Where the next generation of health care professionals will begin their careers . . .

Georgian is raising $13.5 million through its Power of Education campaign to help build the Centre for Health and Wellness. Thanks to municipal, provincial and federal government support, as well as donations from generous Georgian donors, this project on the Barrie Campus, the largest expansion in Georgian’s history at 165,000-square-feet, has received a green light. Construction on phase one will begin this year, and the facility will open in 2011.

Georgian is now focused on raising the remaining $6 million to meet its campaign goal, and there are many naming opportunities still available in this facility. For more information on how you, your business or association can be a part of this exciting project, contact the Office of Development & Alumni Relations at (705) 728-1968, ext. 1210.

What is the Georgian Centre for Health and Wellness? The modern facility will include a number of community-accessible teaching health clinics, technology-enhanced classrooms, university-calibre laboratores and be the hub for health sciences education in our region.

A donation to this project will help students, the next generation of health care providers, have the best, most comprehensive educational experience. The  building of this leading-edge facility will result in the most qualified health care workers available for the Central Ontario region. When local people need health care, there’s a good chance one of the professionals who helps them will have received their education at Georgian College. With a health care skills shortage occurring and predicted to worsen, Georgian is working diligently on this project and believes it will be a key solution to this challenge.

The new facility will house all of Georgian’s health sciences programs under one roof, and offer the public and students an opportunity for greater access to health care in new student-run teaching clinics. The space will also enable Georgian to increase enrolment spots from 1,500 to 3,000, allowing for more people to pursue health care careers in the region through certificates, diplomas and a growing list of degree programs through Georgian’s University Partnership Centre.

As well, a new facility will enable Georgian to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching methods, which means students from various health sciences programs will study and work together for the benefit of patients. It’s the future of health care, and it’s how health care will be taught at Georgian.

If you’re interested in more information about this incredible project, want to make a donation, or want find out how you or your business can have naming rights to a classroom or laboratory, we’re happy to tell you more about it. Contact the Office of Development & Alumni Relations today at 728-1968, ext. 1210 or email dgamble@georgianc.on.ca

Thank you for your interest in Georgian, and this exciting new addition.