Community of Practice

There is an urgent need for platforms to enable knowledge sharing, collaboration, and coordination among supply chain teams and stakeholders across Canada to support healthcare delivery. The overarching goals of the Community of Practice partnership strategy include:

  1. Advance supply chain resilience across Canadian health and community systems to strengthen post-pandemic recovery in Canada and globally
  2. Strengthen workforce sustainability in health and social systems to support a robust and sustainable health workforce, to advance economic recovery
  3. Design, implement and scale supply chain strategies that leverage expertise and knowledge across jurisdictions, and support domestic supplier networks across Canada to strengthen self-reliance and economic recovery


Citizen Forum




Three expected outcomes of the Community of Practice are:


Resilience


Sustainability


Equity

Workgroups



Design collaborative models of sourcing and procurement across jurisdictions and organizations to enable equitable access to supplies during critical shortages, and leverage economies of scale.

Design collaborative frameworks to manage the many provincial and federal stockpiles to reduce waste, rotate supply, create equitable access to critical supplies.

Identify workforce sustainability strategies including clinician engagement in supply chain teams and leadership decision making tables during emergencies. Create measurement tools and frameworks to inform workforce sustainability initiatives.

Identify priorities and strategy to strengthen data standards and interoperable supply chain digital infrastructure that is accessible and connects across jurisdictions.

Examine leadership and policy frameworks to advance and support supply chain resilience, cooperation and transparency across jurisdictional borders, teams, and agencies.

Co-design multi-jurisdiction models that support domestic supplier networks to advance economic recovery, build transparency of health system demands and needs, and create manufacturing capacity to meet needs and offer surge in capacity when required.

Examine innovative approaches to mitigate and/or reduce the environmental impact of medical supplies (e.g. masks, gloves) on landfills. Design strategies to strengthen supply chain security for Canadian healthcare, social systems and essential workplaces.

Citizen volunteers will be assigned to each workgroup, representing diverse citizen perspectives and populations, to the work of the community of practice. Citizens will also convene as a workgroup to share learnings, experiences, and align on strategies to ensure the citizen perspective meaningfully contributes as a partner in advancing supply chain resilience for the benefit of all Canadians.

Workgroup Leaders



Judy Birdsell

Founder, Imagine Citizens Network
Citizen Forum Co-Lead

Judy Birdsell is one of the founders of Imagine Citizens Network (ICN) a Society whose mission is to enhance citizens’ ability to become valued partners in improving healthcare experiences and outcomes for people living in Alberta. She has a deep commitment to patient perspectives in health, as demonstrated by more than 30 years volunteering in leadership positions with several national non-profits. Her passion for this cause was further fueled by a series of events surrounding her sister’s death. Her personal consciousness having been raised by these events, her family and her have experienced many other situations that have reinforced the absolute necessity of people being much more knowledgeable and engaged in their own healthcare journey. Professionally, she has a background in policy and strategy consulting, mainly in the field of health research policy. Previous volunteer roles have included President of Canadian Cancer Society; Board Chair, Stem Cell Network; Board Chair, Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative; Member, CIHR Stem Cell Oversight Committee; Board Member, Health Quality Council of Alberta and Board Chair, MCF Housing for Seniors. Currently Judy is a member of the following: Citizens Advisory Committee, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) North American Advisory Panel, Healthcare Information and Management System Society (HIMSS) and member of the Strategic Advisory Panel for Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Healthcare Systems (MAPS) for Alberta Health. She had previously received three national awards to recognize her achievements in the voluntary sector and in 2020 was deeply honored to be awarded the Order of Canada.

Dr. Trevor Jamieson

Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Unity Health Toronto
Workforce Sustainability Workgroup Leader

Dr. Trevor Jamieson is the CMIO of Unity Health Toronto and the Medical Director of Partnerships and KT at the Center for Digital Health Evaluation (CDHE) at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. He is interested in how digital tools are deployed into clinical workflows and how quality improvement can be driven by clinical informatics. He also has an interest in the health policy landscape as it pertains to digital health technologies in Canada.

Ron Johnson

COO, Eastern Urban and VP, Innovation and Research, NL Health Services
Domestic Supplier Network Sustainability Workgroup Leader

Ron Johnson has approximately 30 years of progressive career experience in health care from front-line delivery to executive management. As Eastern Health’s Vice President, Innovation and Rural Health, Ron holds overall responsibility for various program areas including innovation and rural health, among others. He is currently on assignment with the Newfoundland and Labrador Transformation and Planning Office which is leading the development of a new provincial health organization. Prior to becoming a member of the executive team, Ron held the position of Director of Materials and Biomedical Equipment Support at Eastern Health and was responsible for Supply Chain Management and Biomedical Engineering. He holds a Diploma of Technology from College of the North Atlantic; a Bachelor of Technology; and a Master of Employment Relations from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has also completed diplomas in Health Service Management and Modern Management from the Canadian Healthcare Association. Ron is certified in Change Management and holds the professional designations of Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Health Executive (CHE).

