QWQHC 5th Annual Summit

This year’s Quality Worklife - Quality Healthcare Collaborative 5^th Annual Summit was held in a welcoming atmosphere in Mississauga, Ontario, in a setting perfect for mingling and networking.

Nearly 300 delegates gathered for three days of presentations, workshops, and discussions of innovative ideas and new opportunities, all with a focus on creating healthy work environments and improving the quality of work life for health care providers.

On the evening of March 1, a casual pre-Summit networking event began with an introduction from the QWQHC Secretariat, as well as special guest Nisha Varghese, Senior Human Resources Supervisor at the Canadian Specialist Hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ms. Varghese provided an overview of health care in Dubai and shared her experiences and insights into work environments in the region.

During the next two days, the delegates had the opportunity to participate in various workshops and attend presentations describing various ways to create a healthy workplace, as well as its importance and effect on performance and productivity.

Beginning with a restorative yoga session each morning (kindly sponsored by Innovative Fitness) and a healthy breakfast, three days of the Summit provided insights into many methods, strategies and frameworks of creating a healthy workplace. Featured top-notch speakers shared their unique approaches to improving staff wellness, including reducing the risk of psychological stress, in order to strengthen their organizations and ultimately ensure the quality of patient care. Workshops and presentations elaborated on embracing cultural diversity, role transitions, respect, principles of people-driven productivity, and even a step-by-step plan for implementing delegates’ summit ideas.

From massage chairs to online social networking, the sponsors and exhibitors were interactive and informative.

Creating healthy workplaces in healthcare organizations has a direct impact on health care system and patient care. Each session of this year’s Summit provided a refreshing view on a healthy worklife for healthcare workers and, no doubt, inspired many.

As we are spending most of our weekday at work, the quality of our workplaces is vital to our productivity, health and well-being, as well as that of our clients. Inspiring and informative, this year’s Summit saw delegates leaving each session brimming with ideas to take back to their own workplaces.

Many thanks to the QWQHC for helping to envision a future of quality work environments in our healthcare system.