Good morning, TeamUHN!
It is a pleasure to connect with you across care, research, and education through this weekly CEO update – all in service of A Healthier World.
Key reminders and updates
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Please join us for a joint staff Virtual Open Forum, co-hosted by University Health Network and West Park Healthcare Centre, on Thursday, Sept. 28 at noon. I am happy to be joining West Park CEO Anne-Marie Malek for a discussion on why our two organizations are exploring merger to create the world's leading specialized rehabilitation centre. We look forward to answering your questions so
please submit your questions before Wednesday. All responses are anonymous. For more on this initiative,
visit WestPark-UHN.com.
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This Friday, TeamUHN will come together to mark the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day with an event at the Gitigan ( the Anishinaabemowin word for garden) at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. This solemn event, dedicated to understanding the trauma of residential schools and our collective work to advance reconciliation, will be held from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and will again include a sacred fire and drumming. Those attending are asked to wear orange shirts as a sign of solidarity and respect for the
resilience of Indigenous peoples and communities. Read
this UHN News story for more. The Indigenous Health Program has also prepared information about
events across the Greater Toronto Area, as well as educational materials.
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UHN is proud to have appointed Canada's first hospital Chief Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scientist, Dr. Bo Wang. Bo is focused on harnessing this promising and complex technology to better serve patients, unlock answers in health care, and improve our system. “AI has the potential to revolutionize health care by improving patient outcomes, increasing efficiency and reducing costs," he told UHN News, adding that, with the new position, UHN will “spearhead the integration of AI technologies into clinical practice, ultimately leading to more personalized and effective health care for Canadians." This appointment was also covered nationally
by The Canadian Press and CBC. Bo's appointment builds on the earlier launch of
UHN AI Hub, a collaborative centre for advancing AI technologies and their application as UHN explores the immense opportunities in this space.
Read more in this UHN News story.
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UHN Nursing's
new Annual Report 2022/23 celebrates the indispensable impact of nurses at UHN who are a constant and reassuring force in the lives of our patients and families. The report illuminates how nurses help propel UHN's reputation for excellence to new heights in Canada and around the globe. Stories and profiles feature nursing milestones, unique nursing roles, and academic and clinical achievements, and demonstrate how nurses are developing innovative approaches for the evolving health care landscape.
View and read the report and check out postings on UHN social media channels.
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In more good news,
Newsweek magazine has again highlighted excellence at UHN. The magazine, in partnership with Statista and after a global survey of tens of thousands of medical professionals, has released its 2024 lists of the world's best specialized hospitals. The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre was ranked 13th in the areas of oncology, while Toronto Western Hospital and the Krembil Neuroscience Centre was ranked 57th in neurology and 43rd in neurosurgery. Toronto General was recognized in gastroenterology (15th), cardiac surgery (18th), endocrinology (34th), pulmonology (36th), cardiology (38th), urology (39th), and oncology (103rd). Toronto General was also the only Canadian hospital to crack the top 50 in Newsweek's list of the
world's best smart hospitals. Head over to
Newsweek to see the full rankings of specialized hospitals and learn about the methodology behind these rankings.
What happened at the Executive Leadership Forum meeting
UHN's Executive Leadership Forum (ELF) represents a broad range of voices and skill sets from across the organization and provides direction and oversight in service of patients, TeamUHN and our vision of A Healthier World. See the full membership on
UHN.ca.
The last ELF meeting was held on Thursday, September 21.
UHN Foundation Campaign
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Background: Along with our Government funders, the support of donors to the UHN Foundation and Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, is critical to enabling advancements in patient care, research, and education that have made us Canada's leading hospital. The UHN Foundation is currently developing a new brand campaign strategy designed to enhance understanding of UHN's impact across our communities and welcome new donors to the UHN Foundation. A key objective will be differentiating this campaign from more traditional hospital advertising campaigns. ELF reviewed the emerging campaign concept and provided feedback to enable the continued development and evolution of this work.
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Who Presented? Julie Quinneville (President & CEO, UHN Foundation)
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What I need to know: This campaign will focus on the range of team members that make health transformation and innovation possible at UHN. The UHN Foundation will give TeamUHN a high-level "sneak peek" of the new campaign at the TeamUHN Week of Gratitude on November 6-10. Looking ahead, UHN will be working to develop and align UHN's brand architecture, providing enhanced guidance and new tools to support UHN teams on the appropriate use of UHN brand, logos and visual and verbal identity in both print, digital and video formats.
Closing Notes
Be sure to
nominate an inspiring individual or team at UHN for a 2023 Local Impact Award. These awards recognize the exceptional contributions individuals and teams make to helping UHN build A Healthier World, with seven categories reflecting our strategic priorities, including Quality & Safety; Tomorrow's Care; TeamUHN; Technology & Innovation; Convergence: Commercialization & Discovery, and the President's Patient Partner Award. This year's 2023 Local Impact Awards and President's Patient Partner Award will be presented in November during an inaugural TeamUHN Week of Gratitude, from Nov. 6-10. The Quality & Safety Awards will be presented at the UHN Quality & Safety Summit on Nov. 15. Nominations will close on Oct. 6. Submit your nominations
here today.
We are delighted to share this quarter's list of honourees through UHN Foundation's Honour Your Hero program. From May to July 2023, 129 staff members were honoured by grateful patients. View the report
here. Honour Your Hero gives patients and their families an opportunity to make a donation in support of UHN as an expression of gratitude to hospital staff for exemplifying UHN's value of excellence in patient care with compassion and kindness. Join us in recognizing the accomplishments of our TeamUHN colleagues. Your care inspires patients to give. To learn more, visit
uhnfoundation.ca/heroes.
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! Health care organizations around the world continue to be targets for cyber attacks, so it is crucial that all members of TeamUHN understand how to identify and avoid phishing emails and identity theft attempts. This October, the Digital Security team will run several phishing exercises and share helpful weekly tips. Your participation in the month's activities will not only give you a refresher on cyber security best practices, but it will give you chances to win great prizes! As always, please forward all suspicious emails to
spam@uhn.ca or use the "Report Phish" button in your Outlook application's toolbar.
Be sure to read
this great UHN News storyon how UHN is improving care for sickle cell patients. A genetic condition that disproportionately impacts Black communities, Sickle Cell Disease causes red blood cells to morph into a sickle shape, resulting in extreme pain and internal damage as they circulate throughout the body. Still, many health care professionals need to learn more about the disease and how to manage a crisis. The Red Blood Cells Disorder Clinic at UHN recently hired Karen Fleming, a clinical nurse specialist and life-long advocate for sickle cell patients, to help improve care by reducing racialized experiences, treatment delays, and the risk of serious complications when patients arrive in the emergency room. "You can't talk about sickle cell disease without referring to the racial biases and inequities that impact access to care and patient outcomes," Karen told UHN News.
Read the story online to learn how UHN is moving to close the care gap as we mark Sickle Cell Awareness Month.
Congratulations to UHN Board of Trustees member Ajay Virmani on being featured in "Bags to Riches," a new docuseries spotlighting the personal and professional journeys of some of Canada's most notable immigrant success stories. Learn how he went from washing skyscraper windows in Toronto as a new immigrant to Canada to founding Cargojet, Canada's largest air cargo delivery service.
Watch the full "Bags to Riches" video.
And now.. our
video of the week. This clip explores how the music therapy program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is improving patients' emotional needs and overall care.
Feedback?
Your feedback is welcome and valued. Please reply directly to me or
leave anonymous feedback here.
Have a good week,
Kevin
