University of Toronto Scarborough will soon be educating and training future health care professionals out of the new Garron Health Science Complex. The building, located on Military Trail, near Morningside Avenue, has been in the works for nearly a decade. Come September, it will welcome the first cohort of students. “I’m so grateful to even be here in the first place, but to come into a new building will all these systems and machines, I’m excited for it,” said Venuga Kariharan, who is studying to become a physiotherapist and will be among the first to receive education at the complex. She grew up in Scarborough and hopes to settle there. At full enrollment, the university projects producing 40 physicians, 30 nurse practitioners along with other health care workers, and 300 undergraduate students each year. ‘Incredibly excited’ Monday, CTV News Toronto was invited to take part in a tour of the facility to look at high-tech classrooms and labs, and spaces filled with light and expansive views. “(I’m) incredibly excited obviously from a professional and personal perspective,” said vice-president and UTSC principal Linda Johnston, who has been involved in the project since its inception. Johnston said there have been long-standing issues around equity and the delivery of health care in the eastern Greater Toronto Area. The hope, by building a place to for students to study and gain experience locally, more people will practice nearby too. “We know there’s a good evidence base that when students are trained in a geographic region, they then tend to stay there and go on to have a professional career there,” Johnston said. And in a first for the university, the complex will also allow patients to be treated in clinics, integrating education and the community. Final touches being done on facility In the meantime, workers are putting on the final touches of the facility, which has been in the making since 2017. It’s been a long to road up to this point. The building’s location had to be selected, funding needed to be secured and a lot of work was done with the provincial government and health care partners. The complex cost $155 million to complete. Saim Imran is in his final year studying medicine and is also from Scarborough. After coming as an immigrant and helping his parents navigate the health care system, he sees great value in the new complex. Imran notes the previous option for U of T students to study medicine was downtown or in Mississauga, a substantial commute. By having the complex close by, he believes it lets people know a career in health care is available. “But what the nicest thing is you’re also giving back to the community that you’ve lived in and were raised in,” said Imran. Johnston said patients and medical students expect to be welcomed at the complex in 2027.
