UNB breaks ground on health innovation

The Pannell Centre for Integrated Health Research is expected to drive positive change in the areas of public health and health policy, children’s health, aging in the community, equitable access to digital health tools and more efficient management in health care.

At UNB’s Saint John campus, one can literally see change in Canada’s health sector on the horizon.

In August, UNB broke ground on a 65,000-square-foot Health and Social Innovation Centre. The Centre, which will shape the campus skyline, is to be the home of UNB’s Integrated Health Initiative, or IHI. The IHI will educate innovative leaders and find bold solutions to tackle the health challenges of today and tomorrow.

“The importance of IHI to UNB, Saint John and the province cannot be overstated,” said Dr. Petra Hauf, formerly vice-president Saint John and currently UNB’s provost and vice-president academic. “It will not only transform the health sector but will also bolster the economy of the region, strengthen Saint John’s stature as a centre of excellence and confirm New Brunswick’s reputation as a leader in health and social innovation.”

IHI will enable UNB to:

• Prepare the health sector workforce of tomorrow through Interdisciplinary Education.
• Enable gains in health sector performance through Collaborative Health Research.
• Bring new solutions to the health sector and tackle societal challenges through Technical and Social Innovation.
• Create jobs and economic opportunities in New Brunswick through Knowledge Transfer and Commercialization.
• Foster New Brunswick as a national centre of excellence in health collaboration through Health and Social Innovation Infrastructure.

This three-and-a-half storey structure will build on the campus’ strategic location near key health partners such as Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, New Brunswick Community College Allied Health, and the Saint John Regional Hospital. It will create a hub for interdisciplinary activity that brings together the strengths of academic, publicly funded and private-sector health research while educating the health workforce of the future and generating economic and social benefits.

“This would not be possible without the initial $27.2M in funding provided by the federal and provincial governments to kickstart the construction. We are immensely grateful for their support,” said Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle, UNB’s president and vice-chancellor.

The August 9 groundbreaking ceremony was combined with a gift announcement from the Pannell Family Foundation of $1 million to fund the Pannell Centre for Integrated Health Research. The Pannell Centre is expected to drive positive change in the areas of public health and health policy, children’s health, aging in the community, equitable access to digital health tools and more efficient management in health care.

A fundraising campaign cabinet has been formed to bring the IHI vision across the finish line.

Get more details on the Health and Social Innovation Centre and find out how you can be a part of it.

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