University and CHR
launch Reach! partnership

The University of Calgary and Calgary Health Region recently announced a partnership of community health, patient care, research and education.

Capitalizing on the strengths that already propel discovery and change in Southern Alberta, Reach! will target philanthropic dollars to attract and retain the world’s leading medical minds, and give them the resources to design new discoveries and treatments to deliver excellence in patient care.
“ We are building on shared goals, integrating our expertise and resources and partnering with philanthropists and community leaders who can help realize the vision of a new world standard of health,” said Dr. Harvey Weingarten, U of C president and vice-chancellor.

Jack Davis, president and CEO, Calgary Health Region, said the unique partnership will help make Southern Alberta a centre of innovation where research and education go hand in hand with healing.

“ This partnership is truly unique because it means that both organizations recognize the value and importance in working together for a shared vision for health,” said Davis. “We have always had a long-standing tradition of collaboration with the university on a wide variety of projects, programs and services, but this partnership goes much deeper and will have a lasting impact on our community.”

The goal is to raise $300 million, of which $100 million is already raised to date, through targeted philanthropic investments for 100 projects and programs within eight key areas: bone and joint; brain; cancer; cardiovascular; child and maternal health; community health and wellness; frontiers of medicine; and infection, immunity and inflammation.

Four central themes— Building Healthy Communities, the Patient Experience, Attracting the Best and Brightest, and Equipped for Excellence—will drive the eight key areas.

The new partnership will use philanthropic dollars to build on excellence—health care services and programs that are over and above what government would pay for and are in line with the best that can be found anywhere in the world.

The vision for Reach! is supported through a strong collaboration between the Calgary Health Trust and the development offices of the University of Calgary Division of Health Sciences.

The Reach! Partnership is an integral part of an expanded affiliation agreement that will establish a framework for future expanded collaborations between the CHR and the University of Calgary. The region and the university penned an agreement in 1996 just after the hospitals regionalized. That agreement, which focused on increased collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine and the Calgary Health Region, has provided a strong framework for partnership between the two institutions. The relationship has proven to be very beneficial to both parties, and as a result, the agreement is expanding to involve more aspects and networks of the region and university.

The new affiliation agreement is being developed by a joint committee headed by Ron Bond from the university and Kay Best from the Region. Committee members are drawn equally from both organizations. The committee began its work in early 2005 and anticipates the new agreement will be in place by January 2006.

The types of collaboration already occurring range from administrative initiatives such as the planning of facilities, the mowing of lawns and space sharing, to major capital projects such as the building of the new Alberta Children’s Hospital on the West Campus, the Ward of the 21st Century at Foothills Medical Centre, the health institutes, and Reach!.