Building a strong academic health sciences network in Northern Ontario

Background

A report on the Northern Ontario Symposium on Clinical Academic Intregration

A Commitment to Further Integrate Academic Work in Northern Ontario’s Academic Health Sciences Centres (AHSC)

In early 2017, the CEOs from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) and Health Sciences North (HSN) signed the attached joint communique (thumbnail that you can click to open the document) , signalling their commitment to renew their relationship, and to increase the integration of academic work in Northern Ontario’s two academic health sciences centres, and ultimately, to develop a Northern Ontario Academic Health Sciences Network.

The Northern Ontario Symposium on Clinical / Academic Integration

A symposium was held in April, 2017, where discussion among academic and clinical leaders across Northern Ontario took place. The brief report from the symposium can be accessed and the following video provides a glimpse into the proceedings.

Implications for the project beyond the AHSCs

Since the project’s inception, the leadership from all three organizations has been careful to ensure that as the AHSCs and NOSM further refine their relationship and way of operating, the other NOSM partners across Northern Ontario are also kept informed, and where possible, would also keep pace with the evolving academic landscape. In November 2017, the project was discussed at the Local Education Group (LEG) leads’ meeting.

The Purpose and Guiding Principles of this Network

Purpose of this Collaboration

Our organizations share the following goals:

Improving patient and population health outcomes in Northern Ontario.

Excellence in health professional education.
Knowledge creation and exchange to improve the health of Northerners.
Supporting a secure health workforce that meets Northern Ontario’s needs.

Together, through a systematic, coordinated approach to education, research, and care, we can have greater impact, serving as small and large nodes in a network of excellence and innovation, and as a collective resource for all health care providers in Northern Ontario.

Together, through shared strategic planning, and leveraging the strengths of each partner, we can improve cost efficiencies and advocate with one voice for funding and other resources to advance the health of Northern Ontarians.

Guiding Principles for Next Steps

Social accountability to all Northern Ontario communities.
Active partnership, characterized by transparency, accountability and trust.
Solidarity, equity and active championing among partners.
Inclusivity: perspective of learners, patients, researchers,
and clinicians informs the way forward.
Shared academic and strategic planning, aligned with Northern Ontario’s needs.
Visible, sustainable, streamlined systems and processes that support inter-organizational alignment.
Recognition that collective action is needed.
Building an environment that encourages risk and innovation, with mechanisms for collective input and action (liberating structures).
Commitment to leadership development.

Current Priorities

Based on the outputs of the Northern Ontario Symposium on Academic Integration (April 2017), the following workplan has been developed, to advance work in the areas of

Academic Accountability and Support: This involves piloting new integrated leadership structures within the AHSCs, and ensuring the leadership positions are adequately supported
Strategic Collaboration and Governance: This work involves developing a new approach to accountability for academic funds across all three organizations, and developing a clear mechanism for maintaining a strong partnership and shared decision-making.
Seamless Administrative Support: This work involves reviewing existing roles and functions to administer academic work in the AHSCs, to minimize overlap and address gaps.
Engagement of Regional Partners: Other clinical and academic partners across Northern Ontario will continue to be engaged as this project unfolds, to ensure that their needs are integrated in any changes that this current workplan may yield, and in the future, to pave the way for a broader network.

Key Documents Related to this Initiative

Joint CEO Communique

On March 20, 2017, the CEOs from NOSM, HSN and TBRHSC released this joint communique, articulating their commitment to work together to advance patient care, education and research in Northern Ontario. NOSM previously had separate agreements with Northern Ontario’s two AHSCs, and this communique signifies a commitment to create a tripartite agreement.

Northern Ontario Clinical/Academic Integration Project - External Environmental Scan

This external environmental scan document was created in early 2017 from interviews with medical schools and academic centres across Canada and internationally. Key informants were asked to describe their practices that support the integration of academic work in clinical settings. It has served as a reference document for this project.

Together we are Stronger – A Report on the Northern Ontario Symposium on Clinical / Academic Integration

On April 20-21, 2017, a symposium was held, bringing together clinical, academic and administrative leaders from NOSM, TBRHSC, HSN and other important Northern Ontario partners, to discuss advancing the integration of academic work in Northern Ontario’s Academic Health Sciences Centres, and to build a Northern Ontario Academic Health Sciences Network. From this symposium, a two-year plan was developed and jointly resourced, to advance the priorities identified at this meeting.

Our Workplan to April 2019

Following the symposium, and based on the priorities identified in the symposium report, the attached workplan was created.

Workshop Summary: Academic Leadership, Accountability & Support in Northern Ontario Academic Health Sciences Centres

On April 20, 2018, an in-person workshop was held to discuss piloting new leadership structures in some clinical Units at both Thunder Bay Regional Hospital and Health Sciences North. Academic leaders from four disciplines and executives from NOSM, HSN and TBRHSC all met to articulate a vision for their department’s leadership and to discuss supports needed to provide effective academic leadership at the AHSCs. This report describes the discussions that took place, and preliminary thinking on 5-year plans within these pilot disciplines.