Members of the public in Northern Ontario are invited to comment on the plans to make the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) a wholly independent school separate from Laurentian University and Lakehead University.
The proposal announced on April 15 by the Government of Ontario would allow NOSM to be a standalone university with the ability to grant academic degrees. Previously, when NOSM was established back in 2005, it was associated with Lakehead and Laurentian, with campuses in Thunder Bay and Sudbury respectively.
Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM's president, dean and CEO, said the school has become a point of pride in the North over the years and the new plans are welcome.
"The Government of Ontario’s announcement of their plans to make NOSM an independent institution is the next step on our mission to strengthen health care and education across the North," said Verma in a news release.
Verma added that despite all the work to create a credible medical school, health care in Northern communities remains in crisis.
"Access to physicians is limited and inequality is worsening in Indigenous, Francophone, and rural and remote communities. At NOSM, we are committed to fixing this," said Verma.
The move to create a separate university for NOSM follows the recent news that Laurentian is in financial difficulty and is being restructured under the Companies' Creditor Arrangement Act (CCAA) process.
While NOSM is physically located on the Laurentian and Lakehead university campuses, as an entity created in part to address chronic doctor shortages in the North, Verma said NOSM does not belong to LU or any other institution.
"It belongs to the people of Northern Ontario," she said. "By making this step towards maturity, we will be able to strengthen our ties to both Sudbury and Thunder Bay while extending our reach into every corner of the North.”
Verma invited residents to comment on the proposal by visiting the provincial consultation page. Residents will be invited to make comments by email.
Training, College and Universities Minister Ross Romano of Sault Ste. Marie said the change is important to ensuring the availability of health human resources in the North.
"The proposed legislation to make NOSM an independent university is a recognition of the fact that NOSM has an ongoing reputation of delivering high-quality degree programming. This legislation will allow NOSM to offer the same high-quality degrees they offer today, but now under their own name. This will also allow NOSM to become more agile and nimble to the changing environment for students as they help tackle the health human resource needs of Northern Ontario," said Romano.
Romano said the NOSM change would be included in the province's new act to reduce red tape, also introduced on April 15.
The decision to include NOSM in the red tape bill also furthers the government’s mandate to reduce burdensome regulations and red tape. It is important to note that NOSM already operates largely independently, and the Ministry already funds NOSM directly. In addition to championing the evolution of NOSM as a University, the proposed legislation will reduce duplicative and unnecessary administration and governance, he said.
Romano also said the decision to create NOSM as a formal degree granting university is something that has been done before in Ontario and he supports it.
"The government is proud to support the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as an independent university. I look forward to continued collaboration with local communities and institutions to grow and support Northern post-secondary education.”
