Media Advisory - CFHI to Announce Support for 22 Patient and Family Engagement Projects

OTTAWA, Aug. 6, 2014 /CNW/ - The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) will announce funding and support for 22 teams from across Canada to partner with patients and families on quality improvement initiatives. Teams from six provinces and one territory have been accepted into the Partnering with Patients and Families for Quality Improvement collaborative: B.C. (with three teams), Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Yukon. Their projects will focus on finding solutions to healthcare's most pressing challenges, including managing chronic diseases, improving care transitions and streamlining admission processes.  

Media Opportunities:

CFHI Breakfast, at the International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care

Date: Friday, August 8, 2014

Location: Salon A, Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, B.C.

7:15 – 7:25 a.m. (PDT): Mario Di Carlo, Co-Chair of the Montreal Neurological Hospital Users' Committee and patient advisor at McGill University Health Centre and Anya Humphrey, patient and family advisor at Cancer Care Ontario, describe their experiences participating in CFHI's Patient Engagement Projects (2010-13).

7:25 - 7:30 a.m. (PDT): CFHI Board Chair and Kingston General Hospital President and CEO, Leslee Thompson, will announce the 22 teams accepted into the collaborative. She will also announce CFHI participation in an international campaign to push 1000 hospitals to loosen restrictive visiting hours policies.

7:30 – 7:35 a.m. (PDT): Valerie MacDonald, Clinical Nurse Specialist Orthopaedics/Surgery and Evaluation and Performance Measurement Lead, represents a joint Vancouver Coastal Health / Fraser Health team, and will speak to its project on improving transitions in care for hip fracture patients.

7:40 – 8:00 a.m. (PDT): Photo opportunity and media availability following remarks.

8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (PDT): Other team spokespersons will be available for comment.
Interviews can be scheduled by contacting CFHI's media contact (below).

Background information:

There are an estimated 70,000 preventable adverse events in Canadian acute care hospitals every year, costing healthcare systems $397 million annually. Emerging evidence demonstrates that meaningfully engaging patients and families improves the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. CFHI's collaborative builds on its 2010-2013 support of 17 Patient Engagement Projects that achieved measureable improvements in patient care.  

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating healthcare improvement by working with provinces, territories and other healthcare partners to promote efficient healthcare that delivers better outcomes. With a $10 million annual federal investment, CFHI supports the development of innovations that could save provincial-territorial healthcare budgets over $1 billion per year. CFHI is funded through an agreement with the Government of Canada.

SOURCE: Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement

Graeme Wilkes, Senior Director, Communications & Government Relations, Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, C: 613-698-7538, E: [email protected], www.cfhi-fcass.ca