Healthcare Change Makers

Hosted by HIROC (Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada)

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100

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May 2026

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About the show

Intimate and honest conversations with leaders about the joys and challenges of driving change in our complex and demanding healthcare organizations.

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60 recent

May 13, 202632 min

Dr. Vera Etches: What It Means to Be More Than a Hospital

Dr. Vera Etches asks herself, "How do we make sure we're supporting children to have a good start in life and the best lives they can live?", to help guide her work as President and CEO of Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). This question is Vera's north star when leading initiatives such as CHEO's Integrated Treatment Centre. Set to open in 2028, this new building will join different teams and programs to support children and families in meeting their goals. With this guiding principle, Vera and her team have also successfully reduced Emergency Department (ED) wait times at CHEO over the past year. On this episode, we hear about what Vera has learned so far in her role, the value of fostering partnerships, and details around CHEO's Integrated Treatment Centre and ED flow. Quotables: "Coming into a new sector, the hospital sector, it definitely felt like I needed to do a lot of listening to really build my own understanding and hear directly from people… what is their experience like, what are they seeing?" – V.E "We are here for the children, the youth, and their families, and people are so motivated." – V.E "Because it's about children, it's extremely special work that can make a difference for the population's health long-term for the future generations. I'm happy to be able to focus on this." – V.E "There's a whole journey before the ED so it's about trying to make sure parents can find information, videos, accessible tools and tips about when to come into the ER." – V.E "The people we need to hear from are those who have the greatest barriers to access, who are going to show up later, presenting with more worrisome situations." – V.E "If the system is working better for people who are living in poverty, it will be working better for everyone." - V.E "Be patient, give yourself grace, lay those foundations of relationships." – V.E Mentioned in this Episode: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Dr. Penny Sutcliff Dr. Isra Levy Children's Healthcare Canada Hindia Mohamoud Tommy Douglas Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

April 29, 202637 min

Dr. Lynn Mikula and Evan Lyons: Partnerships Change the Equation

Peterborough Regional Health Centre's Dr. Lynn Mikula, President and CEO, and Evan Lyons, EVP, Digital Services, Strategy & Transformation and CIO, help us understand how to initiate and sustain delivery around Artificial Intelligence (AI). They value building a solid foundation around data first and then using AI as a lever to build on what's created. When it comes down to it, partnerships are key. Lynn and Evan feel strongly that no healthcare organization should figure out AI alone. Healthcare organizations are facing many of the same problems within the same system, so we should leverage the opportunity to go further together. On this episode, we embrace this idea of doing it together, discussing how organizations can navigate, adopt, and adapt to this technology. Quotables: "We need to be helping each other because it [AI] is a vast and a little bit of an alarming topic, it is constantly changing, none of us can see that far ahead of where it's going next." - L.M "I believe this technology has the potential to be deeply transformative in healthcare, deeply disruptive. Some of it will be good, some of it will be bad, a lot of it we don't understand yet. So, let's work together." – L.M "If you try to do something yourself without understanding the data first, it would be an inappropriate or incomplete use case." – L.M "The efficiencies to be gained exist in the lessons learned from other organizations who are trying to solve similar problems." – E.L "The early innovations are great, it's good for exploration, but really what we want to see is sustained delivery of these solutions at scale and that's where that 'together' mandate is really important." – E.L "The real value isn't in the technology as a standalone item. It's in the shared learning of how to apply that technology for a specific desired outcome." – E.L Mentioned in this Episode: Peterborough Regional Health Centre HIROC's Strategic Plan – The Art of Safety Patagonia Pixar Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

