Healthcare Change Makers HIROC (Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada)

For Dr. Jackie Schleifer Taylor, being a healthcare leader and change maker is more than simply being the one at the helm. In this episode, Jackie offers a deep dive into her background, her experience in healthcare, and how she takes actions to cultivate an impactful organizational culture.
 
Underscoring the importance of authenticity in leadership, Jackie believes leaders should be genuine and true to themselves. “It takes time to develop trust and that commitment to be believed and understood,” says Jackie, emphasizing that healthcare leaders should always be creating a culture of empathy, continuous learning and excellence within their hospitals and healthcare communities.
 
Throughout the episode, you’ll be able to hear about LHSC’s commitment to health equity and community engagement, which shines throughout the discussion. She stresses that healthcare professionals have a duty to look beyond hospital walls and consider the social determinants of health, working with community partners to make a difference. She shares personal experiences and valuable advice on the courage to speak up and be oneself in leadership, encouraging others to do the same. Her vision of leadership as an opportunity to bring kindness, community building, and purpose-driven leadership to healthcare is truly inspiring.
 
Quotables
“I was so focused when I entered healthcare. I was completely motivated by the fact that I grew up with disability in my family. My memories are always revolving around how the health system intersected with everything in our lives. I found at a very early age that something seemed not as perfect as I hope it would be, and I was motivated to see how in some small way that I could be part of the system and make it better.” – JST
“When you go up in leadership, it becomes, in many ways, a lonelier space. But I learned it doesn’t have to be if you’re the same and create more overt ways and demonstrate you want to be the same person, people just come into that.” – JST
“I’ve doubled down on creating the space of accessibility to me, so that I can create that opportunity to continue to learn myself.” – JST
“My philosophy, personally, is that as many decision that can be made locally by those who would know, ought to be support to be made locally.” – JST
“What do we have to do differently now to not only keep people on the path to leadership, but also seek out and encourage people in their interest they might not even know.” – JST
“It takes time to develop trust and that commitment to believed and understood.” – JST
“I would say HIROC is the catalyst for excellence across the system. We don’t take the support lightly. We feel as though it’s a partnership with HIROC in all candor. It’s the conversations and the materials and relationships that you develop with hospitals, every one that I’ve worked in throughout my career, it’s been the same and it’s so incredibly important that it’s two way.” – JST
“I don’t think anyone reaches any level of success without a circle of people who just lift them up in every way.” – JST
“Culture is created a person at a time. It starts at the very top with the board, CEO, and leadership team, being the culture that they want to exist.” – JST
“I spend time with my family and friends. That energizes me. I would say I don’t get enough time with my husband, adult children, and my friends. So, when I’m with them, I’m very present. I work hard, but also love hard, play hard any time I’m with my family or friends.” – JST



Mentioned in this Episode:
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC)
 
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Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.
 

When HIROC put a call out at the 2023 Alliance for Healthier Communities Conference for changemakers, the community delivered. We heard about some amazing healthcare changemakers across the province of Ontario – people like Sonia Hsiung and Natasha Beaudin, and the social prescribing initiative they have been involved in.
 
Sonia is with the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing and the Canadian Red Cross, and Natasha works with the Alliance for Healthier Communities.
 
On this latest episode, Philip De Souza sits down with Sonia and Natasha to talk about how the social prescribing pilot started with just 11 sites working in collaboration with providers and clients. They share the ripple effect the initiative has had in community health across Ontario, Canada and internationally – how work like this is changing the culture of our health system towards connection and belonging.
 
Quotables
“I saw how it improved our model in so many ways. So, it helped us really integrate our work. Helped make those connections between the clinical side of things and our health promotion side.” – NB
“It really was work that was already happening in community health centres and other Alliance members. And it was more around building a bit more of that intentionality, the structure pathway, the measurements, within our system.” – SH
“There was just so much creativity within each centre as well, where the teams ended up supporting each other.” – SH
“I think part of how this work has been so successful is because everyone sees themselves in the pathway, everyone sees themselves as a contributor…” – NB
“That ability to track outcomes were just powerful. We saw an overall decrease in people’s sense of loneliness by 49%, and that is huge – that was over just a nine-month period.” – SH
“And what was really important, as an outcome of this pathway, is that people said they felt that they were seen and heard as whole persons, even when they were in their clinical appointments. And that made such a shift in people’s sense of self-confidence, their sense of purpose, their sense of ‘yes I can manage my own health’.” – SH
Mentioned in this Episode:
Alliance for Healthier Communities
Canadian Red Cross
Centretown Community Health Centre
Cormac Russell: The Connected Community
National Health Service
Older Adult Centres’ Association of Ontario
Public Health Agency of Canada
Rexdale Community Health Centre
Social Prescribing Network
The Ontario Caregiver Organization
211
 
Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast
Follow us on Twitter, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

