GOVERNMENT OF CANADA INVESTING IN REGION’S FIRST DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ACCESS CENTRE AT MOHAWK

HAMILTON, ON (September 7, 2016) – Mohawk College is launching the region’s first Technology Access Centre for Digital Health to support innovation, adoption and commercialization of digital technology into the healthcare sector.

Filomena Tassi, Member of Parliament for Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas, today announced the Government of Canada’s $1.75 million investment over five years in Mohawk’s Technology Access Centre with a College and Community Innovation Program Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Set to open in January 2017, Mohawk’s Technology Access Centre in Digital Health will draw on the expertise of more than 30 faculty, staff and students working in the college’s award-winning mHealth and eHealth Development and Innovation Centre (MEDIC). The team will work with small and medium-size companies to design, build, test and implement digital health technologies and also deliver customized training.

Digital health uses informational technology and electronic communication tools, services and processes to deliver health care services in new ways.

QUOTES:

“I am thrilled to make this major funding announcement for Mohawk College today. This grant is proof that Mohawk is a college on the move. The funding will help Mohawk continue to build its dynamic presence as a leading Ontario centre for innovation in e-health and mobile health, as well as contribute to our economy by offering innovative opportunities to small and medium sized businesses in our region and around the province. I am so happy for the hard-working faculty, students and staff at Mohawk College." – MP Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas Filomena Tassi

“We are proud to invest in Canadian colleges and CÉGEPs that are at the forefront of applied research and technological innovation. This unique program supports R&D excellence and invests in the next generation of highly skilled innovators. By deepening interactions between the college community and businesses we’re helping local companies increase their R&D capacity, access new technologies and boost their competitiveness.” – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada President Dr. B. Mario Pinto

“The Government of Canada’s $1.75 million investment in the region’s first Technology Access Centre for Digital Health will allow Mohawk to share our wealth of expertise with even more college partners. Our team will help companies bring innovative digital health solutions into homes and hospitals, create new jobs, further develop the skills of our students and help build healthier communities.” – Mohawk College President Ron McKerlie

“Mohawk’s Technology Access Centre will bridge the gap between small and medium-size companies and our healthcare system. Our centre will give these companies full access to our talent, technology and our connections to more than 1,000 digital health professionals from around the world.” - Mohawk College Director of Digital Health Applied Research Duane Bender

FAST FACTS:

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada awarded $32.7 million in College and Community Innovation Program Grants to 32 applied research projects at colleges across Canada.

The Government of Canada has invested more than $4.3 million in Mohawk’s mHealth and eHealth Development and Innovation Centre (MEDIC).

Mohawk ranks among the top 20 colleges in Canada for applied research activity and has set a goal of being among the top 10 colleges within the next five years. Mohawk is recognized as a leader in applied research in digital health technology, additive manufacturing and energy.

MEDIC was established in 2007 and has worked with more than 60 private, public and non-profit sector partners in 10 countries. Partners include Canada Health Infoway, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, eHealth Ontario and PATH, an international health organization

MEDIC faculty and staff have educated approximately 700 Mohawk students through co-op work terms, capstone projects and classroom instruction.

MEDIC was a finalist for PwC’s (formerly Price Waterhouse Coopers) 2016 Vision to Reality Innovator of the Year Award and received a Canada Health Infoway  Standards Collaborative Team Peer Award in 2010.

Mohawk is a member of the Synapse Life Science Consortium, which includes St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University, the City of Hamilton, Innovation Factory, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and the Bay Area Health Trust.

Hamilton’s health service and research sector is the city’s largest employer, with more than 1,350 healthcare, information technology, software and medical equipment and device manufacturers in the region.

CONTACTS:

Jay Robb, Mohawk College Director of Communications, 905.979.8893, jay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca

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Mohawk College educates and serves 30,000 full-time, part-time and apprenticeship students at three campuses in Hamilton, Ontario. Mohawk has been ranked number one in student satisfaction among all colleges in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area for six consecutive years and number one in graduate satisfaction for the past four years.

Results from the pilot project will be shared at a province-wide summit for colleges in the fall of 2017 to help other post-secondary institutions find opportunities to increase their own procurement of locally sourced food. Mohawk College is expecting the project to help increase local food purchases by $1.5 million over the next two years — a 15:1 return on the LFIF’s investment.

“Mohawk College’s leadership in local food will create a model that can be replicated across the province,” said Burkhard Mausberg, CEO of the Greenbelt Fund. “The public sector spends $745 million on food each year, and we are investing to make sure more of that money is spent on Ontario grown and made food.”

“Through the Local Food Investment Fund, our government is helping to expose more students and young people across this province to the great foods we grow, harvest and make here in Ontario, while helping to create new opportunities for our local agri-food producers,” said Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.. “By tapping into broader public sector institutions, like colleges, this funding can change procurement habits to ensure more public money is spent buying Ontario products, and in turn, make more Ontarians aware of local food while building a strong agri-food sector to help grow our economy.”

“Mohawk College is committed to sustainability and local food is a key component of that commitment,” said Deborah Brown, Vice President of Corporate Services at Mohawk College. “Our hope is to use our experience to establish best practices we can share with Colleges Ontario to change the way students eat across the province.”

Through the LFIF, the Greenbelt is investing nearly $850,000 to support ten projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region, bringing more Ontario grown and raised food to Ontarians. A total of $1.5 million in funding is being invested across the province.

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Erica Woods
Communications Manager
Greenbelt Fund
Phone: (416) 960-0001 ext. 306
ewoods@greenbeltfund.ca