You go first! – SET members aim to lead change by example

The My VCH survey told us many things. Thanks to your feedback, it is clear we have areas of strength to build on and opportunities for improvement. Over 60 per cent of the 11,023 who responded felt we need to be better at decision making and encouraging leaders to work together more effectively.

Redesigning the Executive Team

Based on what we heard, we have redesigned the VCH executive team leadership structure to support more expedited decision making. No longer will decisions channel up to one Senior Executive Team (SET).

How it will work

The work of SET will be carried out through three groups with clear, non‐overlapping responsibilities and decision‐making powers. SET, as a team, will now meet monthly instead of weekly and continue to provide unified direction and oversight of VCH, and act as stewards for our long term vision, mission, strategic goals, and operational excellence.

It will be complemented by the Clinical Strategy & Innovation Committee and the Operating Committee. These committees will comprise some – but not all – SET members and meet every second week.

  • The Clinical Strategy & Innovation Committee will set clinical service strategy; seek and encourage innovation and push our limits on new models of care and the optimization of technology; and continue the strategic planning work started last spring to advance our future state goals and strategies.
  • The Operating Committee will focus on developing three‐year operating plans that clearly outline how we will execute our plans and align our resources to achieve our strategic and operational goals and allocate funds.

So why do this?

Because we need to push more decision making into and across the organization, spend less time at senior levels on operational details, and spend more time on ensuring we have strategic clarity. We no longer want to be–nor can we afford to be–a top-down decision making organization.

For leaders

We want to put structures in place that simplify how leaders work and make it easier for you to do and be your best. We will also work on ways to effectively share the decisions made by these groups so there is a clearer understanding of what directions are being set and why. We will assess how the new structure is working in the fall of 2018. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this new structure, or about how it affects you, please contact your Senior Executive Team member.

Updated strategic goals

Our plan is to provide the organization with updated strategic goals that are compelling and measurable by the end of March. These will be translated into three‐year operational priorities with aligned financial plans by December 2018.

The MY VCH commitment

My VCH is an ongoing commitment to changing our organization’s culture in ways that will not just make it easier for leaders to lead and make decisions, but improve how we deliver care and enhance the patient journey. It won’t be easy and may take time, but we are committed to being role models of this new way of working.

Feedback

Questions and comments are always welcome at MyVCH@vch.ca.

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Mary Ackenhusen
President & CEO