The SOG Annual General Meeting - October 6, 2004
This Annual General Meeting celebrated the class of '79's achievements.
A banner year for the graduating class of 25 years ago: this class seems
to comprise one of the highest number of hospital CEOs in recent years.
Sister Elizabeth Davis, Class of '85 talked
about the Ethics of Leadership at this year's Annual Meeting. Sister
Elizabeth was president and CEO of the Health Corporation of St.
John's Newfoundland from 1994 - 2001 and currently is a doctoral
student in scripture at the Toronto School of Theology, University
of Toronto. Sister Elizabeth was one of 79 new appointments to
the Order of Canada , and one of five which were related to health. For further details on Sister Elizabeth's background and Value Based Leadership,
read her profile in Hospital Quarterly Fall 2002 at www.longwoods.com/jobsite/HQ61SisterDavis.pdf (Adobe
PDF).
Eric Hong Accepts New Position with Alzheimer Strategy
Eric Hong is leaving his position as Program Manager – Psychiatric Rehabilitation at the Whitby Mental Health Centre in order to take up his new role as Alzheimer Strategy Transition Period Project Manager. The Transition Period Project follows the conclusion of the five year Ontario Strategy for Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementia. Supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat and the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, its purpose is to integrate and implement the projects and recommendations of the Ontario Alzheimer Strategy.
Alumni Profiles
Alumni of the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (HPME)
are involved in a broad range of leadership activities across the health care
sector. To promote greater awareness of the many accomplishments and innovations
of this diverse group, we are pleased to include alumni profiles as a regular
feature of the Society of Graduates newsletter. This issue features
Dr. Vivek Goel, Vice-President and Provost, University of Toronto, and past
Chair and of the Department of Health, Policy, Management and Evaluation, University
of Toronto.
Vivek Goel
- Former HPME Department Chair appointed U of T Provost -
Vivek Goel was appointed University of Toronto Vice-President and Provost for a five-year term in June. Previously Deputy Provost, Vice-Provost, Faculty and Interim Provost, he has also sat on various University boards and committees including Academic Board (as vice-chair in 2000-01) and Governing Council. As Provost, Dr. Goel will be the University’s Chief Academic Officer and Chief Budget Officer and will lead the academic planning process.
Goel earned a medical degree from McGill University, a master’s degree in health administration at U of T in 1988 and a master’s degree in biostatistics from Harvard University two years later. Having trained and practised as a physician, he believed that he could have the greatest impact on the population's health by focusing on disease prevention and the optimal design of health systems. He therefore joined U of T in 1991 as an assistant professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine and Biostatistics (now the Department of Public Health Sciences).
From 1999 to 2001, Goel served as chair of the Department of Health Administration (now Health Policy, Management and Evaluation) in the Faculty of Medicine. From 1999 to 2002 he was the scientific program leader at the Health Evidence Applications Linkages Network (HEALNet), a national network of researchers in the health, social and applied sciences working to improve the health of Canadians by analyzing decision-making at all levels in the healthcare system.
Goel remains a full professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and holds a cross-appointment to the Department of Public Health Sciences. He is also an adjunct senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and a co-investigator at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at University Health Network.
An accomplished scholar, Goel’s research interests include health care evaluation with an emphasis on medical screening intervention, especially cancer screening, breast cancer health services research and population health informatics.
For the Society of Grads newsletter, Goel found time in his extremely busy schedule to answer a few questions:
1. What were the most memorable events in your tenure as HPME Chair? Why?
A couple of the key events were the merger with the clinical epidemiology program, which greatly strengthened the Department’s linkages with research groups in the hospitals, and its focus on clinical and outcomes research; and the selection of the new name for the department, which while a difficult exercise and with a result that is a mouthful, more accurately reflects the nature of the department.
2. It is said that all of our life experiences combine to make us who we are, to prepare us for new challenges. How does your Chairmanship of HPME help you
as your enter your new post?
Working in HPME gave me an opportunity to experience several of the key
challenges the University as a whole faces and has identified as priorities in its ‘Stepping UP’ plan. These include the promotion and facilitation of inter- disciplinarity; the linkage of teaching and research; and outreach to the local, national and international communities. The Department is a leader in these areas and I had the opportunity to experience managing these activities first hand.
3. What do you anticipate to be the main thrusts of your tenure as Provost?
If you can comment on these, what specific objectives do you have in mind?
My key priorities for my tenure as Provost are:
- Enhancing the student experience so that each student enjoys everything that the University and the city can uniquely offer
- Fostering and promoting interdisciplinarity and interdivisional work, building on the diverse strengths of our many students and faculty
- Bringing together research and teaching and graduate and undergraduate experiences
- Improving our outreach, locally, nationally and internationally so our scholarship has an impact on the world around us
- Promoting equity and diversity so we are open to and reflect the rich community that we are a part of.
4. How will your duties be affected by the imminent departure of President Birgeneau?
We will continue with the priorities that are outlined above and work with the Governing Council, the Interim President and the new President, when appointed, to achieve our objectives.
5. What is your view of the usefulness of the Rae Commission at this time?
The Rae Review has been given a crucial mandate to examine the optimal means
for ensuring that Universities in Ontario have the resources to meet the needs of our population. The Rae Review has the potential to shape the nature of funding for our Universities for the next few decades.
6. Do you have a view [that you would like to share] on Prime Minister Paul Martin's promised changes to our health care system?
I would share this with all the First Ministers: stop the political squabbling and get on with it. The answer will not be simply with pouring more resources into the health system. We must look at the structure and function of the health system. We must also recognize that simply investing more in health services is starving other sectors, which will have a serious impact in the long-term on the health of our population.
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