Kudos to the Department of Public Affairs and Communications and its Director, Glenn J. Nashen, two of whose publications have won major awards from the Health Care Public Relations Association of Canada. JGH News, the quarterly magazine edited by Henry Mietkiewicz, took second prize in the External Publications category of the Hygeia Awards. Pulse, the JGH staff magazine co-edited by Megan Martin, Laure-Elise Singer and Mr. Mietkiewicz, received second prize in the Internal Newsletters category. In fact, this was the third prize in a row for Pulse, which had first-place wins in 2011 and 2010. Altogether, Public Affairs has received 14 awards over the past 10 years from healthcare-related organizations in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. This is yet another example of how the JGH continually strives for and achieves excellence not just in health care, but in a great many fields.
Award-winning publications
May 15th, 2012East meets West
May 10th, 2012Congratulations to everyone at the Peter Brojde Lung Cancer Centre on moving into their new facilities on the 10th floor of Cummings Pavilion E. For the past two years, the Brojde Centre has distinguished itself by giving patients the option of integrating Eastern treatments—e.g., acupuncture, Chinese herbs and Qigong—along with their conventional Western treatments. At the same time, the Brojde Centre is conducting rigourous research to determine the effectiveness of the Eastern treatments. The ultimate objective is to provide patients with potentially valuable opportunities to improve their healing and recovery. On behalf of everyone at the JGH, I would like to express my gratitude to the Brojde family for their support in making this much-needed facility a reality.
Holiday greetings
April 5th, 2012There’s a feeling of excitement in the air—and not just because spring is making its long-awaited return after mild March weather. This sense of renewal and rejuvenation is connected to two of this season’s most significant holidays, which commemorate the granting of religious freedom and the promise of religious rebirth. I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone at the Jewish General Hospital for a happy Passover and a joyous Easter. May this springtime of hope empower us and our patients throughout the year.
New CEO at the Agence
March 26th, 2012I am very happy to hear about the appointment of Danielle McCann as the new CEO of the Montreal Health and Social Services Agency (known as the Agence).
As you know, the Jewish General Hospital has been making major strides in improving safety, cleanliness and the quality of care. In doing so, our objective is not just to provide the best possible care to residents in our immediate area, but to collaborate with all levels of government and with institutions across the city in order to strengthen the public healthcare system.
For this reason, I look forward to continuing our close relations with the Agence and to working with Mme McCann to revitalize public health care for the benefit of patients throughout Montreal
Reporting medical errors
March 23rd, 2012On March 21, the following statement was released jointly by me and Normand Rinfret, Interim Director General and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre:
The headline in the March 15 Gazette article, “MUHC and Jewish General Hospital errors killed at least 10 people in 2011,” is sensational and harmful to the value we strive for.
Our hospitals are at the forefront in the public reporting of incidents and accidents; to that end we have worked hard to instill an open culture of reporting any and all such events. To imply that our hospitals kill people tarnishes the reputations of thousands of healthcare workers who dedicate their careers to caring for our patients and their families with the highest degree of safety and as well as our objective to improve quality care.
Consistent and rigorous reporting is the cornerstone of quality improvement, patient safety and learning. It is a shared voluntary responsibility and we are actively engaged in encouraging our staff to report and to be involved in reviewing processes as well as proposing improvements to the quality of our patient care. This engagement goes beyond our people to our patients and their families and we encourage dialogue that allows us to be collectively involved in accountability, improvement, and quality assurance practices.
In order for us to continue to improve the quality of our patient care, we need our people to continue to report. We know it is not a reductive exercise in numbers – our organizations invest as much energy into learning from the “near-misses” as they do from the events that touch the patient, and we want to ensure that each establishment improves against its own best practice. The registry is not meant for comparison purposes; there are significant differences between hospitals in reporting cultures, complexity of care and volumes that make comparisons meaningless. Sensational headlines in this regard do not enhance our efforts to reinforce this culture of reporting in our institutions, which is vital to improving patient care.
