Baycrest to take leadership role in enhancing quality of care for seniors
Baycrest has been awarded $625,000 annually for the next five years by the Ontario Government to develop the centre. As one of three LTCH Centres of Learning, Research and Innovation in the province, Baycrest will train the current and next generation of skilled health-care professionals in seniors’ care and drive new discoveries for enhancing quality within long-term care settings.
“Today’s announcement is another strong signal from the Ontario Government recognizing Baycrest’s leadership in seniors’ care and our unique strengths in the design, testing and implementation of innovative strategies to optimize the health and wellbeing of older persons,” said Dr. William Reichman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Baycrest.
With the funding, Baycrest will create a sector-leading interprofessional Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) for frontline long-term care staff to enhance their skills in best practices at the bedside. Because today’s elderly are entering long-term care at a more advanced age than previous generations, they are presenting with multiple and increasingly complex health conditions. The CTU will play an important role in ensuring that those in frontline health care are trained in the best, evidence-based approaches to meet the needs of current and future long-term care clients. The unit will train students and health-care professionals from Baycrest and other long-term care facilities.
“Baycrest is already home to the greatest number of trainees of any leading institution focused on aging. Each year, more than 800 students from 24 universities and colleges are trained in a wide variety of health disciplines on our campus,” said Dr. Reichman. “This funding will further enhance our ability to positively impact seniors care throughout the long-term sector and share our knowledge beyond our walls.”
The funding from the MOHLTC follows an announcement last month by MPP Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) that Baycrest will receive $14.1 million over three years from the Ministry of Research and Innovation to support continued innovations at Baycrest. That investment supports Next Generation Baycrest initiatives aimed at identifying future best clinical practices in the field (i.e. “next” practices), commercialization opportunities for Baycrest’s expertise, and innovative health system models for aging populations that can be marketed around the world.
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Baycrest is unique in the world, combining a comprehensive system of care for aging adults, one of the world’s top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience, dedicated centres focused on mitigating the impact of age-related illness and impairment, and unmatched global knowledge exchange and commercialization capacity.
For more information on this press release, please contact:
Kelly Connelly
Senior Media Officer
Baycrest
416.785.2432
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