Good Monday morning,
1. Highlights on UHN's Essentials
UHN's Essentials are essential to the work we do as a leading academic health sciences centre – hence the name!
Read here to learn more. Below, you'll find highlights on UHN's Essentials from last week.
People and Culture What we can and must do in response to signs of domestic violence: I urge you to take 15 minutes and
review this evidence-based module which has the complete support of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN). When we use the term "TeamUHN" we're taking a stance on what we're about and what we stand for – which means we all have a responsibility to help colleagues who may be in danger. Thanks to everyone here who developed this in partnership with Women's College Hospital, Sinai Health System and Scarborough Hospital. I linked to this course last December before the official launch but thanks to feedback from colleagues across TAHSN, there are significant improvements so please review the contents if you haven't already. For questions and suggestions, please contact Jane Sloggett (Senior Director, Occupational Health and Safety -
jane.sloggett@uhn.ca).
Technology Two important notes about our Health Information System (HIS): 1) I've been tagged in some discussion on social media about rumoured vendors, and while I'm typically all for transparent dialogue, please show support for TeamUHN by protecting the integrity of the procurement process. For those who don't know, we issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) meaning we have a short list of vendors bidding for our HIS contract. To ensure a fair selection process, we are obligated to follow certain rules which include refraining from discussing specific vendors and solutions. Thank you everyone for your continued support.
2) We know that implementing a new HIS will be a significant transformational change involving some growing pains. Rest assured, quality of work life is a top priority for UHN and we will be evaluating usability of all the systems that qualify in the RFP process. The Digital team is thinking about communications with a focus on how technology can help assist us in our clinical transformation across hospital and home services.
2. UHN honoured by visit from Israel's President Reuven Rivlin – and remembering what's most important.
Last week, Israel's President Reuven Rivlin visited Canada for the first time and
included UHN as part of his visit. Representatives of the State of Israel delegation joined President Rivlin for a demonstration of Peter Munk Cardiac Centre's Holoscope, a groundbreaking technology invented in Israel that allows cardiologists and cardiac surgeons at PMCC to use holographic imaging in real time during procedures. What an honour to show our guests this remarkable example of Israeli-Canadian collaboration benefiting patients, research and commercialization!
The visit was followed by a sobering turn of events. President Rivlin ended his visit to Canada early to return to his wife Nechama in Israel, who faced a sudden deterioration of her health due to complications from a lung transplant she underwent a few weeks ago. I'm relieved to hear she is in stable condition and wanted to
share the video message that President Rivlin posted on Twitter after seeing his wife. A moving expression of how important Nechama is to him and the gratitude he feels for her care team at Beilinson Hospital. Events like this brings important and valued perspective. So, I'll end with a reminder to reflect on how privileged we are to help patients through care, research and education at UHN, and to appreciate your loved ones.
3. What we discussed at our Executive Leadership Forum meeting
Two items were discussed this week by UHN's Executive Leadership Forum (ELF). For those getting up to speed with the creation of ELF,
please read my initial note here and stay tuned for a new Intranet page that will list the forum's purpose and membership.
- Senior Management Forum survey results: We had our Senior Management retreat a little while ago and agreed there's an opportunity to make TeamUHN feel safer, more valued and heard. Following the retreat, we sent out an anonymous survey asking senior leaders what we could do to improve and reviewed the results at this week's ELF meeting. One of the themes was promoting unity and a TeamUHN mentality, which is an ongoing and active focus for everyone here. The goal is to create an organizational structure that will better support this.
- HIS governance – next steps: As mentioned, implementing our new HIS will take support from everyone on TeamUHN. To ensure we have the right supports in place, UHN Digital is working on a proposed communications and escalation framework so needs can be addressed quickly.
4. Presenting on UHN's Integrated Comprehensive Care Program at Princess Margaret.
Thanks to the Department of Medical Oncology & Hematology and the Radiation Medicine Program for inviting me to present on integrated care at Combined Rounds. To see the presentation,
create a free account here (password: rounds2018). UHN's Integrated Comprehensive Care program is launching in June 2019 starting with thoracic surgery. Since announcing the program, other groups have reached out indicating their readiness and willingness to create their own pathway – so please reach out if you see potential in your area and stay tuned for more updates. Exciting progress in our efforts to inspire, invent and deliver tomorrow's care!
Have a good week,
Kevin
