Vancouver, British Columbia - The 2015 BC Health Leaders Conference (BCHLC), hosted by the Canadian College of Health Leaders took place on October 20 - 21, 2015. The theme Collaborative Leadership…Stepping beyond the Boundariesdrew 345 delegates from all levels of leadership.

2015 CONFERENCE - A COLLABORATIVE SUCCESS!

A MOTIVATIONAL START…

BC Health Leaders Post-Conference Newsletter

December, 2015

THE LEADER

Brian Schmidt, FCCHL, Board Chair of the Canadian College of Health Leaders, opened the conference welcoming delegates and recognizing the excellent work accomplished by the Planning Committee and the generous support from sponsors. Brian outlined the theme Collaborative Leadership noting that the conference o�ers a unique structure and setting the stage for the next two days o�ering leaders time to refresh, time for growth with “experts” in the collaborative leadership �eld as well as time to gather other opinions, meet other leaders and time for personal professional development.

Dr. Lynn Stevenson, FCCHL, the BC Associate Deputy Minister of Health, spoke at the opening highlighting the importance and the current need of collaborative leadership in the healthcare sector. She said that no improvement can occur without collaboration and without listening and involving all the stakeholders. Dr. Stevenson also highlighted the current priorities of the BC Ministry of Health; focusing on accessibility, primary care, and mental health as the current top priorities.

WHAT’S NEW

As part of one of the strategic directions to “Revolutionize the CCHL Experience”, the College o�ered two pre-conference local Health Program Tours at Providence Health Care. Participants chose one of two tours, visiting the Vancouver Downtown East Side, where they experienced the PHC’s Crosstown Clinic which provides injectable opiate-assisted treatment or visiting St. Paul’s Hospital, the largest urban teaching hospital servicing the greater Vancouver area, the province of British Columbia and beyond. Participants on this tour gained knowledge of the Heart & Lung Program, Renal Services, Emergency, Surgical Services and Medicine.

JUST THE FACTS

The conference attracted 345 delegates with the majority from BC but a great showing from ON and a de�nite presence from AB, PEI, NB, NL, NS, QC, YT. Most attending were senior or executive level leaders but attendance included a strong presence of mid-level and front line leaders also.

The tours received very high praise and pleas to keep them as a regular part of future conferences. Remarks ranged from “well done”, “outstanding” to “this gave me a whole new insight”, “opportunity to understand”, “content of tour was brilliant”, “opportunity to participate was unique”.

Our deepest gratitude to Providence Health Care for making this possible and to all the participants for their generous feedback – we hear you and we look forward to providing more tours in the future.

DELEGATE QUOTABLE QUOTES“The conference was rich and relevant and useful”

“High value in getting reminded of what I know I need to do. Inspiration is important!”

“I am not alone with the challenges of leading and following”

“The conference re-energized me”

“It inspired me to push farther outward with our collaborative e�orts, to more teams and to external partners”

Delegates outdid themselves, providing not only a very high number of evaluations on the conference and speakers but in taking time to add an unprecedented amount of valuable comments and suggestions. Please accept our most sincere and grateful thank you for raising your voices and taking the time to help guide us in providing a conference that serves you best.

Delegates overwhelmingly agreed that the theme was timely and that the conference program provided insight into being a collaborative leader and will help them be better equipped to challenge the status quo and champion change. The conference also provided them with practical knowledge that they can apply to their work environment. Speakers (keynote/plenary/concurrent session) were rated very highly with many delegates commenting on how applicable the information they took away was and how each speaker had shared insight, tools, energy and passion.

WHO SAID WHAT

“Didn’t know about this annual conference – great community”

“Great to have such a dynamic keynote speaker who gave some very practical suggestions that could be implemented right away”

“Loved the app”

SPEAKERS CONNECT WITH THEIR AUDIENCE

Je� DeGra� (Keynote Speaker)Collaborative Leadership in Healthcare Driving Innovation (Keynote Address) and Applied Innovation for Leaders in Healthcare (Interactive Plenary)

Following his keynote address, Je� facilitated an interactive two hour plenary where he did indeed apply innovation for leaders in healthcare. Delegates left with workable tools, great ideas and the resolve to take risks, be intentional, continue e�orts to drive innovation, the knowledge of how to include divergent views and styles in collaboration and so much more.

about the investability of it or how well spent is your money. Incumbents are seldom �rst movers.

