The forum will produce a series of round-table consultations, commissioned articles, conferences and case studies of things that work in Canadian health care. The goal is to bring stakeholders in the health field together to explore approaches that respond to current needs and consider the full range of possibilities available for the future.
The program dovetails with other activities of the ISAI, begun in 2007 to build capacity in public policy analysis at the health centre and encourage innovation. It provides a forum in which to discuss developments at the MUHC and other academic health science centres, and uses the ongoing dialogue in Parkhurst Exchange to gain front-line input from a broad range of health care practitioners.
Key components include:
- Round tables to discuss key developments in health care with front-line providers
- Annual consensus-building conferences to examine fundamental issues
- Publication of the Health Innovation Report to disseminate proceedings of events, commissioned papers and case studies
Health Innovation Forum is independently funded. Financial support will be solicited from government and private sector stakeholders as well as through specific bequests to the MUHC Foundation.
About the McGill University Health Centre and ISAI
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University — the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological hospitals, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.
ISAI was created to allow the MUHC to play a leadership role in health policy development. Its first two programs are a scholar-in-residence program and the Health Innovation Forum. Mr. Bernard Lord, former premier of New Brunswick and Senior Counsel at McCarthy-Tetrault joined ISAI as first scholar-in-residence in 2007. The Institute plans to assume a significant role in framing and evaluating public policy, and help clarify the ground rules on which health care will evolve in the coming years.
About Parkhurst
Parkhurst Publishing is a Montreal-based medical publisher with a 25-year history producing high-quality, broadly read medical magazines. Their three physician publications, Doctor’s Review, Parkhurst Exchange and National Review of Medicine, reach over 40,000 doctors across the country. A fourth, Oncology Exchange, is published for cancer specialists. Parkhurst also produces a range of publication for patients living with demanding diseases. Parkhurst's Health Policy Division has been involved for the past 12 years in bringing stakeholder together to examine aspects of Canada’s health care system for academic and government organizations as well as healthcare companies.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Bernard Lord, Senior Counsel, McCarthy Tetrault, Scholar-in-residence, MUHC
Dr. Arthur Porter, Director General and CEO, MUHC
Sheila Moore, Director of Communications, MUHC
Harris Poulis, Special Advisor, Office of the Director General, MUHC
Robert Babczak, Special Project Coordinator, MUHC Executive Office
Susan Usher, Director, Health Policy Division, Parkhurst Publishing Ltd.
See McGill University Health Centre press release: