Concurrent Sessions 2019

Sustaining and Growing the ModelCommunity Health Centres face many challenges when it comes to funding and policy support for the integrated, multi-sector CHC model of health and social care. This workshop will identify some of these systemic challenges and explore different strategies for sustaining and growing CHCs as multi-sector, multi-service organizations. Themes to be explored include “taking ownership” of the multi-sector, multi-service approach; developing a culture of organizational resiliency; bracing for and navigating health system and political change; developing strategies and techniques for program and revenue diversification; and, increasing the visibility of the model.

Speakers: Stephanie Harrison, Executive Director, Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association; Axelle Janczur, Executive Director, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services; Scott Wolfe, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Community Health Centres; Darryn Werth, Senior Director for Program and Service Delivery, CUPS Calgary

Sturgeon, Systems and Space: Connecting Indigenous Knowledge to Healthcare

We live in a country that has been shaped by the wisdom, knowledge and traditions of the First Peoples of this land. These same Indigenous ways-of-being are as relevant today as they were generations ago. This fact raises questions: What is this traditional knowledge? How do we merge it with mainstream medical models? Who carries the expertise? Why it’s impactful in client-centred care?

Join the founding leaders of the Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHACs) as they:

1. Reflect on the creation of the AHACs - the policies, people and practices that made it possible
2. Explore current realities of Indigenous people and healthcare in Ontario
3. Define a path forward - bridging reconciliation with right action

Speakers: Allison Fisher, Executive Director, Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health; Angela Recollet, Executive Director, Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre; Gloria Daybutch, Executive Director, N’Mninoeyaa Health Access Centre; Anita Cameron, Executive Director, Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’lyewigamig; Gertie Mai Muise, Executive Director, Indigenous Primary Care Council

Integrated Care Delivery: Best Practice Health System ScorecardsUnder the proposed Ontario Health Team environment, organizations will be responsible for the integration of services and will be held accountable for the delivery of performance-based health and financial outcomes within a bundled care model. Learn how healthcare organizations and regions can operationalize collaborative accountability networks through the development of a Local Integrated Care Delivery System Scorecard (ICDS). Participants will discuss how community-governed primary health care organizations could play a facilitative role in establishing a best practice approach to the ICDS development in their area. The session will also focus on boards’ role in building a performance-based culture and working effectively with CEOs and Executive Directors who are increasingly faced with having to do more with less.

Speakers: Ted Ball, Transformation Coach, Quantum Transformation Technologies; Al Madden, Executive Director, South East Grey CHC

Social Prescribing Boot CampSocial prescribing is taking the mainstream media and public by storm! Hear from Ontario’s early adopters about how they’ve adapted U.K.-style social prescribing to their local contexts, evaluated the impacts, and added value by better integrating the social and clinical parts of their practice.

Speakers: Stephanie Skelding, Systems Navigator, West Elgin CHC; Meghan Shanahan Thain, Social Worker, Belleville-Quinte West CHC; Allison Hewitt, RN, Primary Care Outreach to Seniors, Centertown CHC

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A data partnership to gather insights for CHCs

COPD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and an important issue for community health centres (CHCs). This session will share lessons from a partnership between the Alliance for Healthier Communities and the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The partners used structured CHC data, linked to hospital data, to learn more about the characteristics of COPD clients and their care, as well as about client flow to/from hospital. We will also give examples of data standards to produce quality data for this type of analysis.

Speakers: Mary Byrnes, Manager, Primary Health Care Information, CIHI; Jennifer Rayner, Director of Research and Evaluation, Alliance for Healthier Communities

Federal Election 2019 in FocusThe federal election presents an opportunity to increase buy-in from all political parties on key public policies and investments to improve health and wellbeing for Canadians. This workshop will engage participants around CACHC’s federal election platform and provide important information and tools focused on five areas of focus during the election: investment in CHCs; national pharmacare; public dental care; affordable housing and action on homelessness; and, newcomer health. It will also share lessons and examples of how to improve and increase advocacy efforts at your organization, with examples of how to build advocacy capacity. We urge Community Health Centres to have a participant attend this workshop as a focal point.

Speakers: Raquelle Forrester, Interim Co-CEO, Wellfort Community Health Services; Stéphanie-Madeleine Leduc, Manager of Policy and Research, Canadian Housing Renewal Association; Siffan Rahman, Manager, Ottawa Newcomer Health Centre - Somerset West CHC; Jeannie Villanueva, Dental Office Administrator, Mid-Main CHC; Scott Wolfe, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Community Health Centres

Strategies for Advancing LGBT2SQ Health through Changing ContextsAs governments change, their priorities change, and where and how interest is focused changes as well.  When discourse shifts away from population health, different strategies are needed to advance the health and wellbeing of marginalized populations.  One of the most practical ways to support health equity is (1) to advance a shared commitment to collecting and analyzing quality data (2) to make evidence based decisions that support effective policies and practices for LGBTQ+ peoples.  Following the structured session in the conference, this informative conversation will continue to support networking, action planning and sharing leading practice commitments by community health organizations to advance LGBT2SQ Health on a national level.