Diversity is the only known key to success. Best time to innovate is crisis time, because at that time the risk of trying something new and the reward are reversed. The best place to change and innovate is from outside to the inside. Innovation happens in spaces where constructive and collaborative con�ict takes place. Breakthrough solutions are hybrids born from opposition and constrains.

Failure is a great teacher; the smartest people lack the opportunities to learn from failure. Leaders have four di�erent styles; Collaborate: Do things that last, Create: Do new things, Control: Do things right, and Compete: Do things now. Collaboration between all of these is the key to success. Think about the outcome you want to achieve �rst, then manage accordingly. How you collaborate will determine your �nal outcome.

DAY 1

The most innovative companies have very little in common. Competitors companies innovate in opposite directions. What is going to work for a large urban healthcare organization will not work for another in a rural area, so the innovation in each will be di�erent.

Money is seldom a barrier to innovation. It is not about the amount of money; it is about the cost e�ectiveness and Je� Degra�, PHD

Powerful Stories…Powerful Minds (Plenary)Come Hear the tales of true collaboration

Sandy’s story touched each and every one of the audience, she shared her story with mental health and the stigma surrounding it in the work place. She shared the lessons she learned through her journey and concluded with advice about keeping a healthy mental status.

Stigma is still prevalent in healthcare towards mental health. Story telling helps in removing this stigma. Mental health is about living well and feeling capable despite challenges. Maintaining a good mental health status requires daily e�ort. Tips on improving mental health: exercise, eat well, laugh…a lot, be silly, make music part of your daily life, dance like no one is watching, celebrate your success, �nd beauty in nature, spend time with your friends, and maintain a spiritual practice.

Sandy Coughlin (Speaker)Stigma- A Barrier to Success in Mental Health & Mental Wellness

A storyteller herself, Nardia shared her experience with becoming a listener. She shared her story with knitting, how it helped her with her listening journey, and how listening made all the di�erence.

Team success: Listening to understand empowers others and empowers you and leads to team success. Teams struggle when voices are not heard or when information is missing. Leaders can contribute without speaking up through actively listening. Good leaders re�ect on what they listen to from the team members.

Dr. Nardia Strydom (Speaker)Where is my Knitting?

Kerry McLean-Small (Speaker)Winter Surge Initiative- Transitional Housing

Kerry took the audience through the story of the Winter Surge Heroes. How di�erent divisions came together and fought one battle toward a common vision.

Relationships remain the most critical ingredient to success along with a willingness to do something. Victory requires strategy toward a speci�c goal. Outcome measures help to determine course of action, utilize sta�ng resources e�ectively/e�ciently, be �exible and understand your population, collect feedback, stats, hold ongoing discussions to lead toward positive results.

De�nition of collaborative leadership: Leaders who come together and emphasize with one another with a mission and a common goal that they truly care about and are willing to transform.

DAY 2

Both quick and long-term goals are equally important. Ask yourself what changed over time then slow down and re�ect. Understand how structure and beliefs give rise to di�erent behaviors. Replace “but” with “and”. The willingness and ability to understand di�erent perspectives, even if we do not agree with them, is a necessary starting point. Change the world,

Charles Holmes (Keynote Speaker)

Charles Holmes

Leaders Building Community: From Fragmentation to Connection - What it takes

one conversation at a time. Get your voice heard. Powerful questions can evoke future possibilities. Powerful questions are personal, ambiguous, and anxiety provoking! To be a leader, be open, curious, listen, and commit to learning. Fight the urge to be helpful and be curious instead. Be aware of the ladder of inference; taking observable data and adding your own meaning to them. Be curious and ask questions instead. Listen to understand not to con�rm or discon�rm your existing believes/ideas. Listen with an open heart and open will. All systems are capable of change through conversation and seeking possibilities.

