The Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement recently amalgamated. CEO of CPSI Chris Power retired, and CFHI CEO Jennifer Zelmer was named President and CEO for the newly amalgamated organization. In this monthly blog, Jennifer shares her thoughts about this month's Digital Magazine topic.
Without question, this has been a tough, challenging year. The global pandemic has dominated the news and our personal lives, and it has reinforced the commitment we share to supporting and improving healthcare.
I want to offer my most sincere thanks to all healthcare providers and essential care partners across the country. We value your tireless efforts to heal each patient, manage each crisis, support your well-being and that of your colleagues, and find the strength to carry on – and we pledge to continue to work with you to ensure care is better and safer for everyone.
This issue of the Digital Magazine highlights just a few ways that we are doing so. It includes progress made on our Policy Framework for Patient Safety, for instance. Our Senior Program Manager, Jan Byrd, spoke to the Executive Director of the Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety, Laurie Thompson, to discuss how that organization has applied the five policy levers to improve the effectiveness of their outreach programs.
We also hear from long-time partners at the Atlantic Learning Exchange about their unique opportunities for like-minded individuals across the Atlantic provinces to connect, broaden their knowledge, and take that knowledge translation back to their workplaces.
And we are expanding efforts across the country to support pandemic preparedness and response in long-term care and retirement homes, with the Government of Canada's latest $6.4 million investment doubling the number of homes we can support with seed funding, coaching, connections with peers, and other elements of the LTC+: Acting on Pandemic Learning Together Program.
As 2020 draws to a close, in addition to reflecting on the tough times that we have seen, we can also celebrate how we have come together. STOP! Clean Your Hands Day, World Patient Safety Day, and Canadian Patient Safety Week are just three examples that have joined patient safety proponents across the country together. And I am glad to also look back on all the work we have done this year to amalgamate the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.
We are looking forward to introducing our new organization to you in the upcoming months, along with exploring with you the ways that we can continue to partner to accelerate improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety. As you too reflect on the turning of the year, I hope that you take a break if you are able and share special moments with loved ones in any way you can.
Take care, be well, and stay safe,
Jennifer Zelmer
Follow @jenzelmer