March 23, 202656 min

Francis Garwe: The Community is a Library of Assets

Francis opens up about how his experiences as a newcomer to Canada and a trained mediator shaped his leadership philosophy, emphasizing that listening is a foundational skill all leaders must intentionally practice. Creating a culture of trust means creating a space for staff, partners, and community members to share their perspectives, and through this, his organization has been able to design services that truly reflect the needs of the community they serve. From launching programs that address inequities to building a vibrant Learning Hub that fosters intergenerational knowledge exchange and ideation, Francis illustrates how empowering communities can unlock innovation and lasting change that include perspectives from all walks of life. He also offers several great lessons for leaders: How the community can be considered a library of assets, and organizations should open their doors to invite those assets in Resist the temptation to do everything alone, as many successful programs can originate from community ideas and collaborations with partners How trust, integrity, and respect are non-negotiable values Our conversation also explores how Durham Community Health Centre approaches care through a person-centered lens, addressing not only clinical needs but also social determinants of health such as food security, connection, and access to services. Francis also highlights the importance of partnerships and a shared purpose, including collaborations with organizations like Lakeridge Health and Queen's University, to strengthen community-based healthcare. Quotables: "Listening is a muscle that you have to exercise. The power of listening is more effective than the ability to open my mouth and speak." – FG "Everything anchors on trust. Whether it's integrity or respect, one has to trust you. To me, my word is my contract." – FG "The saying 'culture eats strategy for breakfast' is the ability to be able to say I might need to unlearn and relearn, so that I'm able to appreciate where these services we are developing or going to land, and which voices are missing in that." – FG "The community is a library of assets. Learn to open your doors for those community members to come and pour into that cup. Once you do that, you continuously become a hub of innovation. To leaders who might be listening: Resist the temptation to do it all." – FG "It is a moment of pride when you see the power of engaging and the power of partnership, as well as the power of listening. And again, I will say intentional listening, not listening because we had a solution, but wanting to know that which we didn't know, so that we can know what we don't know." – FG "That means engaging our teams, that are working day-to-day on the front lines, to make sure the culture of listening and design, or co-designing with those who receive your services, is crucial. By doing that, we are perpetuating a culture that allows the community to buy in, but also owning the design and implementation." – FG "When you walk around our organization, you hear my team talk about 'How do we empower the community? How do we build capacity in the community?' When we do it right, that individual becomes a magnet of support to the next person, and continuously in that way." – FG "What does the real person want from here day-to-day to be able to sustain themselves? And how do we make sure that those needs are not one size fits all? That element of understanding that the community comes in different shapes. But when we look at the person, we need to look from top to bottom, and totally appreciate of them as a human being with different needs is crucial to this part." – FG "Our Learning Hub has seniors that come in to knit and crochet, and also a group of youths from high schools that will share their digital and technical know-how. So, there's an intergenerational information exchange, skills that are being exchanges across these two different segments of the population, which actually happens to really bring the old traditional ways that knowledge used to be passed." – FG Mentioned this Episode: Durham Community Health Centre Peter Drucker Obliquity by John Kay Lakeridge Health Queen's University Durham College Durham District School Board Hon. Sylvia Jones Walk with a Doc, Dr. David Sabgir Telus Health Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

February 25, 202636 min

Sue Graham-Nutter: This Will Be the Path

Sue Graham-Nutter, CEO of The Rekai Centres, and her entire team are hard at work developing a new long-term care home in downtown Toronto, the Cherry Place Campus of Care. The heart of this new Campus is innovation, and the collective input from the community and their partners. While leading this major construction project, Sue reaffirmed the value of relationships with organizations such as HIROC, the Ministry of Long-Term Care, the City of Toronto, and many others. We hear about The Rekai Centres' Rainbow Wing and how it's addressing the need for community for 2SLGBTQI+ seniors. Sue also weaves in stories of her family and friends and reminds us to listen to our inner Little Engine That Could – to believe in ourselves when things get tough. Quotables: "Just because there isn't an existing program, doesn't mean you can't put together a proper business plan and achieve your goal. But there has to be a business plan with everyone's goals realized."– S.G.N "I think it's also important that people keep on top of the news, not just one news source but multiple news sources, so one has a full perspective on what's going on in the world around them and the opportunities to make a difference in society." – S.G.N "Input can come from anywhere when you're building something and trying to be innovative." – S.G.N "We didn't know HIROC pre-COVID, but HIROC was there for us when we were moving our insurance operationally and we wanted to make sure we had an insurance company that could protect the corporation if there was another pandemic… So, I think it's really the relationships that are so key." – S.G.N "It's good to see everyone pulling together to support our seniors who built this country for us." – S.G.N "… Insurance is very important operationally, but also during construction because construction is not for the faint of heart. So, it's good to have a partner in insurance who is there when you have a question, when you wonder – what do I do here?" – S.G.N "I was fortunate to have a family that provided me with that confidence, so now in the workforce I try to provide the confidence and support to people that I think can do more than they think they might be able to." – S.G.N Mentioned in this Episode: Barbara Michalik Brian Pollard Building Ontario Fund Catherine Gaulton City of Toronto Dr. Paul Rekai Harvard University HIROC HIROC's Strategic Plan – The Art of Safety Humber Polytechnic Hon. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta Infrastructure Ontario Real Estate Lester Braithwait Ministry of Long-Term Care Peter Bethlenfalv Peter Rekai The Rekai Centres Taylor Swift Toronto Metropolitan University University of Toronto Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