Collective voices have the power to change policies and markets. Crystal-lize threats to opportunities. De�ne your vision then involve those who share it with you and work around it. Energy is vital. Chaos brings creativity and creates opportunities. Leaders �nd the perfect balance between chaos and order. Keep your work authentic. The process and the product of the

Tonya Surman (Keynote Speaker)

Tonya Surman

Building a Culture of Collaborative Leadership

The interactive plenary highlighted the formation of the First Nations Health Authority in BC as the speakers took us through the lessons learned from the successful collaborative journey between BC First Nations, the Province of BC and the Government of Canada.

To collaborate e�ectively, be ready to exercise commitment; be receptive, listen, re�ect, and then �nd practical solutions. Build relationships on values, trust, and shared vision. Negotiations can be challenging, recognize the di�culty and work with the di�erent stakeholders. Health leaders should work on removing barriers within the system, building a patient and family centered care, and bringing their organizations forward to engage, understand and, integrate within the process.

Regarding the future steps for the collaboration: ongoing engagement and commitment will be important for projects and care facilities, throughout the system, as the ultimate vision is to move from an illness to a wellness system.

DAY 2 - Continued

Joe Gallagher, Sony Perron, Arlene Paton (Speakers)Innovative Collaboration - The Evolution of the First Nations Health Authority in BC (Plenary)

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

The 2015 Concurrent Sessions were the heart of this conference and provided delegates with insight, inspiration and expertise. Delegates had a variety of sessions to select from in each block of concurrent sessions. The sessions o�ered delegates the opportunity to:

• discover an example of successful collaboration fostering creativity and innovation • learn how to start from a di�erent point of view that allows better understanding • explore how to use collaboration as an organizational change strategy • share roadblocks and successes as we learn how we can diversify our partnerships • discover a tool to support the development of collaboration • what happens when we ask patients how they want to be treated • learn what it really takes to build a collaborative heathcare team • uncover unique learning that will bene�t senior leaders in healthcare and Ministry along with Board Members and physician partners • move forward with health system transformation through collaborative governance • understand the power and long term impact of collaboration

Hats o� to the many speakers who shared their time and knowledge to make the 2015 Concurrent Sessions so successful! Your e�ort was appreciate by all!

change are equally important. Be gentle to yourself and others. Be vulnerable. Changing a culture is about giving ourselves away constantly. Socialize your organizational change. Make social change and have fun doing it!

The College gratefully acknowledge contributions to this newsletter by Lina Salama Abouzaid, a 2nd year student in the MHA program at UBC, who was our star roving reporter on site, the 2015 Conference Planning Committee (listed below) and College Sta�, Sylvie Deliencourt, Brenda Shields, & Ray Racette.

Moe Baloo, CHE - BC Lower Mainland Chapter Representative

For questions or comments please contact:Sylvie M. Deliencourt, Director, Certi�cation,

Leadership Development and Chapter SupportCanadian College of Health Leaders

1-800-363-9056 ext. 233sdeliencourt@cchl-ccls.ca / www.cchl-ccls.ca

Christine Bowlby, CHE - Vancouver Island Chapter Representative

Zahida Esmail - BC Lower Mainland Chapter Representative

J.W.I. Kristjanson - BC Interior Chapter Representative

Rachael Roberts (Chair) - BCHLDC Representative

Goldie Luong - At-Large Representative - Director, Special Projects in Acute Care Vancouver Coastal Health

Gregory Marr, CHE - Northern BC Chapter Representative

Leanne Martinson - At-Large Representative - Director Planning, First Nations Health Authority

Khwezi Mbolekwa, CHE - At-Large Representative - Executive Director, Organizational Development College of New Caledonia

WHAT’S NEXT - BE SURE TO SAVE THE DATE!

The 2016 BC Health Leaders Conference is well underway under the theme of “Leading through Engagement” and will take place:

November 1-2, 2016

Watch our website and your inbox for more information as it becomes available.

TO OUR SPONSORS

Gold Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Westin Bayshore HotelVancouver, BC

A simple “thank you” hardly seems enough. We are most grateful for your trust and generosity. We could not do this without you. Thank you!

Mark Pugh, CHE - Interior BC Chapter Representative

Marguerite Rowe, CHE - Vancouver Island Chapter Representative

David Thompson, CHE - CCHL BC Board Director Representative