Expanding collaboration to build a ‘Campus of Care’

OTTAWA – Algonquin College and HealthCareCAN have signed an agreement to extend and expand their current collaboration to deliver online training programs and build a ‘Campus of Care’ for healthcare professionals across Canada and beyond.

In 2017, Algonquin and CHA Learning, the professional development division of HealthCareCAN, entered into a revenue-sharing agreement for the delivery of CHA Learning’s flagship Health Information Management and Food Service Nutrition Management online programs. The successful relationship combined Algonquin’s experience in online education delivery and CHA Learning’s 70 years of offering programs and courses to tens of thousands of healthcare professionals in all regions across the country.

“Extending this collaboration agreement is evidence of the strong and mutually beneficial relationship Algonquin College has built with HealthCareCAN and CHA Learning,” said Claude Brulé, Algonquin College president and CEO. “This marks another step forward in the College leveraging its strong track record of delivering high-caliber online programming. We are excited to continue working with HealthCareCAN and its CHA Learning team to help identify and address the specific learning and training needs of the healthcare industry.”

“Our health system is facing critical staff shortages in multiple specialties, which is threatening its sustainability and its capacity to continue providing innovative, high-quality care,” said HealthCareCAN president and CEO, Paul-Émile Cloutier (pictured). “This expanded agreement between HealthCareCAN and Algonquin College creates a crucial bridge between the health system and the post-secondary system to help ensure healthcare in Canada has the right people, working in the right places, at the right time.”

The updated agreement extends the College’s collaboration with HealthCareCAN for at least three more years and will further optimize the link between HealthCareCAN’s pan-Canadian network of hospitals and healthcare providers and the program delivery expertise of Algonquin College Corporate Training, as well as direct access to an extensive catalogue of academic programs from the Ottawa, Perth, Pembroke, and Online campuses. Work will also commence on joint marketing and business strategies and broadening the number of online programs – including from Algonquin’s extensive course catalog – being offered to healthcare professionals across the country.

“CHA Learning’s commitment to forging partnerships with those that share the same values and mandate to build capacity for health system improvement is a key reason why we have made a significant difference in the professional development of so many health leaders,” said Dale Schierbeck, vice president of learning and development at HealthCareCAN. “This agreement is a win-win-win for all – for our learners with deeper and longer pathways, for Algonquin College as we share our sectoral knowledge and expertise and for healthcare across Canada as we leverage our technologies to bring the best of learning to every learner and organization who needs it.”

To address the rapidly evolving educational needs of the healthcare sector, the extended collaboration also opens the door for the co-design and development of new programs for the national, and even international, healthcare marketplace. This will build up a one-stop ‘Campus of Care’ educational ‘hub’ that healthcare professionals can access anytime, anywhere to upgrade skills and help reach their professional development goals over the entirety of their careers.