Interview with Richard Harding, Health Service Administrator – North Okanagan Acute
Interior Health North – Operations
Please describe the goals and objectives of this MRI activity, e.g. identifiable problems/concerns/need?
The goal and objective of the MRI Project were initially to highlight the need for Vernon and surrounding catchment area patients access to MRI. We know that access for our patients to MRI services is one of the lowest in BC and Canada. Advocating for such technology in the current fiscal climate is always a challenge with competing for demands to support aging infrastructure alongside adding new technologies, due to limited financial resources for capital projects.
What would you consider to be the measurable outcomes of the MRI, e.g. successes?
Key successes were the collaboration of various key stakeholders, including the Physicians, Site Administration and Medical Imaging Leadership alongside potential funders such as the VJH Foundation and raising the need with local government representatives. As with all projects, there are many phases, including pre-planning and development of a business case, design, approval, construction and implementation. The success of this project has been the collaboration throughout all these phases.
Benefits of working alongside VJH physicians on this project?
I believe that working with the VJH Physicians has significantly improved the local relationships and built trust. The VJH Physicians bring a significant contribution in terms of technical knowledge and experience from other areas with access to MRI, which has been instrumental in supporting the developmental design and planning of the MRI. As the end users of the MRI, it is essential VJH Physicians are involved in every step of the process.
How did engaging with the physicians help you achieve your goals for the MRI?
Engaging with the VJH Physician’s helped strengthen the case for MRI at VJH, and supported the development and implementation of excellent services within our facility and for our community at large.
What issues/barriers or lessons learned can you share?
I feel there is an opportunity for learning for both parties. As with all new relationships, there are bumps along the way.
Engage early, so we can all be on the same page. Acknowledge that where there is outside engagement, this always comes back to IH, so early heads-up allows IH to plan key messaging and communication.
I feel that there is also learnings on the Physician side, such as the processes for approvals and the various phases of projects. It is easy to assume that once projects are approved, they go straight to construction and often the timeframe from approval to being ready for service are extraordinarily long due to the various phases in-between.
I think that both Administration and Physicians involved in this project have learnt to ‘keep the communication channels open’ with frequent updates as each other identifies new information, or issues along the way and that collaborative problem solving saves time.
The engagement, support and dedication of our Vernon physicians, staff and partners in their advocacy for MRI services at Vernon Jubilee to improve the delivery of patient care cannot be understated.
Please describe why you feel your administration should get involved in the Facility Engagement Initiative?
IH’s core values are Quality, Integrity, Respect and Trust; these values guide all the work that we do. To improve Quality, we need to engage our physicians who are key to the delivery of high quality care. Integrity comes from the ability to be transparent, even if the news is not good and showing consistent follow through in support of the activities. Respect is built through the joint partnerships and collaboration with physicians, with each party understanding and acknowledging the strengths that each other brings to the table, which in turn builds Trust.
Through our joint partnerships, we build the quality services we need for our community.