Today’s guest is President and CEO of University Health Network, Canada’s largest academic health sciences centre. Kevin Smith pursued his education in Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain, studying psychology, science, public policy and medicine.
If Kevin’s had a frustrating day, one of his best experiences is talking to young people who are enthusiastic and filled with hope. He says the system is in good hands with the generation in training today.
Open forums and site visits are a regular part of Kevin’s life at UHN, and he sees the challenging questions he gets as a sign of a healthy culture. In fact, when he feels the news is too positive, he’ll precipitate a tougher conversation, asking people to tell him what they are scared of, and what’s not going as well as it should.
Quotables
“I actually think this is the challenge of our generation in healthcare – adequate health human resources with appropriate quality of work life not only in Toronto or Ontario but around the world.” – KS
“Our workforce should look like those we serve.” – KS
“We’re looking at what can we do to support nurses who are early in their career trajectory. A large portion of that is making additional investments in mentorship.” – KS
“We are seeing students now with a massive social conscience who are much more aware of population health and well-being.” – KS
“We have really embraced the model that says integrated care is about invisible points of transition, both for patients but also for providers.” – KS
“We have a responsibility to help our political and policy makers better understand that research is the lifeblood of the future economy, it is the lifeblood of building a civil society, and at the moment we are falling behind.” – KS
“I see people embracing that AI working with humans can dramatically improve the healthcare and science experience and result.” – KS
“The question now is how will we balance the needs of our patients and not make those people who provide that care ill from overwork.” – KS
“We all have something to learn, we all have something to teach, but nobody has all the answers.” - KS
Mentioned in this episode:
University Hospital Network
The Michener Institute for education at UHN
Inspire: UHN Nursing Strategy 2023-2028
Rotman School of Management
DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster
Canadian Institute for Health Information
Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect
The Match King by Frank Partnoy

Dr. Glaucomflecken has a unique backstory as he made the pivot from performing stand-up comedy to becoming a physician. TikTok is now his stage with over 2 million followers, creating comedic skits about the healthcare world. Besides comedy, he also uses his platform to spread awareness about his sudden cardiac arrest in 2020 and his diagnosis with testicular cancer.
On this episode, Dr. Glaucomflecken explains his introduction to content creation, the evolving idea of professionalism in the medical field, keeping a positive mindset, and more.
Quotables:
“I love making people laugh and exploring that creativity… it’s so different than what you do in medicine a lot of the time.”
“I’m able to learn a lot about the healthcare system by trying to put together these skits and relate to my patients better from a different perspective.”
“Doctors are regular people going through regular things, we have senses of humour and like to laugh and cry.”
“It’s really a wonderful that this idea of professionalism is changing to allow everyone in medicine to express themselves more because we need the public to see that side of us.”
“I started doing content creation because it was a way for me to take those difficult things in my life and add humour to them, present it to others and share a laugh.”
“I think more in the moment, which has helped me maintain positivity.”
Mentioned in this Episode:
Knock Knock, Hi! with the Glaucomfleckens
 
Dr.Glaucomfleken’s TikTok
Dr. Amy G Dala
Dr. Bryan Carmody
Mama Doctor Jones (Dr. Danielle Jones)
Dr. Emily Silverman
Medlife Crisis (Dr. Rohin Francis)



Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast
Follow us on Twitter, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

Burnout is a prominent issue for healthcare workers and a topic Dr. James Maskalyk is passionate about. This led to the creation of a wellness program at St. Michael’s Hospital and later across 15 hospitals in the GTA through the University of Toronto. The program promotes facets such as peer support for providers, critical incident debriefing, and more.
On the episode, Dr. Maskalyk also touches on small yet important steps that can be taken to boost overall mood in the emergency department, such as mindfulness practices, and snacks.
Quotables:
“…medicine is not something that just happens in the emergency room, but something that very much follows us home as practitioners and patients.”
“It really is just about beginning the conversation that doctors are people too, and nurses are people too, and the people who are there who support us as porters, the people who cook the food, we are human beings working in an increasingly inhumane system – to be honest.”
“There is an opportunity for us to speak to each other about what’s happening inside of us that could be more clear, because vulnerability is not a skill that we learn in medical school, or I never did.”
“You standing there, beside these people, doing the best you can, is one of the most beautiful acts ever completed by a human being.”
“Life ultimately is a temporary situation. So, then the question becomes, what do you do with what you’ve been given… it sounds trite but the answer is just be kind, to yourself and other people.”
“It’s an honour to be here and to have the trust of my patients and my colleagues, who are in the ER this very moment helping people.”



Mentioned in this Episode:
St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health
University of Toronto
Dr. Sara Gray
Dr James Orbinski
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)



Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast
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Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

Denise Lalanne is the Director, Digital and Client Services at IWK Health Centre, where she focuses on delivering the best care through leading strategic and operational plans.
Carrie Ricker supports IWK Health Centre’s Innovation and Research departments acting as legal counsel. Her passion lies in encouraging innovation through strategic business and legal advice.
Denise and Carrie joined forces for the Chez Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Home initiative where their mutual passion for innovation and providing high-quality care was amplified. Using technology, this initiative will provide NICU families with the education and tools needed to be fully engaged in the care of their baby.
In this episode, Denise and Carrie touch on how the Chez NICU Home initiative came to be and how it’s improving care at the IWK Health Centre.
 
Quotables
“We wanted to focus on the families and creating an environment that made them as comfortable and engaged as possible.” – CR



“Having that ability to phone in and find out how their baby is doing and participate in rounds is really helpful and really makes parents feel like they’re part of the process.” -DL



“At the IWK, how we approach it is really focused on promoting care for patients as well as the experience for the families that we serve.” – CR



“A small change in practice can actually have a huge difference from a patient and family perspective.” -DL



“It’s never easy but when it gets there and you see a mom saying how wonderful it was to be able to learn something or be able to see her baby today, it’s makes it all worthwhile.” – DL
 
“The reality is innovation brings with it some risks, change is risky, and everything we do in healthcare has some risks associated.” – CR
Mentioned in this Episode:
IWK Health Centre
Cisco Canada
 
Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast
Follow us on Twitter, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.