Strategic Pillar Updates

Strategic Pillars: What's Happening?

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The Strategic Pillars represent medical staff in Providence Health Care’s Strategic Plan. Physician leaders and 20 to 25 medical staff advisors are paired with senior organizational leaders in Pillar Advisory Committees (PACs) to collaborate on activities relating to patient care and our workplace.

Strategic Pillars: Your questions answered

What are the Strategic Pillars?

  • Physician leaders are paired with senior health authority leaders and 20 to 25 medical staff advisors (Advisory Committees).
  • They cover 4 key strategic themes: Quality, Learning, People and Partnerships. (Mission:Forward)
  • They support an additional priority called Primary Care Community Connectedness (PC3) linked to NSPH redevelopment.
  • They integrate with the work of NSPH redevelopment and its physician leaders.
  • Physicians are paid for Pillar work with funding from PHC-PASS / SSC Facility Engagement.

Why were the Pillars created?

  • The Pillars provide an organized structure that represents the collective voice of medical staff in our health authority’s organizational priorities, activities, and decisions affecting patient care and our workplace.
  • By aligning medical staff and health authority priorities, we can increase our impact and influence at Providence.
  • This is change from the past when there was no mechanism through which to communicate or collaborate with our health authority’s leaders on our shared priorities.

What do the Pillars do on behalf of Medical Staff?

  • Build relationships and communicate regularly with PHC senior leaders.
  • Consult on PHC’s organizational key deliverables each year, and activities and decisions.
  • Initiate practical work in each priority area that is relevant to medical staff.
  • Work across pillars on universal topics such as Indigenous wellness and culturally safe care.
  • Curate an online medical staff resource directory to support medical staff to move ideas into action.



Thank you! Outgoing Consultant Physicians Dr. Adrienne Melck (Quality, Safety & Value) and Dr. Amin Sajan (Discover, Learn & Innovate for Impact). As Pillar Leads, Dr. Melck and Dr. Sajan have been integral in representing the collective voice of medical staff in PHC’s Strategic Pillars. As they move on from these roles this spring, we thank them for their dedication, leadership and the valuable difference they have made to move medical staff engagement forward. Thank you!

Pillar Activities: What’s Happening

Quality, Safety & Value

Sourcing Quality Improvement resources: Exploration and clarification of resources available to medical staff, and the process to access data for QI. 

Patient Safety Week: Watch for upcoming activities for Canadian Patient Safety Week, October 23-27!

Value-based Health Care: Continued awareness and education for medical staff. Building teams, tools, training, and a five-year road map​.  Watch Value Based Health Care Update – Dr. Shannon Jackson 

Schwartz Rounds: Successful advocacy for the introduction of Schwartz Rounds to support provider wellness and compassionate care. Next session is September 28th.

Questions or ideas? Contact the Quality Pillar Team

Discover, Learn & Innovate for Impact

Identified barriers to advancing innovation through medical staff consultation.

Collaboration with PHC to develop Ideas: Forward and Innovarium 360°  A front door for medical staff to engage in innovation, access support and guidance for a new ideas.

Funding opportunities for Innovation, Quality and Research:
 Ideas: Forward Funding Streams + Opportunities for PHC Staff & Med Staff

Signal chat group for PHC Medical Staff Innovators  Check the Medical Staff 59-Second Update or e-mail pass@providencehealth.bc.ca for a link.

Questions or ideas? Contact the Learning Pillar Team

Inspiring People & Teams

Event! How can medical staff take stress leave? An exploration of options and supports.

Medical Staff Wellness Strategy: A first of its kind plan: advocated for and collaborating on a strategy and plans to address medical staff wellness and burnout.

Wellness Rooms: Consultation on options for private spaces for medical staff is underway.

Questions or ideas? Contact the People Pillar Team

Partner to Transform Health Care

Digital Health: Secured a standing invitation to monthly Digital Health provider intake and prioritization meetings – an avenue to help to prioritize clinical informatics tasks based on providers’ perspectives.

Medical Staff Site Visits for medical staff whose patients interface with partner services. Watch for upcoming events!

Indigenous Wellness and Reconciliation (IWR): Informed scheduling of Grand Rounds across medical departments to showcase IWR patient journey mapping findings: 4 are completed and 2 are booked  (Partnerships + Learning Pillar).

Exploring a formal partnership with Kílala Lelum to reduce barriers to specialist care (currently seeking funding) (following a site visit in Spring 2022)

Questions or ideas? Contact the Partnerships Pillar

Strategic Pillars: Our Impact

“Senior Leaders are accessible to us in a way that they were not in the past. They are very receptive to medical staff input.” – Dr. Adrienne Melck, Quality

“The process is more transparent… We can reach out to senior leaders, and they get value when they know how to connect with a medical staff representative as well.” Dr. Amin Sajan, Learning

“In these big decisions that affect our work, we need to be involved from inception. Through our pillar roles, we are seeing our involvement increase earlier and in the planning stages.” –  Dr. Grace Li, Partnerships

“We can be stewards for how the organization is meeting metrics laid out in strategic plan in relation to medical staff priorities.” – Dr. Vishal Varshney, People