Johis Ortega

As a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre, SONHS is committed to continuing collaboration with PAHO/WHO, its partner Collaborating Centres, Ministries of Health, and institutions of higher health care education throughout the hemisphere.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has redesignated the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies (SONHS) as a Pan American Health Organization/WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Human Resources Development and Patient Safety for the next 4-year cycle (2020-2024). The prestigious SONHS designation has been in place since 2008. The school is currently one of only 8 nursing-related WHO Collaborating Centres in the nation and one of 44 in the world. 

A Collaborating Centre is an institution designated by the WHO Director-General as part of a global collaborative network that carries out activities in support of the WHO’s programs. The SONHS collaborates with the PAHO/WHO and with its partner PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centres throughout the Americas on initiatives that strengthen nursing leadership education, primary care delivery skills, technical expertise, and research capacities in the PAHO region.

The school’s redesignation work plan and terms of reference extend this commitment to collaborate on additional multi-center projects with health care institutions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing the areas of patient safety, health disparities, training program development, and disaster response. One new project entails developing and disseminating a survey of disaster curricula in Latin American nursing schools, from mass casualty events to disaster response for global health crises like COVID-19.

“Our school is proud to announce the renewal of this elite recognition. Our role as a Collaborating Centre aligns with UM’s hemispheric vision to connect institutions, individuals, and ideas across the Americas and throughout the world,” said Dean Cindy L. Munro, director of the Collaborating Centre.