A public forum will be held in Sudbury next week to allow city residents a chance to comment on what they believe is important in terms of health care education at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) going forward into the future.
As Canada's first ever stand-alone medical university, NOSM said it wants to have consultations across Northern Ontario to get input and guidance from multiple sources. A similar public forum was held in Thunder Bay earlier this month.
At that event there was discussion on expanding the role of NOSM to include the teaching of other health care disciplines. There was also discussion on eventually expanding the physical size of the school, which is located on the campuses of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury.
The NOSM University, which was created as the result of an act of the Ontario legislature in June, follows the insolvency of Laurentian University declared earlier this year.
The next public forum is scheduled to take place on Tuesday Nov. 2, both online and at the Holiday Inn on Regent Street (Georgian Rooms D & E), from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Information on the forum and the consultation process across Northern Ontario is available online.
The invitation to take part has been extended by Dr. Sarita Verma, dean, president and CEO of NOSM University.
Participants intending to take part, either in person or online, can RSVP through this online link.
At previous public forums it was noted that one of the key issues for health care in Northern Ontario is finding ways to encourage more physicians and health care professionals to stay and work in Northern communities.
NOSM has said that as it moves forward there is every plan to maintain its mandate to advocate for equitable health care, especially for underserved rural, Indigenous and Francophone communities in Northern Ontario.
