Services sample: News release

Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Funding announcement by Ontario Premier

Sudbury/Thunder Bay - Premier Ernie Eves underlined his government’s commitment to the Northern Ontario Medical School (NOMS) with the announcement of $95.3 million in capital and operating funds over the next three years.

Premier Eves made the announcement today at a media conference in Thunder Bay on the Lakehead campus and via a live videoconference link to Laurentian University in Sudbury.

“This is a great example of the kind of benefit a medical school brings to a region,” said Dr. Roger Strasser, NOMS Founding Dean. “With our funding now secure we can focus on the job of making NOMS a centre of excellence that will attract even more people, resources and development to the north — this is just the beginning.”

”We are extremely pleased to see this kind of strong financial commitment from the provincial government,” said Dr. Fred Gilbert, President of Lakehead University. “We’ve had tremendous enthusiasm and support from northerners towards this project and it's wonderful to see that the government shares our excitement and confidence.”

A joint partnership between Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury, NOMS is Canada's newest medical school, and the first to be developed in nearly 35 years. It will have campuses at both universities, with clinical teaching sites all across the north.

“Having the funding in place will let us move ahead to make NOMS a reality,” said Dr. Judith Woodsworth, President of Laurentian University. “There is a lot of work to be done to build this world-class medical school, but we know northerners can make it happen.”

“I commend the Premier for making this important announcement,” said Mr. Jim Gordon, NOMS Board member, Chair of the Implementation Management Committee and Mayor of the City of Greater Sudbury. “This will ensure the foundations we build for NOMS are solid, now and into the future.”

A new medical school for the whole of Northern Ontario, the Northern Ontario Medical School is a joint venture of Laurentian and Lakehead Universities. With main campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay, NOMS will have multiple teaching and research sites distributed across Northern Ontario, in large and small communities. NOMS will contribute to improving the health of people in Northern Ontario.

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For more information contact:

Michael OReilly
NOMS-West Communications Officer
(807) 229-7746
michael.oreilly@normed.ca
www.normed.ca