And, the winner is... UHN

The General Internal Medicine (GIM) Ambulatory Clinics Team at Toronto Western Hospital is recognized for their excellent work in broadening the scope of practice in the clinic and dramatically improving its efficiency. Team members include: (Front, L to R) Blesila Garcia, Camelia Maharaj, Fely Szott, Mary Jo Shrubsole. (Back, L to R) Kevin White, Tom MacMillan. (Photo: UHN)

A pharmacist at Toronto General Hospital, the Director of Security Operations for UHN, a clinical team at Toronto Western Hospital, and the collaborative team behind myUHN Patient Portal are this year's winners of UHN's Local Impact Award.

These prestigious awards, which were presented at yesterday's Annual General Meeting for the third consecutive year, serve to recognize employees or teams whose work has made a significant improvement in patient care or the workplace at UHN.

"Our Local Impact Awards highlight the great work done every day to make UHN a wonderful place for patients and staff alike," says Dr. Michael Baker, Rose Family Chair in Medicine and co-chair of the awards committee.

"Over the past three years, we've received about 150 nominations, which shows our tradition of recognizing excellence has taken root."

This year's four award winners are:

The General Internal Medicine (GIM) Ambulatory Clinics Team atToronto Western Hospital is the winner for the Local Impact Award – Clinical Team for their excellent work in broadening the scope of practice of the GIM ambulatory clinic while dramatically improving its efficiency in less than a year.

The team's efforts led to about 500 bed days saved through avoided admissions from the Rapid Referral Clinic. The clinic's trainees commend it for successfully instilling in them a unique and valuable skill set in ambulatory internal medicine.

The myUHN Patient Portal Team is a collaboration between UHN Digital, Patient Experience and patient participants to improve the patient experience at UHN. Team members include: (Back, L to R) Jack Hsu, Marc Drouillard,Helen Dewar, Lembi Bishop, Jennifer Santos, Jennifer Hope, Pia Nyakairu, Zejun Hu, Nadya Muncescul, Nik Kojevnikov. (Front, L to R) Jason Luk, Selina Brudnicki, Vasiliki Bakas, Annabelle Sumenap.

The myUHN Patient Portal Team is the winner of the Local Impact Award – Non-Clinical Team for their outstanding work in transforming the patient-provider relationship across the organization. The collaboration between UHN Digital, Patient Experience and patient participants to create a platform that makes online health records accessible has made an excellent difference in the patient experience at UHN.

As of yesterday, myUHN had 20,199 patients registered and continues to grow at a rate of about 1,000 patients per week. It received overwhelmingly positive feedback from patients who said they saw improvements in their care management since they started using the portal.

Derek Leong is described by his nominators as “the type of person who elevates the performance of those around him.” (Photo: Courtesy Derek Leong)

Derek Leong, Pharmacist – General Internal Medicine at Toronto General Hospital. Derek is the winner of the Local Impact Award – Individual Clinician Contributions. It recognizes the incredible leadership he demonstrates to improve the general medicine ward, and the extra time he takes to go above and beyond in enhancing patient care every day.

Derek is praised by his nominators for being "the type of person who elevates the performance of those around him." Residents are known to repeatedly ask to be assigned to his team in order to benefit from his teaching.

Todd Milne, UHN’s Director of Security Operations, was recognized for his outstanding commitment in ensuring the security and safety of all UHN staff, patients and visitors. (Photo: UHN Visual Services)

Todd Milne, Director, Security Operations, is the winner of the Local Impact Award – Individual Workplace Contributions. He is recognized for his outstanding commitment in ensuring the security and safety of all UHN staff, patients and visitors for over 13 years.

For nine consecutive years, Todd's leadership in the Security Operations Department has landed the team an impressive spot on the Security 500 rankings for being a power player among security programs worldwide. His leadership is described by his nominator as a "great example of UHN's Purpose Values and Principles throughout the years."

"When I read the nominations for this award, I was struck by the admiration people have for their colleagues," said Gillian Howard, Vice President – Public Affairs & Communications.

"The nominations are a pleasure to read and I want to thank the nominators who take the time to celebrate to let us know about the individuals above. Taking the time to recognize great work is something we all need to do more often."​