FAMILY REUNIONS AND REJUVENATION

THIS PAST SPRING was an incredibly rich (and busy) season with five chapter conferences. I attended four (Maritimes in Moncton, N.B., Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John’s, B.C. in Penticton, and Ontario in Windsor). Due to a work conflict, Roger Holliss as immediate past president attended the Alberta conference in Red Deer. The Quebec chapter also hosted an evening dinner event, which was well-attended.

Throughout these conferences, I was impacted by two themes. The first was further reinforced when one vendor/sponsor spoke with excitement about the ‘family reunion’ he and his colleagues had just attended. Yes, the CHES conference was that family reunion.

The first theme: Our members are family. We learn from each other, support each other and definitely enjoy each other’s company. Catching up, talking shop and conversing about our personal lives occurred before and after sessions, at meals and breaks, and in transit in taxis, at airports and on trains.

Second, our vendors and sponsors support us because they realize the value of CHES for their firm and see it in the members who attend. I’ll say it like this, CHES members are the knowledgeable ones in healthcare and vendors want to connect with those in the know.

Looking ahead, I can’t wait to welcome you to Winnipeg for the 2023 CHES National Conference. CHES held its first-ever conference in Winnipeg in 1981, and returned in 1991 and 2011. I have joked that this year’s theme, Rejuvenating Healthcare Infrastructure, was borne out of the failure of the 2011 theme, Sustaining Healthcare Infrastructure, from taking hold. That joke is borne out of the truth that without adequate capital funding and proper operational resources, sustainment fails and a rejuvenation of infrastructure is required.

According to HealthCareCAN, Canada has fallen behind the 37 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in total healthcare capital investment (average 0.6 per cent of GDP) and is only investing 0.5 per cent of GDP. While 0.1 per cent difference may not seem like much, it represents a shortfall of more than $1.7 billion. Meanwhile, Canada outspends the OECD by an average of 22 per cent, spending a near chart-topping 10.8 per cent of GDP on healthcare. This while Canada has the highest bed occupancy rate at 91.6 per cent, versus the 76.2 per cent average. It should not come as a surprise given Canada has only 2.5 beds per 1,000 people — almost half of the OECD average of 4.4 beds. So, while capital investment in Canadian healthcare has trended higher over the past year, much more investment is required to rejuvenate the sector’s infrastructure.

The upcoming CHES National conference will give us the opportunity to discuss not just how to rejuvenate our facilities but ourselves, too. Come and build your expertise with the CHES family this September.

Craig B. Doerksen CHES National president

Earn Continuing Education Credits From Ches

Members

According to the World Green Building Council, we spend 90 percent of our time indoors. Given that statistic, it’s clear the quality of the air we breathe in buildings can dramatically impact our health and well-being. At Reliable Controls we believe sustainable buildings are a key component to reducing the health and environmental impacts of indoor and outdoor air pollution. Learn more reliablecontrols.com/IAQ

Saskatchewan Chapter

The Saskatchewan chapter is actively coordinating our fall conference, which will be held at TCU Place in Saskatoon, Sept. 10-12. The theme is Challenges of Integrating New Technology in Existing Facilities.

The chapter executive has identified members to sit on CHES National committees. We are excited to have Saskatchewan representation on these committees, and look forward to the learning opportunities and knowledge that will come from being a part of these important teams.

On the membership front, we continue to focus on increasing the number of Saskatchewan chapter members by promoting the benefits of CHES.

Maritime Chapter

The Maritime chapter conference, held at the Delta Beausejour in Moncton, N.B., April 30-May 2, was a success. CHES National president Craig Doerksen and vice-president Jim McArthur attended, as well as Ontario chapter member Sandra Smith. There were 88 member delegates, up approximately 20 from our last face-to-face conference in 2019. Keynote speaker Greg Kettner provided a great opening to our program and the educational sessions were excellent. The trade show had 32 booths and was well-received by delegates and exhibitors. Although there was great support from exhibitors and sponsors, there has been a huge increase in costs and, resultantly, the conference did not add much in the way of revenue. Delegates expect a first-class event and that comes at a price. Cuts could have been made to the food offered but delegate comments confirmed our decision to provide an enhanced meal experience. Feedback from delegates also indicated the conference was well worth their time and the expense.

Planning continues for the 2024 CHES National Conference in Halifax. Much has already been done. Confirmations will be completed this year. We encourage members from across Canada to join us in roughly a year’s time, Sept. 8-10, for some good ol’ homegrown Maritime hospitality and an exceptional conference program.

The Maritime chapter hosted the Canadian Healthcare Construction Course May 30-31, in Halifax, at the Prince George Hotel. There were 50 attendees — the most for a Maritime-hosted session.

This year’s $1,000 Per Paacshe bursary was awarded to Willow Somerville. Willow will be attending Acadia University in Nova Scotia, where she will pursue a bachelor of arts in psychology. She aspires to work with children coping with mental disabilities. Willow is the granddaughter of CHES Maritime member Gordon Burrill.

The chapter continues to offer several financial incentives to members in the way of student bursaries, contribution to Canadian Certified Healthcare Facility Manager exam fees, and covering the cost of webinars and the fall education day, among other benefits.

