REINVENTING PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

Providing greater access to primary healthcare: The evolving role of nurses
Paula Bond

Empowering clinical process: Improving primary care through shared care
Kathryn Storey
Ruth Cameron

Enhancing the role of family physicians: Family health teams
Dr. Donald Harterre
Bill Casey

Local experiences in chronic disease management
Dr. June Kingston
Angela Rea-Mahoney

Home care and primary care partnerships
Marg McAlister

Potential of e-health to support primary healthcare renewal
Giovanni Vatieri

Dr. Donald Harterre holds has a BA from McGill University and Medical Degree from the University of British Columbia. He has served on the executive of the College of Family of Physicians of Ontario from 1972 to 1974, and was recently recognized as Family Physician of the Year by the CPSO. Dr. Harterre has also served as President of the Peterborough County Medical Society, President of the former Peterborough Civic Hospital Medical Staff and as Vice President of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre's Medical Staff. Dr. Harterre practiced family medicine in Peterborough from 1966 to 2001. In October of 2003, Dr. Harterre became Chief of Staff at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, retiring in August of 2005. As the Chair of the Greater Peterborough Health Care Alliance from 2002 to 2005, Dr. Harterre served as a catalyst for primary care reform throughout Peterborough and across Ontario. He is currently the Physician Lead responsible for the establishment of Peterborough's Community Family Health Team.

Joseph Mapa is President & CEO of Mount Sinai Hospital. Joseph is a graduate of the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and he also obtained his MBA from the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He is Fellow of the Canadian College of Health Service Executives, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. He is the author of numerous articles on healthcare management and he is co-author of three books focusing on the topic of humanistic healthcare. In 2003 he co-edited a new book on effective government relations in the healthcare industry with Professor Peggy Leatt of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and past President of the Department's Society of Graduates. In 1997, Joe was honoured with the Ontario Regent's Award by the American College of Healthcare Executives for distinguished leadership in the field of healthcare. In 1998 he received the Graduate Literary Award for his publication on organizational ethics from the Society of Graduates in Health Administration.

Elinor Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa-based Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA). The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) is a national, independent, not-for-profit, voluntary association representing public health in Canada with links to the international public health community. CPHA's mission is to constitute a special national resource in Canada that advocates for the improvement and maintenance of personal and community health according to the public health principles of disease prevention, health promotion and protection and healthy public policy. Prior to joining CPHA, Elinor served a 5-year term as Chief Science Officer for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), where she was responsible for evaluating state-of-science across the Foundations, working with granting agencies, the academic research community, and national/international liaisons. Her background includes a focus on coalition building in the dissemination of research, programs and policy. This work focuses on tobacco, heart health, school health and preventive practices of health professionals. Working with policy and development in the area of women, heart disease and stroke, emergency cardiac care, tobacco control and surveillance, has been a particular focus in Canada, Latin America and internationally.

Howard Bergman, MD, is the first Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Professor of Geriatric Medicine and is Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University (www.med.mcgill.ca/geriatrics). Dr. Bergman is also Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine of the Jewish General Hospital and an investigator at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies and at the Bloomfield Centre for Research in Aging of the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. He is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Administration at the Université de Montréal and Visiting Professor at both the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

In 2003, Dr. Bergman was appointed Scientific Director of the Quebec Network for Research in Aging funded by the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ) www.reseau-vieillissement.qc.ca. He has also recently been appointed Chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Ageing of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society. Dr. Bergman is co-Chair of the Program Committee for the 8th Congrès international francophone de gériatire et de gérontologie to be held in Quebec City in 2006.

In the area of frailty and health services, Dr. Bergman is co-Director of Solidage: the McGill University/Université de Montréal Research Group on Integrated Services for Older Persons (www.solidage.ca). In 1999-2001, Solidage developed and evaluated in a randomized controlled trial the SIPA model of integrated care for the frail elderly population with major grants from both the Federal and Quebec Governments. In 2001, Solidage received from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research a five year $3.5 million grant for an international Interdisciplinary Health Research Team on "The Challenge of Understanding and Meeting the Needs of Frail Older Persons in the Canadian Health Care System". As well, Dr. Bergman presently leads a group of Canadian and international investigators in the Canadian Initiative on Frailty and Ageing (www.frail-fragile.ca).

In 2000-2001, Dr. Bergman was a member of the "Clair Commission", an independent Commission set up by the Quebec government to propose reforms to the health care system. The Commission submitted its report in January 2001. Dr. Bergman serves as consultant to Regional Health Boards and provincial Ministries in Canada and other countries as well as to industry.

