GTA Construction News staff writer
York University has unveiled a new sign at the site of its future School of Medicine building next to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct.
The University also signed a new partnership agreement with the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) toward fostering health-care innovation through collaboration with partners within the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct.
York’s new School of Medicine, the first Canadian medical school to focus on community-based primary health-care education, training Ontario’s future primary-care doctors, will open in September 2028. The school will support the growing and urgent primary health-care needs of underserved communities, including in northern Toronto, York Region, Simcoe County, the District of Muskoka and surrounding rural areas.
The government of Ontario has committed $9 million in start-up funding for York’s new School of Medicine as part of its 2024 budget. It also pledged its support for 80 undergraduate spots and 102 postgraduate spots in the first year, going up to 240 undergraduate seats and 293 postgraduate seats on an annual basis once operating at full capacity.
This is part of the province’s plan to roll out the largest expansion of medical education in over 10 years as it continues to build a stronger, more resilient health-care system. The York University School of Medicine builds on the Ontario government’s investment in the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct through Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital and a new long-term care home beside the hospital, delivering 256 net-new care beds to serve the aging population.
The City of Vaughan has provided land on which the new School of Medicine building will stand in the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct. The Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct is a City-led effort to develop a world-class destination for excellence in health care and health innovation on the 82-acre site, currently home to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.
“Today, I was delighted to be a part of revealing the new sign to mark the site of the future York University School of Medicine in the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct. This represents another milestone in realizing our ambitious vision of becoming a leading destination for health-care excellence and innovation,” says City of Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca. “I would like to thank our partners at York University and Mackenzie Health for their work in advancing this project.”
Medical students will learn about community-based health care by training in communities, ensuring they have a deep understanding of the diverse needs of Ontarians. As population needs change, York’s graduates will be ready to adapt while continuing to improve community and population health.
As a result, they will graduate with the necessary tools to work seamlessly within an interprofessional, team-based health-care environment and will be poised to follow patients across different care settings, including the ability to leverage digital health technologies in diverse clinical settings.
In addition to recent partnerships with Oak Valley Health and Southlake Regional Health Centre, the new School of Medicine is furthering opportunities for collaboration, research and innovation with York University, Mackenzie Health and ventureLab as part of the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct.
“The Vaughan Healthcare Precinct anchors this vision by building a pathway for homegrown companies to bring their innovations from lab to hospital and market and unlocking their ability to transform patient care, improve lives, and promote a resilient, healthy economy, for generations to come,” said Raed Kadri, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Business Development and Head of OVIN, Ontario Centre of Innovation.
