Calls to depoliticize health care are misguided; the challenge is to get the politics of health care right.
The purpose of this session is to start a conversation about that challenge, and your roles in meeting it. We are in an era of civic decay: tribalized politics, isolated communication bubbles, short attention spans, rampant and unfiltered misinformation, and for the first time in centuries, declining prospects for younger generations. One of the casualties of these developments is trust in government, institutions, and expertise. Ours is an age of suspicion fueled by anger. The very notion of a public interest beyond the clash of individual interests is on trial. Healthcare is not immune to these broader trajectories, and the future of Canadian medicare is inextricably linked to whether and how we resolve the crisis of democracy. To succeed and thrive, medicare must deliver on two main obligations. One is distributive justice - our system is grounded in social solidarity. The second is performance - the multiple dimensions of quality. When the latter fails, the former is in danger as solidarity erodes. Politics runs through both dimensions, and politics is therefore part of your job description as a leader. Embrace it and there is hope.
Featured Speaker:
Steven Lewis
Steven Lewis is a health policy and health services research consultant, and Adjunct Professor of Health Policy at Simon Fraser University. He has spent a notably unsuccessful half century trying to make the health system better. He has worked with governments, healthcare organizations, pan-Canadian agencies, regulators, professional organizations, and quality improvement agencies. He led a health research granting agency, created the first evidence-based system improvement organization in Saskatchewan, and worked on major provincial and national health care commissions. He served on the National Forum on Health, Health Council of Canada, Health Quality Council of Saskatchewan, and the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He currently writes a monthly health policy column for the Saskatoon and Regina newspapers that has no impact whatsoever.
Fees: FREE
