A new partnership between Georgian Bay General Hospital and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) today becomes the newest member of the University of Toronto’s network of academic healthcare organizations, reflecting the GBGH commitment to educational excellence in training the medical staff of the future.

With today’s announcement, GBGH joins a group of 24 hospitals that are already affiliated with the University of Toronto. 

Benefits of the agreement include the potential for increased recruitment of medical staff and other health-care professionals who have done clinical placements at the hospital and surrounding clinics. It will also potentially increase retention of medical staff and other health-care professionals due to increased resources, leading to enhanced career satisfaction. The agreement also supports planning for an expanded scope of services for GBGH patients, and increased on-site research, as well as quality and safety initiatives.

“GBGH values opportunities to improve the care our hospital provides, such as this affiliation with the University of Toronto, ” says Matthew Lawson, GBGH’s president and chief executive officer.

“We continually seek ways to improve person-centred care for patients and families while also assessing how we can enhance the experience for team members who currently work and practise at our hospital, or are considering GBGH for their future career. With access to a larger network of resources, information and expertise, we expect this partnership will certainly have a positive impact on both patient care and our highly skilled team.”

The University of Toronto has delivered clinical training through the academic teaching hospitals in the Toronto area for decades. These provide education for physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health-care professionals, and many are U of T’s most important research partners.

“We are delighted that GBGH is now a community hospital affiliate, and hope this partnership will enhance the quality and delivery of care for patients, families and for the community,” says Patricia Houston, interim dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and interim vice provost of relations with health-care institutions.

Health-care providers will benefit from the agreement by achieving access to the U of T library. They will also have increased opportunities for mentorship, and more access to continuing education, through the University of Toronto’s Centre for Faculty Development, the Continuing Professional Development Programs, and Centre for Advancement of Collaborative Healthcare Education. There will also be greater opportunities for health-care providers to participate in research and scholarship.

“Having academic affiliations certainly helps our hospital when prospective physicians are considering setting up practice at GBGH, whether it be early or later in their career. They may not expect a hospital our size to have such an affiliation, but it’s an indication of GBGH investing in continual development,” says Jeff Golisky, GBGH’s chief of family medicine and deputy chief of staff.

“There is also a benefit to having greater access to resources through the Temerty Faculty of Medicine because it helps retain the current roster of highly skilled physicians we have as part of the professional staff at GBGH,” says Golisky, who is also an assistant professor at Temerty Medicine’s department of family and community medicine and director of Temerty Medicine’s Physician Assistant program.

 The agreement will continue for a four-year term, until 2028.

“With this new partnership, Ontario’s future doctors can look forward to more high-quality, hands-on learning opportunities while improving access to much-needed care for communities in Georgian Bay,” says Jill Dunlop, Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities.

“By expanding medical education, our government is helping more students become doctors to serve the people of Ontario, whenever and wherever they need it.”