Healthcare professionals work at our hospitals in order to provide the best care possible to our patients. We commend our employees for reporting incidents and accidents and for helping the JGH and the MUHC become safer hospitals for all.
Purim
March 22nd, 2012I got a real kick out of seeing Rabbi Raphael Afilalo, our Director of Pastoral Services, celebrating the Jewish festival of Purim on March 8 by visiting patients along with a group of merry-makers from the Hebrew Academy in Côte St-Luc. Purim is a joyous time of costumes, food and fun—an ideal opportunity to bring cheer to the lives our hospitalized patients. But laughter and warmth aren’t limited to just a day here and there. I’m proud of how much the JGH does year-round to humanize the care of all patients, regardless of their background, through the zaniness of Dr. Clown, the spirited songs of our music therapist, the emotional expressiveness of our art therapist, and much more. Our healthcare staff does a wonderful job of mending the body, but it takes smiles, sympathy and sincerity to mend the person.
Tragedy in Toulouse
March 21st, 2012I am saddened and appalled by the tragic shooting earlier this week in Toulouse, France, where a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school, killing a 30-year-old man, his 3- and 6-year-old sons, another 10-year-old child and a 17-year-old.
Coincidentally, Dr. Denis Querleu, who has just moved from Toulouse to Montreal to become the new JGH Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, tells me his wife is still in France and is helping in this time of crisis. As the head of childhood preventive medicine in the Toulouse area, she was immediately dispatched to the school to assist the pupils and staff. Dr. Querleu expressed his outrage at the situation and expressed his support for his native city, as well as his new JGH community, of which he is very proud.
I extend my gratitude to Dr. Qeurleu’s wife and our condolences to the families of the victims. I also echo the sentiments of our Member of Parliament (for Mount Royal), Professor Irwin Cotler, the Liberal Justice and Human Rights Critic, who said on Monday, “These tragic and shocking events -– motivated by hate -– are unacceptable and represent attacks on communities, thereby diminishing their sense of security and belonging. We must all stand in solidarity with those targeted… The international community must remain vigilant in condemning racism and hate wherever they occur.”
The arms of the JGH extend around the globe, and as health care practitioners we feel the pain of those suffering near and far. Let us hope that our work here and around the world will lead to better days ahead for all.
Delegation to Israel #3
March 15th, 2012In touring Israel in February with CEOs from various North American hospitals, we consistently found the Israeli healthcare system to be one of the most cost-effective in the world. True, there are ongoing stresses related to labour unrest, difficulties in maintaining a sustainable medical workforce, and income discrepancies between different regions of Israel. These problems are similar to those in Canada and the U.S., through the root causes vary from country to country, as to the political systems themselves. I’m already helping to develop a follow-up conference, because Israel, Canada and the U.S. can do much more to improve their healthcare systems by capitalizing on their friendship and their strengths.
Delegation to Israel #2
March 9th, 2012During my trip to Israel in February with a delegation of North American hospital CEOs, we were greatly impressed by the remarkable capital development projects in some superb Israeli hospitals. These included state-of-the-art treatment facilities, research institutes, simulation centres and, most impressively in my opinion, underground emergency facilities that can be used in case of a terror attack. It was very heartening to learn that almost all of these ventures were undertaken through substantial support by Israeli philanthropists and by Jewish donors outside the country. A final note on my trip in my next blog entry…
Delegation to Israel
March 5th, 2012In February, I participated in a delegation of North American hospital CEOs who attended a conference in Israel. I love the country and I’ve visited Israel many times, dating back to 1986 when I took a mini-sabbatical to teach at Tel Hashomer Hospital, the country’s largest healthcare institution. During the recent trip, we all recognized the obvious differences among the Canadian, American and Israeli healthcare systems. But what quickly became obvious was the similarities we share because of our shared values—a commitment to democracy, respect for individual rights, acknowledgement of the importance of a caring and just society, and a recognition of the crucial importance of innovation. More on my trip in my next blog entry…
