It was a time to celebrate and say thank you.
Dr. Kevin Smith, UHN President & CEO, used his presentation at the Report to Our Community yesterday to highlight some of the "remarkable" achievements over the past year in care, research and education by members of TeamUHN, which includes staff, physicians, researchers, learners and volunteers.
Kevin also thanked UHN Patient Partners, a number of whom were on hand at the event in the MaRS Discovery District Auditorium, for their contributions to the goal of "evolving beyond patient engagement to meaningful patient partnership" and lauded the three UHN Foundations for providing "one of our biggest supports" in increasing links between their fundraising and hospital priorities.
Kevin acknowledged "of course, we've had our challenges" including operating above 100 per cent capacity, aging infrastructure, limited funding and burnout across healthcare professions.
"But that's not what I'm here to focus on today," he said. "Today, we're here to celebrate."
Kevin offered an overview of UHN's financial position and talked about how, in the year ahead, UHN will work with partners, including the University of Toronto, the Ontario and Federal Governments, and other healthcare partners "to advance the health system and our ability to serve patients and families."
He also talked about our work ahead being guided by UHN's Strategic Priorities – tomorrow's care, diversity in TeamUHN, the convergence of care, research and education, unleashing the power of technology and elevating Canada as a world destination for commercialization and discovery.
Kevin said UHN is "expanding our triple promise to a quadruple promise.
"UHN is a leader in care, research and education. We're committed to being a leader in quality of work life. We are all part of TeamUHN. It's a privilege to help shape a place worthy of your efforts."
The Report to Our Community, formerly known as the Annual General Meeting, kicked off with a video tribute to TeamUHN. The meeting also included presentations from Brian J. Porter, Chair, UHN Board of Trustees; Linda Johnston, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at U of T, on Partnerships; Dr. Sam Sabbah and Debra Davies on Emergency Medicine; and Kerseri Scane and Peter Kyriakides on Patient Partners.
Awards were presented for Local Impact, Global Impact, Quality and Safety and Inventor of the Year.
A Healthier World - UHN Strategic Plan 2019