—Robert Barss, Maritime chapter chair

Ontario Chapter

The CHES Ontario family congregated at Caesars in Windsor, June 4-6, where we held our first in-person conference in four years.

From Meg Soper’s engaging keynote to the gala banquet featuring homegrown talent, delegates, vendors and esteemed guests engaged around the theme, Engineering Sustainability and Resilience in Healthcare Facilities. The sense of connection was palpable to all in attendance as was the exchange of member expertise. It was heartening to have so many first-time conference-goers and a pleasure to congratulate recipients of the Rick Anderson Family Bursary in person. A big thanks to the planning committee and, in particular, Ron Durocher for executing a successful and truly enjoyable event. I’m excited not to wait another four years for our next chapter conference, planned for 2024 in Collingwood.

The chapter executive continues to meet quarterly via virtual means. We’re focused on membership development and member benefits, including bursaries, the Young Professionals Grant and, of course, education offerings. Building on growth in membership over the past year, we are engaging in analytics work to better understand membership complexion and identify opportunities for further development. We are also engaged in long-range financial planning to continue to optimize member benefits with the resilience that served us well through the COVID pandemic.

CHES Ontario continues to engage in networking and advocacy opportunities. Chapter executives attended the ASHE Region 6 conference in Rochester, Minn., and the ASHE PDC summit in Phoenix, in March, as well as many of our peer chapter conferences in spring. Thank you to our ASHE partners and host chapters for accommodating our participation.

Manitoba Chapter

With the 2023 CHES National Conference to take place in Winnipeg, Sept. 17-19, the Manitoba chapter continues to work with the CHES National conference planning committee in preparation for the annual event. Registration is now open. The early bird deadline is July 31. Sponsorships and trade show booth bookings are proceeding as expected. We anticipate the trade show to be sold out. A huge thanks to Events & Management Plus in working with the conference planning committee to keep us moving forward.

The next Canadian Healthcare Construction Course session will take place directly following the CHES National conference. It will be held Sept. 20-21, at the offices of the Winnipeg Construction Association.

2023 is an election year for the Manitoba chapter. Nominations are open for secretary, treasurer and vice-chair positions.

A call for nominations has been made for the Manitoba chapter awards in the categories of project management and facility management. The awards will be presented at the Manitoba chapter’s annual general meeting at this year’s CHES National conference

British Columbia Chapter

It was a busy spring for the CHES B.C. executive as we were planning our chapter conference in Penticton, May 28-30. Conference planning was led by Mitch Weimer. The theme, Healthcare Facilities: Managing through Crises, provided an opportunity to discuss many relevant topics, including succession planning, lack of qualified personnel, climate change, extreme weather, and updating infrastructures and systems. The call for abstracts was successful, with more than 30 submissions. The trade show was sold out, as were sponsorships. We added sponsorship opportunities for those who were interested. Highlights included presentation of this year’s CHES B.C. Healthcare Award to Tim Kelly, and recognition of 16 members for their longstanding achievement. We also had the pleasure of hosting CHES National president Craig Doerksen and vice-president Jim McArthur. The planning team used the Yapp app to promote the event, which was a huge success with more than 600 in attendance.

The B.C. chapter continues to find new ways to encourage membership for those who have not joined. We are also reaching out to those who have not renewed. This year, we offered a combo package for membership and conference registration, which helped bring in new members. Membership executive director Arthur Buse has reported that membership has increased, with a total of 365 members.

CHES B.C. will host the Canadian Healthcare Construction Course (CanHCC) Nov. 2-3. Steve McEwan and Norbert Fischer have volunteered to work with the faculty to ensure a successful event.

Chapter executives and members are actively working on many committees, including partnership and advocacy, mem bership, social and the CanHCC, as well as those that support CSA Group.

The chapter has just released an expression of interest for additional volunteers as we work toward succession planning. We look forward to expanding our team and bringing on new people.

I’d like to remind members of the educational opportunities available to them, including the bursary program and CHES webinar series.

NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR CHAPTER

There has been no change to our executive team. However, we have seen some changes to CHES National committee representatives. Bill Squires has resigned as our liaison to the membership committee. He has been replaced by Kimberley Pike. Brian Kinden now sits on the partnership and advocacy committee.

During and after the COVID pandemic, we have seen membership decline. Between tough fiscal times in the province and the amalgamation of four health authorities into one, there is uncertainty, which has prevented people from renewing their membership. We are pushing recruitment on vendors/suppliers, consultants and other healthcare dependents to improve membership enrolment.

The chapter is sitting in a solid financial position. We are looking at creative ways of spending a portion of our monies on the continual education of our members, either through sponsorships to conferences and/or education reimbursements.

Our spring professional development day saw the largest turnout in the history of the chapter. We have outgrown the venue and could possibly turn the conference into a two-day event. Our vendor booth/displays have more than tripled and, unfortunately, we had to turn some vendors away. A big thank you to our vendors and sponsors for making this year’s event a huge success. I’d also like to thank CHES National president Craig Doerksen for attending.

I am looking forward to going to the 2023 CHES National Conference in Winnipeg, with two other executive team members.