Friday Sept 26 - Gateway Rural Health Research Institute official launch in Seaforth Ont
Rural Ontario has the second highest death rates from cardiac causes
in Canada, only after east coast provinces. The Huron-Perth-Grey-Bruce
region has one of the highest cardiac death rates (15.2) within rural
Ontario. Moreover, the prevalence of diabetes in the Grey-Bruce area
is double (8.0%) that of the Middlesex-London (4.1%), a neighbouring
urban area
This is just one part of the startling picture drawn by statistics
tracking the health status of Canadian rural residents. Heart disease,
stroke, hypertension, diabetes, depression, obesity and some forms of
cancers tell a similar story.
http://www.gatewayresearch.ca/
On Friday September 26 the Gateway Rural Health Research Institute is
being officially launched. Keynote speaker and Head of Research, Dr
Claudio Munoz, MD PhD will be on hand to elaborate on the need for
change and how it will be driven by clinical research dedicated to
rural health issues.
Sharing Dr Munoz's concerns about the magnitude of the problem and the
importance of taking action, a number of community leaders in the
Huron-Perth-Grey-Bruce region created the Gateway Rural Health
Research Institute, a centre focussed on addressing medical and health
issues in rural populations – to our knowledge, this is the first
community-driven research centre in Ontario and in Canada.
http://www.gatewayresearch.ca/
The research institute will have synergy in its chosen location,
Seaforth Ontario, a town in the Municipality of Huron East. Among its
community-driven initiatives in healthcare, Seaforth is home to a
community-governed Family Health Team, a regional Community Care
Access Centre, a medical clinic, a hospital allied with five others in
the region, the award-winning Healthkick initiative that is focused on
physician and medical professional recruitment, and a Registered
Practical Nurse training extension program conducted by an Ontario
community college. It has just completed construction of a 12,000 sq
ft medical centre. It is also located in the initial study area –
Huron, Perth, Grey and Bruce.
Special guest speaker is to be Dr Baretta Casey director of the
University of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Rural Health. It was a
visit by a group of local residents to the Kentucky Center hosted by
Dr Casey that inspired the creation of the Gateway Rural Health
Research Institute. She is also professor and vice chair of the
Department of Family and Community Medicine, UK College of Medicine.
During her 34-year career, Casey's dedication to rural health has
included extensive research and policy efforts at the state and
national levels
http://www.mc.uky.edu/
Join us as we celebrate the beginning of this exciting initiative for
rural Canadians.
4:00pm - 7:00pm reception for invited guests
7:00pm - 9:00pm open to the public for information and a get-acquainted session
The venue is the lawn fronting Seaforth Community Hospital off Highway
8 and will be under cover so weather will not be a factor.
Keynote address by Claudio Munoz, MD PhD, Head of Research. Claudio
Munoz has an MD degree from Chile, and MSc and PhD degrees in
Pharmacology and Toxicology from University of Western Ontario. Since
1988, he has participated as a co-investigator or sub-investigator in
more than 50 clinical trials of new cardiovascular drugs in Canada,
first at the Hypertension Research Unit, and since 1996 at the Stroke
Prevention and Atherosclerosis Research Centre (SPARC) of the London
Health Sciences Centre and the Robarts Research Institute, London.
http://www.gatewayresearch.ca/
This event is made possible by the generosity of the Heartland Credit Union.
For additional information on the Gateway Rural Health Research
Institute go to http://www.gatewayresearch.ca or contact
Lin Steffler (President)
lin.steffler@gatewayresearch.
519-955-2336
Media contact
For specific interview requests contact
Chris Lee
chris.lee@gatewayresearch.ca
519-902-2946(c)
519-887-6735(o)
