A former Northern Ontario man, now living in the United States, has made a huge donation to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in support of its social accountability mandate to attract more physicians to the North.
The $1.2-million donation is from Dr. Hugh Robertson, emeritus professor of radiology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and clinical professor of radiology at Tulane University Medical Centre in New Orleans.
This is the largest individual donation ever received by the medical school, said a news release from NOSM on Monday.
With roots in Cochrane, Ontario, Dr. Robertson said he is concerned about the shortages of physicians in the North.
“I have fond memories of practising in Northern Ontario and I see the great need for funding. I want to support NOSM with its strategic plan to address health human resource planning,” said Dr. Robertson.
NOSM said it plans to spend some of the money towards the establishment of a new one-of-a-kind Centre for Social Accountability. NOSM said the centre will have four pillars: research and innovation, community impact, policy leadership and advocacy, and education.
NOSM said that under the banner of a new interdisciplinary Centre for Social Accountability, the school will tackle issues that create inequitable health care in the North such as poverty, water insecurity and climate change.
“This generous gift allows NOSM to broaden the scope of our social accountability outcomes,” said Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM Dean, President and CEO.
“Increasing our focus on Northern Ontario communities, partnering on innovative population-health research and engaging in cutting-edge education will advance the work that we are doing and help establish sustainable solutions to health care in Northern Ontario. We thank Dr. Robertson for embracing this vision and are humbled and deeply grateful to him for supporting this critical work," she added.
The Centre for Social Accountability’s contributions to research and advocacy will result in better informed decisions about challenges facing the system of health-care delivery in Northern Ontario, leading to better population health outcomes, said NOSM.
Fundamental to this will be research and advocacy into determinants of health, such as mental health and addictions, water safety and food security, and climate change which will magnify the impact of NOSM’s education and advocacy efforts within the system, said the release.
Robertson, a graduate of the University of Ottawa, began his practice in the 1960s in Cochrane, Ontario, following in his father's footsteps. In the 1920s, Robertson’s father -- Dr. Hugh E. Robertson -- was practising medicine in the Town of Cochrane when it became the site of Canada’s first and largest typhoid fever epidemic.
Inspired by accounts of the town’s resilience to the disaster, Dr. Robertson decided to continue his father’s legacy of providing the best possible medical care to the townsfolk. In 1961, he arrived in Cochrane to begin practice as a physician, a time he said he remembers with great fondness.