August 18, 2008
NEWS
Ontario is helping the County of Huron and its partners
build on the success of HealthKick Huron and create more communities
of choice for health care professionals in rural Ontario.
The province is investing $476,435 to help expand HealthKick
beyond Huron into the rural regions of the South West Local Health Integration
Network. HealthKick will work with youth interested in health care related
careers and expose them to the full range of health care employment
opportunities available in the sector. The initiative will also work
to create a training and development plan to provide new and existing
health care professionals with locally delivered and accessible training
focused on the needs of rural communities. These initiatives build on
the original HealthKick project which was designed to tackle some of
the human resources challenges found in rural Ontario.
The funding is part of the Rural
Economic Development Program which invests in community-based projects
in three priority areas:
QUOTE
"This project will provide opportunities for young people to
attain skills and access to higher education in the health care field,"
said Huron-Bruce MPP Carol
Mitchell. "It will also help ensure that Huron and the surrounding
communities have access to high quality health care closer to home."
"This program is committed to developing the local capacity
needed to create communities of choice for health care professionals
in rural Ontario, said Pamela Stanley of the Huron
Business Development Corporation. "Through the expansion
of this program, we will now be able to more effectively tackle the
challenges facing rural health care in Ontario."
QUICK FACTS
For more information contact:
Sherry Persaud, Minister's Office, 416-326-6439
Brent Ross, Communications Branch, 416-326-9342