January 28, 202646 min

Renira Narrandes: Why We All Need a Knowledge Broker

Research analyst, communications expert, event planner, and video editor – these are just some of the many hats worn as a knowledge broker. Renira Narrandes, Knowledge Translation (KT) Program Manager at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and her entire team carry a diverse skillset to share and implement evidence that's beneficial, easy to access and understand. On this episode, Renira helps us understand KT better by breaking down what it is, what makes it unique, and how storytelling fits into it. Renira also shares the difference between KT and communications, a question she's often asked. We at HIROC loved learning how integral partnering, as well as sharing and scaling knowledge are to KT. These are, of course, essential to HIROC's work in partnering to create the safest healthcare system. In HIROC's Community Corner article series, we take this conversation to the next level. Our latest article features the entire KT team at SickKids to learn about their program's success and how they're advancing healthcare safety. Read the full article: https://www.hiroc.com/news/community-corner-filling-gap-knowledge-translation

December 4, 202538 min

Catherine Gaulton: What's Stopping You?

Sustainability and shelter, with a good dose of innovation. These are the words that come to mind when Catherine thinks about HIROC and the past year. It is her hope that for Subscribers, when things feel in flux, HIROC is viewed as that calm place in the storm. Catherine and Philip tease HIROC's new strategic plan "The Art of Safety", which is launching in January 2026. Spoiler alert: topics like cyber, perinatal, education, and accessible data are featured heavily in the new plan. We talk about Catherine's roots and the lessons she carries with her from her father, especially around there being no limitations to what his kids could do. For Catherine, it's about asking, "What's stopping you?" when things get tough. In the spirit of the holidays, it's a true family episode as Catherine's son Thomas also stops in at the studio for a chat. We learn a lot about Catherine from talking with him – including some of what makes her a classic Newfoundlander. Thomas uses the word "perseverance" to describe his mom. From all of us at HIROC, we concur. So, we'll leave this as our challenge to all of you as we head into 2026… what's stopping you? Quotables: "I think when things are really so volatile, [when] they're so hectic, that you look for a calm place in the storm. And I would hope that while we [HIROC] are always changing in order to meet Subscribers' needs, that we're also viewed as that place in the storm." – CG "I am always surprised by just the unequivocal devotion that we have here [at HIROC] to Subscribers." – CG "This past year in our annual Subscriber Engagement Survey, we asked Subscribers to rank HIROC's Value Drivers. And the top five chosen by them, by our Subscribers, were expertise, responsiveness, risk reduction, price, and quality." – PD "These values and these drivers for Subscribers are the cornerstone of where we start from as we develop strategic plans, as we do operational planning for the organization." – CG "I have conversations every year with a whole cross-section of leaders across the country and they are driven entirely by: what's your context now that we should know, and what can we be doing more of, better in." – CG Mentioned in this Episode: - Catherine Gaulton - HIROC's Risk Management Residency Program - HIROC Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

November 19, 202536 min

Christina Bisanz: Empowering Older Adults

A core component of what Christina Bisanz, CEO of CHATS, focuses on is understanding the caregiver perspective and the pressures that come with it. By listening to the experiences of caregivers, the programs and services offered by CHATS reflect their voices and respond to their needs. "Caregivers really are the unsung heroes of our health system. If not for the presence and support that is being provided by informal caregivers, our health system could likely collapse," Christina explains. Christina also tells us about CHATS' Assisted Living for High-Risk Adults program and CIBPA Place, York Region's first not-for-profit Overnight Respite Care Centre for short-term stays. She also explains how caregivers and services provided for older adults support the health system as a whole and helps take pressure off other areas such as emergency departments. Quotables: "We believe aging should never mean that an individual loses their dignity, or their choice, or their agency on how they're able to live their lives." – CB "The other thing about empowerment is that it really does foster resilience and helps combat isolation that too many older adults are facing in our communities." – CB "The pressure on emergency rooms would increase tremendously if we didn't have informal caregivers helping to keep people home, helping to keep their loved ones able to meet medical appointments, and be socially involved." – CB "One of the concepts that stuck with me is the idea that aging isn't a problem to solve, it really is a journey to support." – CB "Innovation doesn't always mean the latest piece of technology, or the newest cell phone or AI, it often means rethinking how we listen and how we collaborate with others in our communities." – CB "At CHATS we have engrained innovation as part of our culture and we're always empowering our staff to bring forward ideas and pilot new models and also to learn from failure." - CB Mentioned in this Episode: - CHATS - CIBPA Place - Care As One - Amy Coupal - Dr. Samir K. Sinha - Ryan Schell Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

