Mohawk hosts sustainability consultation with students and staff

Mohawk College has received $2.3 million in federal research funding to develop a working example of the national Electronic Health Records Solution.

Mohawk was one of four colleges and one Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEPS) to receive funding through the College and Community Innovation Program, a joint initiative of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

The College and Community Innovation Program provides funding to colleges and CEGEPS to develop or expand research transfer activities in their communities through partnerships with local companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. The program supports projects in environmental science and technology, natural resources and energy, health and related life science and technology, and information and communication technology.

"Our government is investing in science and technologygy to create jobs, strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life of Canadians," said the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology). "Colleges and CEGEPs play a vital role in building innovative communities. This funding will help them work with their local businesses to move their research out into the marketplace."

"The CCI Program builds on NSERC's other initiatives that foster collaboration between industry and postsecondary institutions," said Dr. Suzanne Fortier, President of NSERC, which administers the program. "The partners will be working on important, multifaceted Canadian problems while benefiting their local communities. We look forward to helping them achieve their maximum potential and impact."

Mohawk and the three other colleges and CEGEP (Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Cegep de Levis-Lauzon, La Cite collegiale and Sheridan College) were selected for funding following a peer-review competition. Each institution will receive $2.3 million over five years.

A team of Mohawk students, graduates and faculty are working on the Electronic Health Records Solution project with more than a dozen partners. Once launched, the EHRS will connect 40,000 health care support systems across Canada, providing health professionals with a centralized system for accessing a patient's complete medical history. Mohawk's project team and industry partners will build and demonstrate options to simplify and standardize connections to the EHRS by doctor's offices, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and other providers. The Mohawk research team will also create a new software development program to train health informatics professionals in Canada.

Read about Mohawk's Electronic Health Records Solution in the Hamilton Spectator.

For more on EHRS, check out this presentation.