Letter from the Executive Director – Fiscal Year 2023

Hello,

It’s been a minute since I wrote the last annual letter. There’s been a lot of activity below the surface. Partnerships, old and new, and many planes, trains, ferries, and cars. It is incredible how much we can achieve together in person. 

We are over Zoom and on the road.

As you may know from our manifesto, we aim to tackle global challenges locally. What we mean by that is that many other places worldwide are struggling with similar challenges as we are here in Canada. It’s helpful to learn from each other. Most of our capital is reserved for Provincial initiatives here in BC. However, our learning networks are sometimes global.

Integrated Community Care goes mainstream.

This is why last fiscal year, we found ourselves in Flanders, Belgium – twice! In September 2022, our Transform Partnership co-hosted a conference with European Forum for Primary Care. We are lucky that a number of our Canadian partners joined us there to discuss how primary care and community care could morph into integrated community care . The intention of ICC is to work holistically and collaboratively to improve care systems so that they are better for those accessing care and improve their quality of life and outcomes. I dare say, our friends from Foundry were in high demand! And speaking of Foundry, two extraordinary peer support workers from Foundry Virtual team joined us in Antwerp in May 2023 at the International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC23). Daphne and Bronwyn were so generous to share their Antwerp travel journal on our blog. You can read more here. I wish to thank them for helping us explore how lived experience can be incorporated into care and service models. And that is a topic for another lengthy conversation, one at the core of our work on supporting integrated community care models.

And speaking of ICC, Providence Health Care has big plans, so we decided to fund an exciting proof of concept work they are undertaking. Stay tuned for more information as we have it.

We are a little bit geeky and like to get into the weeds. Here we go.

You might remember from last year’s letter that we have another partnership with Providence. Here the partner is Providence Living, the long-term care operator, and CHEOS, an incredible team of scientists evaluating the model of care. This work led by CHEOS produces interesting learnings that are near-real time and actionable and support the team at Providence Living as they implement this new model of care.

Partnerships: old and new.

After six years, we are saying goodbye to the TransForm Partnership. Its multi-year legacy will continue, and you can keep up with TransForm resources here. I’d like to thank all of the partners who have contributed over the years to the incredible work produced and catalyzed by this initiative, and there are many of you. At the same time, we hope over the course of the current year, we will see new and exciting partnerships come to fruition, building on the groundwork laid out by TransForm. Stay tuned for those updates, and don’t forget to follow our vlog! Episode 2 coming out soon!

Until next year!

Sanja