Media Advisory/REMINDER: Leading Organizations Explore Health System Balancing Act on June 1 and 2 in St. John's

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Jun 01 (MARKET WIRE) --
National health decision makers will explore accountability and
transparency in health services delivery at the 2009 National Healthcare
Leadership Conference, on June 1 and 2, in St. John's, Newfoundland and
Labrador. Hosted in partnership by the Canadian College of Health Service
Executives and the Canadian Healthcare Association, this conference is
the largest national gathering of health system decision-makers in
Canada, bringing together more than 750 delegates from across the country.

Themed, Accountability in Health System Leadership: The Balancing Act,
the conference will explore the daily balancing act undertaken daily by
health system leaders as they juggle competing system priorities and
needs. Keynote speakers, abstracts, poster presentations, and concurrent
sessions will discuss issues including quantity and quality of services,
patient safety, transparency and accountability, and resource allocation
among others.

Throughout the conference, strategies and leading practices supporting
the role of health leaders as innovators, stewards and guardians of the
health system will be featured.

Conference highlights include:

- Transparency in Cloudy Times: What do leaders need to know and when?
Dr. Michael McDonald, Beth Kiley, and Catherine Gaulton will explore
ethics and accountability at the clinical-research interface of the
health system, and the role of the law with respect to disclosure. Seamus
O'Regan will moderate this provocative discussion. (June 1, 9:00 am -
10:30 am)

- Bells and Whistles: Can we afford them? Can we afford not to have them?
How can the public have continue to have a system voice in a world of
extensive restructuring and change? Lord Nigel Crisp will speak about his
experience as a leader in the transformation of the United Kingdom's
National Health Service. (June 1, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm)

- The Balancing Act: Quality and Quantity. Panelists Dr. G. Ross Baker,
Dr. Ben Chan, and Dr. John Wade will share their knowledge and
experiences in patient safety, quality improvement and measurement as
well as address the governance issues related to the various components
of the health care system. Dr. Laurel Taylor will serve as moderator.
(June 2, 9:00 am - 10:30 am)

- Governance: Political versus Management Accountability. Confusion often
exists concerning the roles of both senior management and governing
bodies. General Rick Hillier (Retired) will share his views on governance
from the political and management perspectives. (June 2, 3:30 pm - 4:45
pm) Please note that General Hillier is available to media for15 minutes
only following his address, on topics related to the address.

Concurrent sessions and other presentations of note explore:

- Pharmaceuticals - An Important Component of Health Care: Learn how New
Zealand addresses distribution of rare and expensive pharmaceuticals, and
how a large regional health authority evaluates non-formulary medication
requests. (June 1, 11:00 - 12:00)

- Integrating Knowledge into Decision-making: This session focuses on
valuable tools and strategies to manage knowledge and provide
evidence-based information to health system leaders allowing them to make
sound decisions. (June 1, 11:00 - 12:00)

- Management Accountability and Leadership: Leaders are responsible for
the quality and timeliness of organizational performance, increasing
productivity, and controlling costs. This session will address management
competencies; accountability agreements, change management and
sustainability. (June 1, 13:30 - 15:00)

- Ethics: Ethics is relevant to all aspects of healthcare delivery. This
session will offer examples of an ethics consultation, a core value and
governance-management tool for decision-making, and the results of a
national survey on citizen perspectives on pandemic influenza. (June 2,
11:00 - 12:00)

More information, including the biographies of plenary speakers and a
complete list of presentations, is available at
www.healthcareleadershipconference.ca.

When: Monday, June 1, 2009, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (Opening Ceremonies
at 8:30 am to include greetings from Newfoundland and Labrador Minister
of Health and Community Services Ross Wiseman, and Mayor of St. John's
Dennis O'Keefe), and Tuesday, June 2, 2009, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (NDT).

Where: St. John's Convention Centre, 101 New Gower Street, St. John's,
Newfoundland and Labrador.

Contacts:
For more information, or to schedule
an interview, please contact:
Canadian Healthcare Association
Teresa Neuman, Communications Specialist
613-241-8005 x 205 / Mobile: 613-282-6003
tneuman@cha.ca

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