Canada and Prince Edward Island invest in a new building for the University of Prince Edward Island Faculty of Medicine

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE, March 2, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island, Sean Casey, Member of Parliament for Charlottetown, Heath MacDonald, Member of Parliament for Malpeque, Robert Morrissey, Member of Parliament for Egmont, the Honourable Ernie Hudson, Minister of Health and Wellness, the Honourable Cory Deagle, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Dr. Greg Keefe, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island, announced more than $48.8 million in joint funding for the new health education building that will house the new Faculty of Medicine on the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) campus.

The funding announced today will be key to the creation of the UPEI Faculty of Medicine. It will allow UPEI, in partnership with Memorial University of Newfoundland, to offer a joint Doctor of Medicine degree. The program will start in September 2025 under Memorial's accreditation and will later become a fully joint program.

The new five-storey, nearly 133,000-square-foot energy-efficient facility will provide spaces where simulations, clinical learning and academic anatomy learning will be able to take place for medical students and students in other interprofessional health education programs such as nursing, nurse practitioner, and paramedicine.

It will also house the expanded UPEI Health and Wellness Centre, which will transition to a patient medical home and on-site psychology clinic that will add much needed capacity to Prince Edward Island's healthcare system. The facility will be a model for primary care delivery, improve community access to healthcare and provide service to more than 10,000 patients each year. This increased access will help reduce the waitlist for family doctors and relieve pressure on Island walk-in clinics, emergency rooms, outpatient departments, and physicians.

By investing in infrastructure, the Government of Canada is growing our country's economy, increasing the resiliency of our communities, and improving the lives of Canadians.

Quotes

"Islanders will benefit from this partnership between two of the finest post-secondary institutions in Atlantic Canada for decades to come. Having the ability to train doctors right here on the Island, in a state-of-the-art facility, will be significant for Prince Edward Island's healthcare system. Our government will continue working with our partners to ensure Canadians can get the care they need, when they need it."

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

"The University of Prince Edward Island's new Medical School Building is another example of our commitment to strengthen Canada's universal public health care for people from coast-to-coast-to-coast. By training health care professionals right here on Prince Edward Island, UPEI will help Islanders access the high quality, public, and timely health care they—and all Canadians—deserve."

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

"Canadians have a long history of pioneering innovative healthcare education. Through this partnership with the Government of Prince Edward Island and the University of Prince Edward Island, we are building on that legacy. All Islanders and all Canadians will benefit from the work that will take place in this new facility."

Sean Casey, Member of Parliament for Charlottetown

"This is a significant milestone in our province's commitment to train, recruit and retain healthcare professions. This investment and the transformational change we are making in our healthcare system with medical homes and neighbourhoods will help create the safe, high quality healthcare system that Islanders need and deserve. Partnerships like this one show how important it is to have everyone working together toward our common goals."

The Honourable Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island

"The University is grateful to have both federal and provincial government support for this vital infrastructure that not only will support current and future training needs for a variety of health professions and practitioners in our community, providing much needed human resources, but will also add capacity to our health system by way of the patient medical home and on-site psychology clinic."

Dr. Greg Keefe, President and Vice-President, University of Prince Edward Island

Quick Facts

• On February 7, 2023, the Government of Canada announced a national investment of $198.6 billion over 10 years, including $46.2 billion in new funding for provinces and territories to improve health care services for Canadians, of which Prince Edward Island will receive over $1 billion over 10 years.
• The Government of Canada is investing $19.5 million in this project. The Government of Prince Edward Island is contributing $16.2 million, while University of Prince Edward Island is investing $13 million.
• The Government of Canada's funding comes from the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
• Under the Investing in Canada Plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.
• The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program is delivering over $33 billion for public infrastructure across Canada. Under this program, provinces and territories submit projects to Infrastructure Canada for funding approval. To date, the program has approved more than $23 billion for over 5,200 projects in communities across the country.
• Since 2016, under the Investing in Canada Program, Infrastructure Canada has invested more than $329 million in 156 projects across Prince Edward Island. 
• Over the past six years, Infrastructure Canada has invested more than $47.4 million in 43 community, culture and recreation projects across Prince Edward Island under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. 
• To date more than $1.2 billion in federal funding has been approved through the program for community, culture and recreation infrastructure projects across the country.
• The funding announced today builds on the Government of Canada's work through the Atlantic Growth Strategy to create well-paying middle class jobs, strengthen local economies, and build inclusive communities.

Associated links

Federal infrastructure investments on Prince Edward Island
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/prog-proj-pe-eng.html

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan
http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html 

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SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

(media only) Jean-Sébastien Comeau, Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor, Office of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, 343-574-8116, [email protected]; Media Relations, Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [email protected]; April Gallant, Senior Communications Officer, Transportation and Infrastructure, Government of Prince Edward Island, 902-368-5112, [email protected]; Nicole Phillips, Director of Communications and University Relations, University of Prince Edward Island, 902-566-0947, [email protected]