Updates

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do we do things this way?” Last fall, in conjunction with Canadian Patient Safety Week, teams from the Health Workforce Innovation Challenge were invited to reflect on this question through the Dinosaur Mini-Challenge. By “digging for dinosaurs” around their work practices, teams identified and worked to re-examine practices that no longer promote safety.

Healthcare Excellence Canada has invited 26 organizations across Canada to participate in its Enabling Aging in Place collaborative from January 2024 to September 2025.

HEC announced the 20 teams invited to participate in our Strengthening Primary Care program. The program is designed to improve access to safe, including culturally safe, team-based primary care closer to home and meet the unique needs of northern, rural and remote communities.

Traditional palliative care models often overlook the unique needs and challenges of people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing, including needs like income security, food and more personalized, compassionate care. The Improving Equity in Access to Palliative Care collaborative brings communities from coast to coast to design and implement innovative models that improve access to care.

As part of this year’s Canadian Patient Safety Week (CPSW), our annual campaign to inspire improvements in healthcare safety and quality across Canada, HEC’s President and CEO Jennifer Zelmer hosted an exclusive fireside chat for CPSW registrants.

Data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information show that one in 17 hospital stays in Canada in 2022-23 resulted in unintended harm that might have been prevented through evidence-informed practices. That’s about six per one hundred acute-care admissions, up from rates of 5.3 to 5.4 before the pandemic began.

Healthcare Excellence Canada is now accepting applications for a new collaborative focused on advancing promising practices that enable older adults with health and social needs to age where they call home, in the community, with formal support.

Today we’re announcing the new Chair and Vice-Chair of Healthcare Excellence Canada’s Board of Directors, as well as one new Director.

As World Patient Safety Day approaches on September 17, this year’s theme of “Engaging Patients for Patient Safety” highlights the vital role patients, families and essential care partners play in the safety of healthcare. In the spirit of this year’s theme, we as patient partners are sharing our reflections and identifying opportunities to make care as safe and high-quality as possible.