In her opening remarks, before an audience of more than 140 people (in-person and online), VCH CEO & President Mary Ackenhusen used a “Back to the Future” movie theme as she reflected on the past year. She expressed pride in the achievements of teams all across VCH who have brought numerous SIFP projects to fruition – most notably those in Primary & Community Care – and thanked staff and physicians for their strength and service in the face of pressures like the opioid crisis.

“Today we’re going to talk about innovation and the future,” she said, “but we’re also going to talk a lot about what we’re doing now…what successes we had in 2016 and why, what we’re doing now is so important to get us to the future.”

In talking about work underway now that will bridge to future success, Mary discussed the status of the Clinical & Systems Transformation project and referenced initiatives like DaSSH (Design and Simulation Studio in eHealth), the IDEA Pathway, and virtual care.

Watch online

Watch the webcast where Mary talked about the successes and the big challenges of the year that was 2016.

Watch the webcast [90 minutes]

Forum agenda

The forum included:

[10:30] A True North update from Mary Ackenhusen, including:

• Success over the past year, including completed SIFP projects in all Communities of Care
• Recent challenges, including the opioid crisis and how VCH staff and physicians have responded
• Innovative health care, including work underway right now!

[11:10] Getting to know your boss’s boss: Looking back, what advice would they give their younger selves entering health care? What gets them excited about the future of health care? And, if they had a time machine (like the DeLorean from movie Back to the Future), what year would they travel to and why? Thanks to some great questions from the audience, our panelists took a moment to reflect on what future innovation might look like in areas such as residential care and primary care outreach. Panelists included:

• Mary Ackenhusen
• Karin Olson, Chief Operating Officer, Coastal
• Dr. Patricia Daly, Chief Medical Health Officer & Vice President, Public Health
• Dr. Dean Chittock, Vice President, Quality & Safety

[11:30] Open time for Q&A

More information

For more information on the forum, go the VCH Connnect page.