London-based higher education institutions City, University of London and St George’s, University of London have signed an agreement to merge.
A statement from both universities released last week (February 22) said the merger would create a “strong multi-faculty institution” that would become one of the largest suppliers of health workers in the capital.
The merger will combine the City’s medical services, including optometry, nursing, midwifery, speech therapy, counseling and psychology, with St George’s health departments of medicine, pharmacy, biomedical, and allied and global health.
The signing of the agreement is a significant milestone for both universities, with the announcement saying it “brings significant advantages in scale, scope, capacity and resiliency.”
Subject to regulatory approval, the combined entity will be named City St George’s, University of London. It is scheduled to officially begin operations on August 1st this year, but full integration will likely take longer.
The combined organization will be led by City’s current Chancellor, Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein.
Commenting on the merger, Finkelstein said: “We are committed to playing a key role in solving one of the biggest societal challenges of our time: training and developing much-needed NHS and health professions workers and leaders. “We will be in a unique position to fulfill our mission.”
“City St. George’s will be the place to reimagine healthcare for the 21st century.”cent And we’re going to work on the research that backs that up,” he added.
Professor Jenny Higham, Vice-Chancellor of St George’s, University of London, said: “As we move forward with this strategic merger, we believe that our shared vision extends beyond medicine and research to science, service and excellence more broadly.
“I look forward to working with Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein and all of our talented staff, students and alumni in building St George’s City, University of London, into a strong hub for healthcare education and research. Masu.”