In the area of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Bergman's research interests focus on early diagnosis. He is the founder and co-director of the Jewish General Hospital/McGill University Memory Clinic and is Past President of the Consortium of Canadian Centres for Clinical Cognitive Research (C5R).

Ms. Bond holds the position of Vice President of Acute Care and Chief Nursing Executive for Windsor Regional Hospital. She has a Masters of Nursing Administration from Flinders University in Australia. She attained her Registered Nurses Degree from the St. Clare's School of Nursing in Newfoundland. Prior to her current position with Windsor Regional Hospital, Paula was Chief Nursing Officer in the commissioning team for the new site of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Recently, Paula oversaw the opening of a Primary Care Breast Health Centre at Windsor Regional Hospital. Ms. Bond has over 25 years of expert experience, holding various Nursing Leadership positions in New Zealand, Australia, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Ms. Bond has also travelled the globe as an invited keynote speaker on the importance of clinical-based research.

Bill Casey graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, with a BA and went on to obtain an MA from the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Casey has been actively engaged in local, regional and provincial healthcare reform strategies since 1998. In 2003, he became the administrative lead for primary care reform in Peterborough and was instrumental in the provincial government's recent approval of five Family Health Teams for the community of Peterborough, representing one of three Community Family Health Team Networks in the Province. Mr. Casey has assumed the role of Business Development Lead for the Office of Primary Care, which is a not-for-profit corporation, designed to support local family physicians as they transition from independent practice toward team practice.

Marg McAlister is the Project Manager for the National Home Care and Primary Health Care Partnership project sponsored by the Canadian Home Care Association. She is a registered nurse and has her certificate in management from the Canadian Institute of Management. Marg's experience spans the acute and home care sectors, where she has held positions as a staff nurse and senior executive. In addition to her work on the Partnership Project, Marg provides consulting services to the home care industry and has authored a number of related papers and reports.

Giovanni has distinguished himself as a business transformation strategist in both public and private sector organizations in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. His expertise in strategic positioning, reengineering and change management includes direct experience in a care delivery environment as well as a consultant. He specializes in designing and implementing innovative business and technological solutions for organizations in the healthcare industry and has a comprehensive knowledge of decision-making, strategic planning and operations management in this arena. As a management consultant, he advised on healthcare information management and technology initiatives and acted as an advisor to global systems integrators, health systems, insurance companies, and governments in Canada, Australia the UK, and the US. As Director of Healthcare Business Solutions at EDS, Giovanni was a strategic advisor in the delivery of healthcare information management and technology services for their Healthcare Global Industry Group. He also has a strong knowledge base and experience in care delivery activities and the application of information technology in those environments. Giovanni has held senior IT positions at organisations such as the University Health Network, Mount Sinai, Princess Margaret, & Toronto Medical Laboratories in Toronto, Windsor Regional Hospital, and St. Joseph's Health Centre of London.

Kathe Storey is currently the Chief of the Acute and Community Care Division of the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene. Her background is in nursing, psychology and education. She is currently a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. Her research interests are in participatory leadership and empowerment within the mental health field.

Ruth Cameron currently is the Coordinator of the Outpatient Services Program of the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene. She is a registered nurse and has a strong background in clinical leadership and program development and evaluation.

Dr. June Kingston is the Chief of the Department of Family Practice at Trillium Health Centre. June obtained her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1979. She is a Certificant and Fellow of the College of Family Physicians. Dr. Kingston has long been involved in health care innovations. She co-hosted "Healthwise", a community television health information program in Peel for several years. In the 1990's, as the Medical Director of the Sexual Assault Assessment and Treatment Centre she was integral to the regionalization of these services at Trillium. For the past 18 months she has worked closely with Trillium's Primary Care and Community Health initiative to improve the delivery of primary care in her hospital and community. Dr. Kingston maintains a busy family medical practice in Mississauga.

Angela Rea-Mahoney is the Manager, Primary Care and Community Health Initiatives at Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga. In this role she is responsible for supporting the Department of Family Practice and for providing strategic leadership in advancing primary care efforts across the organization and with community partners. Prior to joining Trillium, Angela has had roles in corporate and program planning at Mount Sinai Hospital, Norfolk General Hospital, the Ontario Hospital Association, the Ministry of Health, and the District Health Council System. She also spent three years in information technology and project management consulting to health care clients. Angela has a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from Queen's University and an MBA (Health Services Management specialization) from McMaster. She also holds a diploma in Applied Information Technology. Angela is a certified member of the Canadian College of Health Services Executives.