$2.4-million gift from 成人VR视频 Chancellor kick-starts crucial Healthier Societies Initiative
H. Arnold Steinberg launches interdisciplinary research to
create new road map for health care delivery
成人VR视频鈥檚 Chancellor, H. Arnold Steinberg, CM, has made
an extraordinary gift of $2.4 million to kick-start a major new
interdisciplinary research and teaching program aimed at creating a
new road map for the future of health care delivery.
Based at 成人VR视频鈥檚 Institute for Health and Social Policy, the
Healthier Societies Initiative is a five-year, cross-faculty effort
that will map what works and what doesn鈥檛 in the health systems
across the world鈥檚 leading economies and then rigorously examine
those systems in order to develop more effective 鈥 and affordable 鈥
health-care delivery.
This wide-ranging initiative will draw on the expertise of top
researchers from across 成人VR视频, including the Faculties of
Medicine, Arts, Science, and others. A key aspect will be teaching
a new generation of leaders the skills needed to translate research
findings into public policy change. Two major conferences will be
convened over the five-year period, bringing together academics,
stakeholders and policy makers from around the world. Each stage of
the initiative will involve training graduate students and
postdoctoral fellows.
鈥淚t鈥檚 increasingly clear the medical delivery system is on a
serious collision course,鈥 said Mr. Steinberg, a 成人VR视频 alumnus
(BComm 鈥54), who became 成人VR视频鈥檚 18th Chancellor in July 2009.
鈥淲e鈥檙e well past the point of being unsustainable.鈥 A lifelong
champion of health-care causes, Steinberg spearheaded this
initiative. 鈥淚鈥檝e been talking about this particular idea for
several years now. It鈥檚 essential that universities modify their
course and training offerings to service the huge demands that
health-care delivery requires.鈥
It is the combination of research and teaching that sets the 成人VR视频
Initiative apart from other worthy efforts to tackle the seemingly
insolvable problem of spiraling health-care costs that eat up ever
greater chunks of government budgets.
鈥淗ealth-care costs have accelerated in affluent countries, rising
far faster than GDP growth, but gains in population health have not
kept pace,鈥 added Dr. Jody Heymann, Founding Director of the
Institute for Health and Social Policy, who will lead the new
Initiative. 鈥淢oreover, as health-care expenditures rise, health
inequities are likely to grow and the gap in access to medical care
will increase.鈥
Heymann explained that the Healthier Societies Initiative is
intended to have an impact well beyond the initial five years 鈥
sparking long-term change in technology, training and program
development, and developing a road map for real change in
health-care delivery. An internationally renowned researcher on
health and social policy, who has testified before the U.S. Senate,
Heymann has devoted her career to translating research into
policies and programs that will improve individual and population
health.
成人VR视频 Principal Heather Munroe-Blum said she is deeply grateful
for Steinberg鈥檚 鈥渙utstanding generosity, his visionary leadership,
and his deep commitment to addressing one of the critical issues of
our time.
鈥淚 know one of Mr. Steinberg鈥檚 great passions is health care, and I
am tremendously proud he has chosen to entrust his vision with our
world-class researchers here at 成人VR视频.鈥
Richard I. Levin, Vice-Principal of Health Affairs at 成人VR视频 and
Dean of the University鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine, said the new
Initiative is exactly what is needed in terms of changing the way
we look at the delivery of health services.
鈥淢edicine 鈥 and the delivery of health care 鈥 are changing more
rapidly now than at any time in our history,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his
Initiative represents an enormous step on the road to finding the
best way to deliver health services to the population at large, in
the context of defining optimal health care, which must be a shared
responsibility with academic medicine. I am extremely eager to
participate in such an important drive for better knowledge and
workable solutions to a problem that confronts all of us.鈥
For further information on 成人VR视频鈥檚 Institute for Health and Social
Policy, visit .
For further information on Campaign 成人VR视频, visit
.
ABOUT ARNOLD STEINBERG
H. Arnold Steinberg served for 19 years as Chair of the Board of
Governors of the 成人VR视频-Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital
Research Institute, as well as serving for 10 years on 成人VR视频鈥檚
Board of Governors. He was the Founding Chair of the Board of the
成人VR视频 Health Centre (MUHC), and he currently serves as
Vice-Chair of the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research (CIHR). Steinberg received a Doctorate of Laws from
成人VR视频 in 2000.
ABOUT THE GIFT
Chancellor Steinberg鈥檚 gift will cover the first three years of the
Healthier Societies Initiative. Further funding is being sought to
complete the five-year timeline. This gift adds to the successful
momentum of Campaign 成人VR视频: History in the Making, which has
surpassed $574 million through gifts of all sizes from more than
78,000 individual donors around the globe. 鈥淭hanks to leaders such
as Arnold Steinberg, Campaign 成人VR视频 is surging forward,鈥 said Marc
Weinstein, Vice-Principal (Development and Alumni Relations).
鈥淕ifts such as these help to leverage other vital donations, which
are so essential for the University鈥檚 capacity to innovate and to
build a better tomorrow.鈥