Abstract
For three days in September 2007, chief executive officers (CEOs) from health
systems and organizations across Canada gathered in Banff, Alberta, for the
inaugural Healthcare CEO Leadership Summit. We came together to consider and
debate two of the most pressing issues facing the transformation of our
country's healthcare environment: health human resources (HHR) and
public-private partnerships (P3s). (This gathering, from September 14 to 16, was
made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from Hoffmann-La Roche
Limited. HHR and P3s were selected as topics based on an extensive needs
assessment carried out among participants prior to the meeting.)Frank
McKenna, the former premier of New Brunswick and former ambassador to the United
States, gave the plenary address at the summit. Tom Closson, the past president
and CEO of Toronto's University Health Network, delivered a keynote lecture on
HHR, while the president and CEO of Hoffman-La Roche Limited, Ronnie Miller,
shared his insights on P3s. By listening to presentations from these experts,
brainstorming in breakout sessions and openly discussing the topics as a group,
summit participants arrived at several conclusions regarding the main challenges
and opportunities associated with HHR and P3s. Fundamentally, we all agreed that
successfully managing HHR and P3s is critical for healthcare organizations that
are focused on serving patients better. In this article, I first set out
some of the main elements that characterize Canada's transforming healthcare
environment and that largely form the raison d'être for new approaches to HHR
and for the emergence of P3s. I then present core findings that emerged from our
meeting in Banff and add my views based on my own experience as president and
CEO of Kingston General Hospital. Where appropriate, I also briefly present
recent innovations that might serve as examples of possible routes
forward.