October 29, 202555 min

Paul Young: Undertaking Courageous Leadership

When Paul Young, COO of the University of PEI Faculty of Medicine, sees an uphill battle, he doesn't turn the other way. His love for healthcare fuels his ability to face a challenge head on, with the outcome rooted in finding solutions collaboratively. Paul's courageous leadership was witnessed through his support in bringing UPEI's Faculty of Medicine to fruition. Paul shares key leadership lessons on helping teams feel empowered, how to drive positive partnerships, and navigating intergenerational differences in the workplace. Having been named one of Atlantic Canada's Top 50 CEOS for a fifth consecutive year, we're not surprised to hear much of Paul's forward-thinking leadership shine through on this episode. Quotables: "I love healthcare and everything about it, especially for someone who loves challenges and loves puzzles, that is healthcare in its finest, there's always a problem to be solved." -PY "We believe in every bit that [this medical school] is a big part of a better tomorrow, not just for the country but certainly for PEI in terms of trying to stabilize our healthcare." - PY "It's really important that folks feel your passion, passion for the mandate, passion for the work, passion for the people that you're working with." - PY "When I think of what's one thing that can be done today to drive those positive relationships… it's to ensure that I'm prioritizing the value of the relationship. We need to approach relationships and partnerships and collaboration with an open mind." – PY "One of the hardest parts of today with all the challenges whether it's healthcare or outside, it's leading and holding your values close to heart and not sacrificing what you truly believe in to advance a relationship or initiative at the cost of someone or something else." – PY "I think a big part of courageous leadership is creating a space where you can hear those perspectives, particularly when you're seeking out daring opinions and supporting a constructive debate, it takes courage to do that." – PY Mentioned in this Episode: - University of PEI - University of PEI Faculty of Medicine - Memorial University of Newfoundland - Melanie Fraser - Dr. Preston Smith - Toronto Blue Jays Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

October 15, 202546 min

Dr. Mike Heenan: The World is Constantly Learning

Dr. Mike Heenan is the President and CEO of St. Joseph's Health System and President of St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. On the episode, Mike tells us about a time when he received one very striking complaint and how it pivoted his work and that of the organization. We also speak to Mike about his career path and how no matter who you are, you can have an impact on someone's life. Throughout his career, Mike has dedicated a lot of time to learning. He shares with us his views on how it's an important balance for all of us to keep in view. While covering some heavy but important topics, Mike also touches on how his family grounds him. And of course, how he's a big Blue Jays fan! Quotables: "I think when you go through life and you say what's my value proposition, it allows you to focus on what gets you up every day and it doesn't look like a transactional job, but a career calling." – M. Heenan "It's these real-life experiences that can stop you as a leader… but it's these humanistic ethical issues that really make a leader pivot and say enough is enough, we really need to deal with this." – M. Heenan "This happens in coffee shops, and it happens in hospitals. And so, I'm not going to change society overnight in one healthcare organization, but I can contribute to us fixing it one incident at a time, or one hospital at a time." – M. Heenan "Even though we have signs in our hallways across all our hospitals in this country that say there's zero tolerance, the fact of the matter is, we do tolerate some of it." – M. Heenan "Someone like the IHI or HIROC who sees all these different organizations can bring this very diverse perspective to a table and apply it depending on the environment." – M. Heenan "I appreciate all of HIROC's support. Most people see HIROC perhaps from an insurance reciprocal perspective but the value-added services and the partnership it provides to the whole continuum of providing quality care…" – M. Heenan Mentioned in this Episode: - St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton - St. Joseph's Health System - Catherine Gaulton - HIROC - Dr. Kevin Smith - University Health Network - National Museum of African American History - Institute for Healthcare Improvement - Longwoods - London Health Sciences Centre - McMaster University - Ontario Hospital Association - Toronto Blue Jays Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

September 10, 202545 min

Charbel Daniel: Adding Life to Our Years

Leading the largest not-for-profit continuing care organization in Atlantic Canada, Charbel Daniel is always looking at how the organization can do better to serve its people. On this episode of Healthcare Change Makers, Charbel tells Philip and Michelle about Northwood's career college, which is adding capacity in a growing sector. He shares the work Northwood's Behavioural Support Unit is doing – challenging the standards of care provided to patients with dementia. Throughout this, Charbel weaves in lessons from his parents who immigrated from Lebanon, and how this has shaped him as a leader. Quotables: - "We say a lot: it's not about adding years to life, but adding life to those years." – CD - "Failure is really the recipe to success; you don't know how you're going to get there until you know how not to get there." – CD - "The work that's being done today is already fantastic and amazing but, yet every single day people are showing up and saying, 'how can we actually do better?'. And that's one of our values." – CD - "I think of partnerships as things that go past being transactional and move toward transformation and working together." – CD Mentioned in this Episode: - Be Advice - Care By Design Program, Nova Scotia Health - Department of Infrastructure and Housing (Nova Scotia) - Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care (Nova Scotia) - Emergency Health Services (EHS), Nova Scotia - HIROC - Northwood Care - Northwood Career College - Tim Coolen Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.