Speakers: Cliff Ledwos, Clinical Director, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services; Devon MacFarlane, Director, Rainbow Health Ontario; Catherine Macdonald, Knowledge Translation Specialist, Alliance for Healthier Communities 

List of online links and resources: Strategies for Advancing LGBT2SQ Health through Changing Contexts - Resources.pdf

Collaboration for System Leadership at a Governance LevelThe changing health system landscape demands that community health organizations build stronger collaborations with a wide range of partners and Boards have important roles to play. Working more collaboratively at the systems level helps organizations address determinants of health, improve health outcomes for their clients, and amplify their voices through collective action. This session will spotlight examples of collaborative practices led by Alliance members and Community Health Centres across Canada. It will look into the benefits and risks, and examine the Boards' roles and responsibilities in overseeing these processes. It will also offer lessons learned on what effective collaboration for system leadership looks like and how it can advance the organization’s mission and address the needs of clients and communities. Adrianna Tetley will speak to the urgency for collaborative governance in the new Ontario health teams.

Speakers: Edward Speicher, Chair, Sandy Hill CHC; Janice Meisner, Board Member, Somerset West CHC; Adrianna Tetley, Chief Executive Officer, Alliance for Healthier Communities

Writing the Book on Community Health in CanadaBe first in line to hear from authors across the country who have contributed chapters to Canada’s first textbook on community health and comprehensive primary health care.

Speakers: Merrill Cooper, Director of Strategy, Research and Evaluation, The Alex CHC; Elizabeth Hartney, Professor, School of Leadership Studies and Director, Centre for Health Leadership and Research, Royal Roads University; Laura Muldoon, Family Physician, Somerset West CHC; Jennifer Rayner, Director, Research and Evaluation, Alliance for Healthier Communities; Kate Mulligan, Director, Policy and Communications, Alliance for Healthier Communities

Advancing an Action Plan for Community Health Centres in Rural CommunitiesRural communities in Canada face common challenges related to socio-economic development, sustainability, and access to health and social services. This workshop will describe these challenges and why Community Health Centres are a powerful solution for rural communities. Experiences and lessons will be shared from several rural Community Health Centres in Canada and the United States, with insights on how the U.S. national network of rural CHCs has improve health, vitality, and economic development in rural America. Areas of interaction in the workshop include: sharing resources and tools for rural CHCs; and, developing a Canada-wide rural CHCs strategy and network with support from municipal, provincial, and federal governments.

Speakers: Raymond Babowicz, Director of Communications, Government Relations, and Marketing, Community Health Center of the North Country; Lorraine Burch, General Manager, Our Health Centre; Lyn Linton, Executive Director, Gateway CHC; Julia Swedak, Director of Quality and Knowledge Management, Gateway CHC

Building an Agenda for Health Equity in Black Communities - Connecting our Stories, Contributions and ExperiencesThis session will invite leaders from Community Health Centres, civil society organizations, community and health professionals, including Nova Scotia Senator Dr. Wanda Thomas-Barnard, together with session participants from across Canada to co-create the start of a national health equity agenda for Black communities. It will highlight the contributions that community health centres are already making to address anti-Black racism and disproportionately poor outcomes in health and health care, and place particular focus on policy, collaboration, and driving targeted approaches to health equity in the lives of Black people to build a meaningful agenda.

Speakers: Dr. Wanda Thomas-Bernard, Senator, Nova Scotia; Darling Emile, Francophone Health Promoter, Taibu CHC; Notisha Massaquoi, Executive Director, Women’s Health in Women’s Hands; Tyler Boyce, Anonymous HIV Testing Outreach Worker, Somerset West CHC 

Governing and Leading in a Continuously Changing EnvironmentThe environments in which community health organizations operate are characterized by uncertainty and complexity. To fulfill their fiduciary and strategic responsibilities, community health boards and EDs/CEOs are engaging in conversations about the impact of changing environments on their organizations and beyond. One key conversation is about adaptive leadership and systems-informed approaches. This requires boards to develop emergent strategies informed by immediate feedback, and to perceive early on trends that could impact the mission and strategic priorities of the organization. In this interactive session, we explore current thinking about the complex issues that boards are facing. We will also explore what boards and EDs/CEOs are doing to foster a culture of ongoing adaptation in order to thrive in a continuously evolving environment.

