellen Vogel, dean, Faculty of Health Sciences. “This event provided both organizations with incredible insight into how interprofessional education not only benefits society but also helps to strengthen existing partnerships.”

During Dr. Gilbert’s presentation, Learning Together to Practice Collaboratively: Key Principles for Interprofessional Education, he discussed how growth in the number of health professions in the 20th century has pushed health professionals apart instead of pulling them together in practice. The close to 200 attendees benefited from his insight into how education and health systems must work together to enable collaborative learning and practice amongst future health and human service professionals. The event, which took place in the Lakeridge Health Education and Research Network (LHEARN) Centre at Lakeridge Health Oshawa, was held in the facility’s state-of-the-art lecture hall and video-conferenced to Queen’s University.

“The LHEARN Centre is a hub for interprofessional health education and research and is the perfect venue for Dr. John Gilbert’s conference,” said Dr. Pansy Goodman, director, Academic Affairs/LHEARN at Lakeridge Health. “This event is the launch of Lakeridge Health’s progression toward an interprofessional model for education, practice and research.”

An award-winning scholar, Dr. Gilbert was appointed Member of the Order of Canada in July 2011. He is also the project lead and chair, the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative, funded by Health Canada. He currently serves on Health Canada’s Federal- Provincial-Territorial committee on Health Education Policy Taskforce; the boards of the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences in Toronto, Ontario; the British Columbia (BC) Health Education Foundation; the School of Health Sciences Advisory Committee of the Justice Institute of BC; and is appointed by the Minister of Health to serve on British Columbia’s Patient Care Quality Review Board. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Interprofessional Care, and co-editor of the open access Journal of Research in Interprofessional Education.

Dr. Gilbert’s academic roles include, senior scholar, WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Workforce Planning and Research, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; visiting adjunct professor, National University of Malaysia; external scholar, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dalhousie University; and is a member of the Steering Committee of the WHO Health Professions Global Network.

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About UOIT

As an innovative university, UOIT delivers a leading-edge learning environment that uniquely combines academic knowledge, research opportunities, hands-on skills and a vibrant student life. UOIT's more than 8,400 undergraduate and graduate students are taught by professors who are experts in their fields from around the world. As Ontario's first laptop-based university, the university offers a diverse array of challenging undergraduate and graduate degree programs through its faculties of Business and Information Technology; Education; Energy Systems and Nuclear Science; Engineering and Applied Science; Health Sciences; Science; and Social Science and Humanities. UOIT's commitment to research excellence has resulted in millions of dollars in grants and awards, including six Canada Research Chairs. To find out more, visit www.uoit.ca or call 905.721.8668.

About Lakeridge Health

Lakeridge Health is one of the largest community hospitals in Ontario. We provide a broad range of primary, secondary, tertiary and post-acute services through three acute hospitals, a specialty hospital and numerous satellite service locations. On any given day, 1,200 people walk through our doors to access one of the many services we offer in our communities. This care is delivered by more than 4,000 staff and physicians, with the support of nearly 1,200 volunteers. We provide care predominantly to the residents of Durham Region and work in partnership with the Central East Local Health Integration Network and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Media contacts:

Melissa Levy
Communications and Marketing
UOIT
905.721.8668 ext. 2513
melissa.levy@uoit.ca

Annesha Hutchinson
Communications
Lakeridge Health
905.576.8711 ext. 4317
communications@lakeridgehealth.on.ca