Proposed UPEI medical school campus off to public meeting phase

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — UPEI’s plans to create a brand new medical campus took a giant step ahead at a particular assembly of Charlottetown council on Nov. 2.

Council voted unanimously in favour of sending the matter to the general public session section.

“Lots of people have been working very onerous over the past six-plus months to get us to this stage,’’ Greg Keefe, the interim president of UPEI, informed the SaltWire Community on Nov. 1, previous to the council vote.

Keefe mentioned the college has been working most of this 12 months with its companions at Memorial College in Newfoundland and Labrador on the construction of a medical college program, discussing the whole lot from curriculum to accreditation and growing the mandatory infrastructure on the Charlottetown campus.

The brand new college of drugs can be constructed on a vacant lot on the college’s north aspect, behind Alumni Corridor on College Avenue. It’ll stretch north, virtually to Royalty Crossing (previously referred to as the Charlottetown Mall), and east to the Confederation Path.

“The principle function (of the placement) is that this facility is supposed to be very accessible to the general public and placing it within the coronary heart of (the prevailing) campus would make it fairly tough,” Keefe mentioned, including the constructing additionally needs to be accessible for these with mobility points and ample parking should be offered.

Section I

Keefe mentioned the primary section of the mission will see the development of a five-storey medical college constructing, measuring about 139,200 sq. toes.

It’ll home a simulation- and clinical-learning centre; a medical, psychology and ADHD clinic; pupil, school and administration areas and extra.

The simulation centre will even be utilized by the nursing, paramedicine and nurse practitioner applications and serve some features of veterinary drugs.

Town is anticipated to schedule a public assembly within the close to future on the difficulty.

Coun. Terry MacLeod, chair of the planning board committee, mentioned the mission is one other signal of a rising metropolis.

“I believe this can be a nice mission for our future and can give the town and the college extra range and can be a future joint mission with the personal sector, which I believe is necessary for our financial system,” MacLeod informed the SaltWire Community on Nov. 1.

Begin date

This can be a co-degree program with Memorial College with the primary wave of scholars anticipated to reach within the fall of 2024.

Keefe mentioned the ambitions are excessive as the varsity of drugs will look to handle a few of the challenges plaguing P.E.I.’s health-care system.

There can be new physicians coming into the province to workers the clinic.

Quick details

Following is details about the proposed medical campus at UPEI:

• The location plan reveals a brand new parking zone with 127 commonplace areas to be constructed north of the varsity of drugs.
• UPEI is working with an arborist to find out what timber needs to be preserved on website.

Keefe mentioned the clinic goals to service about 10,000 folks.

“We’re working with the medical neighborhood to make sure that we’re doing it within the correct approach to facilitate help for physicians in the neighborhood,” Keefe mentioned. “We’ll work with Well being P.E.I. on recruitment. I believe being linked to a medical training program will facilitate recruitment, not solely right here on the college (however) different areas throughout the province.”

Website prep work is scheduled to start by the tip of November.

It’ll value the college about $60 million to construct the medical college facility. A few of that’s provincial cash.

Dave Stewart is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He might be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @DveStewart.