Speakers: Gwen Dubois-Wing, Dubois-Wing and Associates; Heidi Schaeffer, Principle, Advancing Change Together Consulting    

Digital Health Futures: Advancing person-centred, tech-powered innovation in community healthCan health care technology help bring person-centred health care closer to home? Join SE Health’s Senior Vice President & Chief Clinical Executive, Nancy Lefebre for a dynamic conversation about the technology-fueled innovations – from personalized electronic medical records to biomonitoring to mood-lifting chatbots – that could, with an equity lens, support a revolution in community health care.

Speakers: Nancy Lefebre, Senior Vice President & Chief Clinical Executive, SE Health; Rodney Burns, CIO, Alliance for Healthier Communities

Building a National Agenda for CHC Leadership on Primary Care and Engaging CHC Healthcare Providers as AdvocatesDeveloping strategies for CHC-based healthcare providers to participate more actively in advocacy and clinical leadership at a system level has the potential to increase visibility and support for the CHC model, to improve recruitment and retention, and to foster transformative change in health system policy and planning. This session will explore these opportunities in greater depth, touching on both challenges and promising examples of success. A key goal is to identify practical steps that can be taken at an individual CHC level and at regional and CHC association levels to make progress.

Speakers: Scott Wolfe, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Community Health Centre; Cliff Ledwos, Director of Primary Care, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services; Dr. Daniel Miller, Chief of Clinical Integration and Graduate Medical Education, Hudson River HealthCare; Hoda Mankal, Nurse Practitioner, Carlington Community Health Centre

Advancing a Pan-Canadian Strategy for Francophone and Acadian Community-led Primary Health CareAccess to Community Health Centres (CHCs) “for and by” Francophone and Acadian communities is vital, yet it can take years of advocacy and community leadership to achieve and requires continued vigilance and collective action. Far too few Francophone and Acadian communities across Canada have access to these services, and many existing French-language CHCs are under pressure due to an erosion of policy and funding for French-language services. What kind of planning, engagement and advocacy are needed to achieve progress? How can the experiences of existing French-language CHCs help other communities in need of the community-led model? How can we work in partnership with allies at federal, provincial and municipal levels? Participate in dialogue and in planning next steps for a strong Canada-wide strategy.

Speakers: Marc Bisson, Directeur général, CSC de l’Estrie; Janice Bilodeau, Directrice générale, Centre de santé de Clare; Monique Constant, Directrice générale, CSC Saint Boniface; Jocelyne Maxwell, Directrice générale, CSC du Témiskaming; Caroline Vézina, Directrice de la programmation, Société Santé en français; Florence Ngenzebuhoro, Directrice générale, Centre francophone de Toronto

Governance Leadership for Health EquityThis session is focused on practical resources and case examples of high-performing governance practices to advance health equity. We will begin with Axelle Janczur who will explain how health equity was established as a strategic priority for Access Alliance by the Board of Directors and how this was operationalized within the organization. Next, Kathy Bresett and Mac Redmond from North Lambton CHC will share how their Board is leading strategic actions in each of the five pillars of the Health Equity Framework. Finally, Notisha Massaquoi will speak about the Board’s strategic use of disaggregated and intersectional data to identify and address (though programs, advocacy and system influence and partnerships) evidence of health access and outcome inequities.

Speakers: Axelle Janczur, Executive Director, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services; Kathy Bresett, Executive Director, North Lambton CHC, Mac Redmond, Board Chair, North Lambton CHC; Notisha Massaquoi, Executive Director, Women’s Health in Women's Hands

Mental Health: Innovative Approaches to Incorporating Mental Health and Addictions into Primary CareThe first point of contact with the medical system for clients with mental health and addictions needs is usually primary care. Community-governed primary care organizations often serve populations who require a range of mental health and addictions services and supports, including supports around social determinants of health, such as housing. This learning session will feature leaders from three or four community-governed primary care organizations, who will explain how they have implemented innovative programs to meet the needs of these populations.

Speakers: Marianna Shturman, Director of Addictions and Mental Health; Wabano Indigenous Health Centre; Natalie Lloyd, Addictions Counsellor and Case Worker, Wabano Indigenous Health Centre; Despina Tzemis, Program Manager, Quest CHC; Coletta McGrath, Executive Director, Quest CHC; Jenny Stranges, Program Manager, Quest CHC

Film Screening | Falling Through the Cracks: Greg’s StoryThis short film tells the story of Greg Price’s tragic journey through a fragmented healthcare system in Alberta. The message of the film is intended to inspire positive change and improvement in the healthcare system.