I wanted to follow up with our members with a short update on the College’s 2021 strategic priorities. About a year ago when the pandemic began impacting Canada, you may recall that our management team and board had set four priorities, which were to be vigilant about staff and volunteer wellness, to provide ongoing member and leader support in the pandemic context, to be stewards of our financial sustainability, and to think about the College’s readiness for post-pandemic recovery, whenever that might occur.
We don’t know exactly what 2021 will hold or what the future looks like beyond this year, but we have set out our priorities. These were developed following a rapid strategic thinking process in the late summer and fall last year, alongside consultations with our members, our chapter leaders, our board, our corporate partners, and our staff.
Our main priority for 2021 is to build out the College as a community of support for our members and for health care leaders across the continuum of care and across the country. Our intention is to provide a balance of traditional content and educational material but also deliberately balance this with community support programming and resources. These would provide support, coaching and advice to those who are feeling the effects of the pandemic and are most in need of a helping hand. We understand that more than ever leadership in healthcare really matters. While we will continue to remain in virtual mode throughout 2021, we will rely on our chapters as the frontline of a supportive member experience.
We have identified 5 emergent in-context leadership themes that will form the basis of our research, programming, and support resources. These are leadership in and after a crisis, caring for the elderly and long-term care, transforming Canadian health supply chain (especially PPE), frontline health worker wellness and mental health, and population and community health leadership. If you have suggestions as to partners we could work with or programming we could deliver, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Of course, we will pursue our ongoing commitment to three significant causes which are equity, diversity and inclusion, green health care, and indigenous health leadership. If you or any members you know are especially interested in any of these three causes and would like to help, again please let us know.
Lastly, we are focused on building out a strong and unified College brand that positions us as a connected and growing movement, and the best source for empathetic and responsive support for our members and for leaders across the country.
We look forward to working with our board, our chapter executive volunteers and all our committees and partners throughout 2021 as we all figure out how to carry on and emerge better and stronger on the other side. As always, I remain available to hear from our members should you wish to share thoughts or ask for our help.
Alain Doucet, MBA
President & CEO
