Pioneering merger for Michener Institute and University Health Network

Toronto, ON – The University Health Network (UHN) and The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences have announced that they are merging, and say the move is Canada’s first-ever merger between a hospital and a post-secondary health education institution. The Michener Institute of Education at UHN will focus on training applied health professionals as well as designing and delivering training for future health professions.

“By having a hospital and a health education institution working so closely, we will be much better able to prepare tomorrow’s workforce,” said Cliff Nordal, chair of the UHN Board Education Committee. “It’s a natural evolution for an organization that has always existed to tackle the health problems of the day. Preparing graduates who work well in fast-changing clinical environments and have mastered the latest technologies will benefit the entire province.”

Embedding an applied health sciences school within a hospital will enable students to learn within the real-world environment of operating rooms, labs and MRI suites. Front-line health professionals will be able to contribute to curriculum development while hospital employees will have more opportunities for real-time continuing education so that they can keep pace with rapidly changing patient needs and technologies.

Michener students will continue to have clinical placements at various hospitals in Ontario, so that they gain experience in different care environments.

The Michener Institute of Education at UHN was inspired by the Mayo Clinic in the US, which pioneered the model in which educational institutions work hand-in-hand with hospitals to better meet patient and health system needs.

“With this integration we are creating the premier training site in Canada for applied health sciences professionals,” said Peter Pisters, CEO of the University Health Network. “This will bring UHN closer to our goal of becoming a High Reliability Organization – one that does everything to eliminate avoidable risks and promote the safest environment for patients. Being able to work with young health professionals to create an approach to safety that they will take with them to the workforce is an exciting opportunity. “