Good Monday morning,
I'll start with some recommended reading:
The Michener Institute of Education at UHN released their annual Education Report[Editor's Note: Link is no longer available]. If you aren't well versed with the work of our Michener colleagues, I invite you to embrace your sense of curiousity and learn about what they do here
[Editor's Note: Link is no longer available] for our future generation of providers! We all have things to learn and things to teach!
Last week, I joined some of our Patient Partners in a focus group to discuss UHN's strategic plan[Editor's Note: Link is no longer available]. Happy to report they agree with the work we've done so far based on your feedback. Hats off to all for the great insights! During the focus group, I mentioned our goal to get patients home as soon as possible (given that hospitals aren't places they'd like to be for longer than necessary) and
a couple of our Patient Partners said "I actually liked being here!". One caregiver said many of our staff have become their friends and that their partner felt safest at UHN.
While I wasn't surprised to hear glowing compliments about our staff, I can't say the majority of our patients prefer a hospital bed to their home. As good consumers of research, we know that hospitalization is the third leading cause of mortality in the U.S. – so we must continue to look at ways of delivering care beyond our own walls and
ensure patients feel safe and supported when discharged. I hope we increasingly eradicate the view that the process of care between hospital and home is anything but seamless and changes we make will support the transition from hospital to home so that everyone knows that patients are receiving the support they need.
I also discussed strategic planning with Princess Margaret research faculty at their recent lunch and learn. Princess Margaret, UHN Research and other areas of UHN are going through their own strategic planning processes at this time so it's important all plans are anchored by a shared set of overarching priorities and UHN's strategic plan. Our opportunities to help our funders reach their goals (by investing in UHN) will greatly increase if our efforts are coordinated. If any groups are working on any large-scale initiatives and have questions about coordinating with UHN's 2019-23 strategic plan, email
strategy@uhn.ca. More updates on our strategic plan to come.
Some of you may have seen the
coverage this week in the New York Times with respect to a noted cancer specialist and his relationship to industry. The article focused on the potential for conflict of interest when experts, and their home organizations work with the private sector. As an academic health sciences centre, potential conflicts of interest are inherent in the work we do at UHN. Potential conflicts of interest mean we're inventing things and living up to our purpose. Having said that, we need to make sure our conflicts are managed and transparent. This article underlines the tremendous importance of the work we're doing on conflict of interest along with our TAHSN partners. UHN is open for business and this work helps us protect each other and our reputations.
Here's a link to the article in case you'd like to read it. Thanks to our conflict of interest working group – the Relationship Management Committee – which can be a resource to you if you have questions about conflict of interest. You can reach them by contacting Dr. Camille Lemieux (camille.lemieux@uhn.ca) who chairs the committee.
Finally, I met more members of Team UHN at Toronto Rehab's (TR) University Centre (UC) annual BBQ. I'm sorry to have missed and to be missing the BBQs at Lyndhurst and Bickle – having recently visited both sites I can imagine how enjoyable theirs would be given their welcoming staff and beautiful greenspace. Thank you to those who introduced themselves at UC, it was a pleasure hearing about the work you do. This includes
ViaTherapy, an app that offers curated evidence on upper extremity stroke rehabilitation so providers can spend less time looking up interventions and more time with patients. The app was designed under the leadership of
Dr. Mark Bayley (Medical Director, TR Brain & Spinal Program) in collaboration with a number of international experts. Thrilled to see it was named one of the world's top five rehabilitation apps at the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology conference held in the U.K.. Yet another great example of external recognition!
Have a good week,
Kevin
