A long-term partnership to deliver better health care in central and northern Alberta was renewed at a ceremony at the University of Alberta Hospital's McMullen Gallery yesterday.
Alberta Health Services and the U of A signed a new 15-year master affiliation agreement, committing both organizations to improve patient care together.
The agreement, which runs until 2032, marks a new era of collaboration between the U of A and AHS. Putting pen to paper formalizes guidelines for the way the organizations will work together in training and academic programs, the appointment of medical staff and health professionals, health-care delivery, capital projects, public policy, research and information privacy and security.
"It's kind of like a marriage," said Dennis Kunimoto, acting dean of the U of A's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "Having agreements laid out makes it clear so that there is no misunderstanding about who should do what, or who owns what, and how we move forward together."
Kathryn Todd, vice-president research, innovation and analytics at AHS, said she thinks the agreement will drive AHS and the U of A to do better for Albertans.
"Patients are going to benefit from the agreement by having the best care from the best trained professionals," she said. "We talk a lot in the affiliation about how we support innovation together, how it's Alberta Health Services' obligation to be a great preceptor, and the university's obligation to contribute research innovation and translate it into useable initiatives that the health system can actually take up."