The government of Alberta, Canada, has announced a collaboration with Siemens Healthineers and the Alberta Cancer Foundation, investing C$800m ($560m) over eight years to enhance cancer care in the region.
The collaboration, which comes under the Value Partnership framework, will support early identification and waiting time minimisation.
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Siemens Healthineers will contribute C$175m to establish two centres of excellence and further research initiatives.
The company will undertake the replacement of Alberta’s current imaging equipment with new technologies.
The initiative will commence immediately and should significantly decrease the patient waiting period.
The investment will aid in the creation of the Learning Centre of Excellence in Cancer Care, located at the Arthur JE Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary, and an AI Centre of Excellence in cancer care in Edmonton.
The Learning Centre of Excellence will not only train the next generation of healthcare professionals but will also incorporate advancements and technologies into the learning process, including virtual learning for rural and remote healthcare workers.
These two centres will focus on oncology training and the application of AI and machine learning (ML) in cancer care.
The Alberta Cancer Foundation-managed medical research and innovation fund was established with a C$48m investment from both Siemens and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
The AI Centre of Excellence will leverage Alberta’s data science expertise in oncology, aiming to improve operations and care delivery.
The Alberta Cancer Foundation will oversee the fund and assist in recognising projects aimed at advancing innovation in oncology.
Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange stated: “This partnership will reduce wait times and patient expenses while increasing capacity across the health care system. It will also provide a significant return on investment into targeted oncology areas like education, research, AI and ML to better support patients and our workforce.”