Dr. Christian Leuprecht

Director, Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen’s University
Supply Chain Security & Sustainability Workgroup Leader

Dr. Christian Leuprecht is a distinguished Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Military Journal. He also directs the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations in the School of Policy Studies and is an Adjunct Research Professor in the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security at Charles Sturt University. A former Bicentennial Professor in Canadian Studies at Yale University, Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College, and Fulbright Research Chair in Canada– US Relations at John Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies, he is an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada and recipient of the Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research at the Royal Military College of Canada. His latest book is Intelligence as Democratic Statecraft.

Dr. Kathleen MacMillan

Workforce Sustainability Workgroup Leader

Dr. Kathleen MacMillan is a graduate of the Toronto East General Hospital School of Nursing (diploma) and the University of Toronto (BSc, 1980; MA, 1983, MSc, 1992; PhD, 2005). Her professional experience includes nursing practice, administration, research, education and health policy. She has been recognized as a distinguished alumna of the Faculty of Nursing at the U of T and received a Centennial Achievement Award from the Canadian Nurses Association in 2008. In 2017, she was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and in 2020, as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing. Most recently, Dr. MacMillan was recognized for her contributions to nursing and to healthcare with the C.N.A.s top award of recognition – the Jeanne Mance Award, in 2022. Dr. MacMillan was the first Provincial Chief Nursing Officer for the Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care (1999-2001) and Executive Director, Office of Nursing Services for First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada (2001-2004). Prior to her appointment to Dalhousie University, she was Dean, School of Health Sciences at Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning in Toronto. Now retired, she previously held adjunct appointments at the University of Prince Edward Island Faculty of Nursing and the School of Nursing and the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her research interests are in patient safety, nursing human resources, nursing history and inter professional collaboration.

Don McLeod

Co-Director, Imagine Citizens Network
Citizen Forum Co-Lead

Don McLeod has over 30 years’ experience providing leadership in not for profit and public sector organizations.  For 20 years he has served as a senior consultant and facilitator supporting public and not for profit organizations in organization development, public consultation, and strategic planning.  Don is currently serving as part time Co-Director for Imagine Citizens Network (ICN). Since ICN began in 2015, he has also served as lead for the organization’s citizen engagement work. He led a major engagement project focused on community care for Alberta Health and led the initial ICN SCANH citizen engagement project in 2021. He is currently leading ICN’s work engaging Albertans about what quality outcomes and indicators are most important from a citizen-patient perspective in collaboration with Alberta Health Services Seniors Health Team and the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine.  Don has been involved in leading several multi-stakeholder community initiatives including the Age Friendly Calgary project and designing a Dementia Strategy for the Calgary Region.  Don also serves as a consultant and facilitator for TREC (Translating Research in Elder Care), a national research collaborative based at the University of Alberta. He previously served as Vice President, Organization Effectiveness for Bethany Care Society and brings a systems perspective from his involvement in several governance roles within the Alberta health system. 

Dr. Colleen Metge

Associate Professor, University of Manitoba
Digital Supply Chain Workgroup Leader

Dr. Colleen Metge is an associate professor in community health sciences at Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba. After graduation with a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy (AB) in 1975, she worked front-line pharmacy (hospital and community) and then with the professional organization of pharmacists in BC; she enrolled in a doctoral program in pharmaceutical policy at the University of Maryland in Baltimore in 1990. On obtaining her PhD with an emphasis on epidemiology and economics, she accepted a position at the University of Manitoba, where she stayed as a tenured associate professor in pharmacy until 2009 teaching ethics, epidemiology, economics and pharmacy administration and undertaking a myriad of health services research. Her research experience and expertise is broad; mostly, before her retirement from the WRHA in June 2017, Colleen managed an embedded research unit of 12 PhD/masters level colleagues who provide health services research and evaluation to Winnipeg’s health authority and the province of Manitoba. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Metge has been principal investigator, co-PI or co-applicant on 30 grants totalling $20.2 million, including the 5-year $1.9 million PATHS: Equity for Children CIHR Programmatic Grant in Health and Health Equity awarded to the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Seventeen of the grants were awarded in the last 10 years while not directly employed in academia.

