The Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) received final approval from U of T’s Governing Council at a meeting held Feb. 14.
Final approval from Governing Council represents the last governance step in establishing SAMIH, which will help fill a need for health-care professionals in Scarborough and the eastern GTA.
“I share the community’s enthusiasm about having on our campus a world-class facility for training high-quality health-care professionals. Even more exciting is the opportunity to proactively bring in a diverse group of talented individuals from our neighborhoods who will train and serve in their own communities” says Wisdom Tettey, U of T vice-president and principal of U of T Scarborough.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported us in getting here. We still have much to do, and I look forward to working with our community and our partners to make SAMIH a reality.”
First announced in March 2022, SAMIH is a partnership with U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, and Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, along with local hospitals and health networks.
Once operational, SAMIH will graduate up to 30 physicians, 30 physician assistants, 30 nurse practitioners, 40 physical therapists and 300 life sciences undergraduates per year. It will also include an expanded life sciences program at U of T Scarborough.
SAMIH received funding last March as part of the Ontario government’s plan to increase the number of doctors and other healthcare professionals in the province.
In September 2002, the Orlando Corporation announced a $25-million donation to support the construction of a new building with state-of-the-art facilities at U of T Scarborough for SAMIH. The donation was part of a larger $75-million gift to help strengthen health care and health education in Scarborough.
To galvanize support for the new training hub, $10 million of the company’s $25-million gift to U of T is a pledge to match donations from the community to support the construction of SAMIH.
“We still need to raise additional funding to enable us complete the project on schedule, so we are appealing to the community and other benefactors to emulate this wonderful show of generosity by the Orlando Corporation,” says Tettey.
Meanwhile, U of T Scarborough and the Scarborough Health Network (SHN) have been collaborating on ways to improve access to health care in Scarborough and the eastern GTA, including hosting a series of events aimed at gathering information about the region’s most pressing needs. The conversations will help shape future access to health care in Scarborough.
