Integrated Health Initiative | UNB

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A vision for the future

Systemic health care reform in New Brunswick – and inspiration for the rest of Canada

There is no more challenging and important issue facing Canada today than the delivery of effective, efficient and sustainable health care.

UNB and its partners are working to change the future of health care, today.

How? By offering students, researchers and existing healthcare professionals a variety of interdisciplinary training and leadership opportunities. By translating research into policy, action and tools that can be applied in real time in various healthcare environments. By creating intentional spaces for thinkers and change-makers to meet and for ideas to collide across the academic, private and public sectors.

We call it integrated health and we believe it will create bold solutions that will drive effective change and transformation in our society.

The pillars of integrated health

Economic impact

The Integrated Health Initiative has been identified as a top priority for economic development in the Saint John region.

Beyond health reform, this multi-year initiative will be a powerful magnet for motivated students, highly qualified faculty and world-class researchers. It is expected to inject $44.5M annually in payroll and research funds into the local economy.

The Integrated Health Initiative will also help energize the private sector, by attracting out-of-province investors to the campus and creating a vibrant ecosystem of entrepreneurs working alongside scientists, clinicians and health care providers from a variety of technology and research fields. The expected long term impact on the private sector ranges between $100M and $300M.

Educating the health professionals of tomorrow

New interdisciplinary degree programs

The core of UNB’s Integrated Health Initiative is a suite of new, interdisciplinary training options that draw upon our strengths in health sciences, social sciences and business education – and that prioritize experiential learning.

 

Bachelor of Health degree

Our Bachelor of Health, unique in Eastern Canada, prepares students to excel as health care administrators and policymakers, future medical professionals and informed citizens. It also exposes students to Indigenous ways of knowing, health and healing.

UNB will celebrate our first Bachelor of Health graduates in 2023.

Soon, this degree program will also offer an optional Extracurricular Undergraduate Certificate, providing participants with hands-on work experience across a spectrum of health and care environments.

Certificate in Nursing Leadership and Management

The Certificate in Nursing Leadership and Management is an online term-based program specifically designed to meet the needs of healthcare professionals starting their career in, or aspiring towards, leadership positions in healthcare. Developed with nursing managers, charge nurses, unit leads and other healthcare management roles in mind, this certificate is relevant across healthcare environments and will benefit individuals working in acute, long-term and community care throughout Canada.

Masters-level programming is also in development, including:

  • MBA in management in health, aimed at professionals
  • Master in health degree, focused on health, wellness and societal research

Support students in our integrated health programs

Centre for Integrated Health Research

Collaborative research clusters with national and global impact

Research shapes our curriculum, sparks innovation and inspires evidence-informed public policy, product development and new business ventures.

UNB is already home to 12 research institutes and groups focused on health care. Our next step is to support transformative health care reform and social development through research in five strategic areas of importance:

  • Child Rights for Child Health
  • Digital Transformation of Health Care
  • Public Health and Health Policy
  • Aging in the Community
  • Management in Health

This research will led by highly qualified research chairs, supported by faculty, practitioners, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. It will be interdisciplinary and collaborative, involving both campuses of UNB, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Community College, and Horizon Health.

Support integrated health research

Technical and social innovation

Developing new practices to meet social needs in a better way

UNB exists to serve the public good and has a long history of driving positive community development. The Integrated Health Initiative will apply UNB’s proven strengths in fostering innovation to equip the next generation of health and social innovators to mobilize tangible change.

Innovation incubator

The Innovation Incubator will be a place where students, faculty, staff and community stakeholders can hone ideas, inventions and solutions to existing health care challenges – and acquire the entrepreneurship skills necessary to launch viable products into the marketplace and into common health care practice.

Innovators will gain relevant industry experience and also leverage their inventions, with private enterprise in the neighboring Health and Technology District Saint John.

Social determinants of health

The Integrated Health Initiative will influence important change in the region related to the social determinants of health, by leveraging existing expertise in:

It will also be home to a new Antipoverty Lab, in partnership with local business leadership.

Sharing knowledge and innovation with the world

The Health and Technology District Saint John

UNB is part of a triple-helix partnership, bringing together academic, public and private change-agents who will help the knowledge and innovations which flow from the Integrated Health Initiative come to life.

The Health and Technology District Saint John will be a place where companies can invest in strategic health discovery; where students can gain hands on work experience in the sector; and where research and innovations can be tested, applied and ultimately be put into the hands of health practitioners and leaders. The Health and Technology District will be a magnet to recruit and retain top talent in the region and ultimately foster a National Centre of Excellence in Health and Health Innovation.

A building like no other

UNB Saint John’s Health and Social Innovation Centre

Overlooking the campus quad and the Kennebecasis River, this 65,000-square-foot, three-and-a-half-story structure will be located in close proximity to Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, New Brunswick Community College and the Saint John Regional Hospital.

Building highlights

  • State-of-the-art teaching and research facilities, as well as informal learning and study spaces, that are fully accessible
  • Elements that connect students and researchers to New Brunswick’s Indigenous landscape, honouring Indigenous ways of knowing and healing
  • Constructed to green building standards, aiming for LEED certification and a low carbon footprint
Support the Health and Social Innovation Centre

Integrated Health Initiative in the news

UNB researcher’s innovative work is helping to reform healthcare across the province

With more than 20 per cent of the Saint John population living in poverty, one UNB researcher is addressing this issue as a societal challenge and tackling it in a way that will drive social progress and improve the lives of children.

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Opportunity is knocking for the UNB Saint John health cluster

Early evidence of this path toward possibility has been demonstrated for the past few years: the revitalization of Canterbury Street and our waterfront, new additions to our skyline, modernization at Port Saint John, tax base growth in our municipalities, and more.

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Health & Technology District Saint John

Using the highly successful Health & Technology District in Surrey, BC as its model, the Saint John region is poised to become a leading hub for digital health and technological advancements.

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Dr. Petra Hauf, shares UNB's ambitious vision for the new Integrated Health Initiative

The Integrated Health Initiative (IHI) is an innovative and ambitious new program aimed at contributing to health care reform and addressing some of society’s most pressing issues.

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Global health researcher brings child health expertise and international experience to UNB

Dr. Ziba Vaghri has journeyed the world researching and advocating for children’s health, development and rights. Now, Dr. Vaghri is bringing that passion and expertise to the University of New Brunswick. She was recently appointed as a Senior Research Associate in the department of psychology on UNB’s Saint John campus.

Full story

A sustainable future for health care in New Brunswick

Learn how Saint John is poised to become the leading hub for digital health in Atlantic Canada.

A health and technology district for Saint John
A sustainable future for health care in New Brunswick

Help us shape the future of health care

The Integrated Health Initiative is UNB’s Strategic Vision in action, serving the public good and tackling society’s grand challenges. Through this ambitious initiative, UNB will become the place to which other jurisdictions turn when confronted with seemingly insurmountable health care challenges and social issues.

Learn more

To learn more or to become a supporter, contact Angélique Wojcik Simpson, Director, Integrated Health Initiative.

Make a gift now