Jayson Myers

Chief Executive Officer, NGen – Next Generation Manufacturing Canada
Domestic Supplier Network Sustainability Workgroup Leader

Jayson Myers is the Chief Executive Officer of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada. NGen is the not-for-profit organization that leads Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for Advanced Manufacturing. It is dedicated to building world-leading advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada, for the benefit of Canadians. Jay is an award-winning business economist who specializes in industrial and technological change. Between 2007 and 2016, he served as President & CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Canada’s largest industry and trade association. He helped establish and co-chaired the Ontario Manufacturing Council, Great Lakes Manufacturing Council, and Canadian Industrial Roundtable on Skills. Jay has been widely recognized as one of the most influential economic policy advocates in Canada. He is an advisor to both private and public sector leaders, and has counselled Canadian prime ministers and premiers, as well as senior corporate executives and policymakers around the world. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the World Manufacturing Forum and a leading advocate on the world stage on behalf of advanced manufacturing in Canada. Jay has held a research fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford and lectureships in political economy at Oxford and the University of Warwick. He completed his academic studies at Queen’s University, UBC, the London School of Economics, and Oxford University.

Nancy Pakieser

Principal, Capstone 406, LLC
Digital Supply Chain Workgroup Leader

Nancy Pakieser started her career in a clinical capacity, as a Radiologic Technologist, in both acute care and outpatient settings. She has had a wide range of marketing experience on the vendor side, including supply storage systems, medical device, therapy delivery, robotic surgery and software solutions. She has carried the lessons of her clinical experience with her into business. It has shaped her ongoing professional drive to always bring products and services to the market that supports the enhanced delivery of care to patients. Nancy is involved in several industry organizations including: The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) CQO Thought Leader Committee, the Board of Directors for the Strategic Marketplace Initiative (SMI), Healthcare Transformation Group (HTG) and the GS1 Work Group.

Jitendra Prasad

Special Advisor, Alberta Health Services
Sourcing, Procurement & Collaborative Stockpile Strategy Workgroup Leader

Jitendra Prasad (JP) was the Chief Program Officer (CPO) of Contracting, Procurement & Supply Management (CPSM) for Alberta Health Services (AHS) and recently retired from his position. He is still actively involved in working on numerous initiatives related to furthering supply chain resiliency. JP has an undergraduate degree in Pharmacy and a master’s in business administration (MBA) from University of Alberta, Edmonton.

Rick Prinzen

Chief SC Officer & VP Donor Relations, Canadian Blood Services
Supply Chain Security & Sustainability Workgroup Leader

Rick Prinzen ensures that Canadian Blood Services consistently provides high-quality blood, plasma protein and stem cell products to customers at the right time and right cost. He is responsible for maintaining predictability and consistency in meeting customer needs, providing an outstanding experience for donors, standardizing collection, production, testing and logistics processes across the country, and ensuring productive, efficient operations. Rick joined Canadian Blood Services as the director of supply chain operations for South-Central Ontario in December 2013. In this role, he applied his expertise and leadership to launch several transformative initiatives to improve productivity in the region and accelerate our journey to becoming an outstanding manufacturer of biological products. Prior to joining Canadian Blood Services, Rick was a successful executive in the pharmaceutical industry leading local, national and global supply chain operations. Rick is an alumnus of Queen’s University, where he completed an undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering, followed by a master of business administration.

Dr. Anne Snowdon

Professor, Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Odette School of Business, University of Windsor,
Scientific Director & CEO, SCAN Health Chief Scientific Research Officer, HIMSS
Leadership & Policy Workgroup Leader

Dr. Anne Snowdon is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Windsor. Dr. Snowdon is leading a national community of practice and research program focused on the capacity of health supply chain to enable health system responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in seven Canadian provinces. This work builds on a well-established program of research focused on healthcare supply chain, and health system innovation to achieve sustainability, economic value and productivity by providing support for innovators and entrepreneurs to successfully bring their discoveries to the Canadian, U.S. and world markets. Currently, Dr. Snowdon is the Scientific Director and CEO for SCAN Health, Chief Scientific Research Officer for HIMSS, Vice Chair of the Board of the Directors for Alberta Innovates, and member of the Health Futures Council of Arizona State University. She is an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Windsor, the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University and the Centre for Innovative Medical Technology at the University of Southern Denmark. Dr. Snowdon has published more than 150 research articles, papers and cases, has received over $25 million in research funding, holds patents and has commercialized a highly successful booster seat product for children traveling in vehicles, and is a Fulbright Scholar. She holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan, MSc from McGill University, and BScN from Western University.