McGill University has launched “Transforming Healthcare,” a system-based approach using advanced, technology-enabled solutions aimed at improving Canada’s health-care system.
The project is supported by $5.75 million in donor funding and will bring together expertise in management, medicine and public policy to develop system-level solutions.
“As one of Canada’s major research universities, McGill has a responsibility to help strengthen the systems that underpin our healthcare,” said Deep Saini, President and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. “Drawing on our expertise in management, medicine and public policy, and building on our strong partnerships across the health sector, we have the capacity to develop sustainable solutions that will have an enduring impact.”
Many Canadians are struggling to access a family doctor, while surgical backlogs and emergency room overcrowding remain ongoing challenges. The initiative aims to identify practical solutions to issues facing the health-care system through cross-sector partnerships.
In its initial phase, researchers will examine how care is delivered on the ground through fieldwork and data-driven analysis. The results will be shared with stakeholders through policy briefs, workshops and pilot projects aimed at testing real-world solutions.
“Many of the pressures facing healthcare today are not clinical problems – they are co-ordination and organizational challenges that require cross-disciplinary cooperation,” said Samer Faraj, inaugural Director of the ITH. “The initiative aims to solve long-standing health sector bottlenecks by pioneering organizational and technological solutions that are based on a deep university-health sector collaboration and joint engagement.”
