Year: 2023
Award Type: Quality
Organization/Department: Juravinski Cancer Center
Initiative: Serious Illness Care Program
Team: Dr. Oren Levine, Sandy Andreychuk, Karen Madden, Adrienne Sultana, Georgia Georgiou, Kristi MacKenzie, Somya Gupta, Cindy Asaro, Ruth Locis, Jennifer Lounsbury, Michele Cardoso
About: The Serious Illness Care Program is a clinically validated and multifaceted intervention that promotes earlier discussion of values and goals with patients suffering from advanced illness. This program provides training, tools and infrastructural changes to support high-quality goals of care conversations early in the disease trajectory with patients and families experiencing advanced cancer. The Juravinski Cancer Center has successfully integrated this program into their new electronic medical record, ensuring serious illness care documentation is simple, accessible and effective. This program will be re-introduced into breast, lung and brain tumor disease site teams and expanded to gynecologic oncology and hematology.
Year: 2023
Award Type: Innovation
Organization/Department: Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
Initiative: Radiation Therapy Remote Treatment Planning
Team: Isaac Tavares, Patrick Rapley, Diane Brett, Melanie Zappitelli, Margaret Anthes, Mellissa Linke, David McConnell, Peter McGhee, Helen Norton, Joanna Vestby, Stacey Cervini, Cheryl Cummins-Holder
About: The Radiation Therapy Remote Treatment Planning initiative was implemented to improve ready-to-treat and treatment wait times while sustaining care close to home in the North West Region. The local team developed a sustainable infrastructure plan that would enable secure remote treatment planning. The initiative had two main components - qualified treatment planners to perform work remotely and the development of workflow, training and infrastructure. The initiative has been sustained for over a year and has been presented to the Ontario Health - Cancer Care Ontario Provincial Leadership Council and at the Regional Director’s table.
Year: 2023
Award Type: Equity
Organization/Department: Mississauga Halton Central West Regional Cancer Program
Initiative: Improving Cancer Screening for Equity-Deserving Populations in MHCW
Team: Jenifer Horvat, Jane Anyalechi, Caroline Bravo, Priyanka Nasta, Sean Weylie, Roxanne MacAskill, David Girard, Gulrukh Ladha
About: This project began in 2021 with a root cause analysis and extensive community outreach to identify effective ways to engage equity-deserving populations in preventative screening programs. The objective was to improve screening rates while focusing on equity deserving populations with messaging that meets the unique language and cultural needs of many who have historically been under or never screened. Community Ambassadors engaged directly at the community level to break down barriers such as language, cultural beliefs and stigmas, and in some cases assist with access where patients are unattached to a primary care provider. This initiative evolved into a collaboration with various community partners, including local health centres, cultural groups and community organizations, to create robust equity-based, culturally relevant approaches to eliminate barriers and increase the reach of cancer screening. The effectiveness of this initiative has demonstrated that using co-design methodology captures the community needs and focuses efforts where they are most needed thus increasing the quality of the services provided.
Year: 2023
Award Type: Indigenous Health
Organization/Department: Toronto Central Regional Indigenous Cancer Program
Initiative: Indigenous Ceremony Bundle Guidance Document
Team: Leonard Benoit, Muriel Lopez Silva, Joanna Vautour, Suman Dhanju
About: Indigenous peoples’ ceremonial practices are a critical aspect of healing and well-being. However, these unique needs are not being met in culturally safe environments. The Indigenous Cancer Program (ICP) met with the nine regional site partners to discuss the responsibility to support Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to spiritual care practices in healthcare settings and their readiness to accept a sacred hand drum for patients and family use. In September 2022, the ICP gifted more sacred items: a rattle, a copper cup, and plant medicines. These sacred items together are referred to as ‘The Indigenous Ceremony Bundle’ (the Bundle). The ICP is currently working on a strategic plan to engage in education and awareness across the region to ensure that this support is available for Indigenous patients and their families on their cancer journey. ICP has developed a toolkit that will provide ongoing support to ensure that the care sites are set up to succeed in their efforts.
2021 Winners
Year: 2021
Award Type: Quality
Organization/Department: Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, Oncology Symptom Management Clinic
Team: Martha Cope, Ben McIsaac
About: Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre is improving access to palliative services for people with a palliative cancer diagnosis in the North Simcoe Muskoka region.
In partnership with the Hospice Simcoe with a full-time palliative registered nurse and with the support of 10 community-based practitioners, the Oncology Symptom Management Clinic provides physical and psychological care close to home, virtually, and in the patients’ homes when required. It efficiently and effectively responds to fill gaps in palliative care, reducing emergency department visits, decreasing urgent pain management calls to the oncology triage line, avoiding admissions and managing care from home.
Year: 2021
Award Type: Innovation
Organization/Department: St. Michael’s Hospital, Older Adults Surgery and Oncology Program (OSOP) PRIME Initiative
Team: Dr. Tyler Chesney, Dr. Marisa Louridas, Danielle Zvezdonkin, Dr. Camilla Wong
About: St. Michael’s Hospital is overcoming surgical care gaps in older adults undergoing cancer surgery by integrating geriatric expertise into perioperative care.
The Older Adults Surgery and Oncology Program uses an innovative strategy, called PRIME, for comprehensive geriatric surgical oncology care. PRIME (Proactive, Realigned, Informed, Multidisciplinary, Empowered) integrates multifaceted elements of perioperative care adapted to the needs of older adults.
Before PRIME, the management of older adults undergoing cancer surgery was reactive and did not address the complexity of their health and surgical cancer care. This approach strategically integrates multiple stakeholders and disciplines to personalize care for older adults.
Year: 2021
Award Type: COVID-19 Innovation
Organization/Department: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Virtual Nurse-Led COVID-19 Assessment and Care Coordination Clinic
Team: Michelle Mackay, Simonne Simon, Dr. Lesley Moody, Kelsey Houston, Dr. Rotstein Coleman, Dr. John Waldron, Dr. Richard Tsang
About: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is providing proactive symptom management and care coordination for COVID-19-positive cancer patients using a standard assessment triage tool and assignment.
Before the clinic, ambulatory cancer patients were required to self-identify COVID-19 or cancer symptoms and self-report the symptoms to various public health or hospital telephone triage lines. This resulted in fragmented care for patients, who did not necessarily receive symptom management support specific to cancer patients with COVID-19. The Virtual Nurse-Led COVID-19 Assessment and Care Coordination Clinic uses a standard assessment algorithm to provide patients with proactive support for symptom management and care coordination from a specialized oncology nurse and a designated oncologist.
By closely monitoring the high-risk population and minimizing the traffic and exposure for other patients and healthcare workers, the clinic is ensuring safe, timely and accurate care for COVID-19 positive cancer patients.
2020 Winners
Year: 2020
Award Type: Quality
Organization/Department: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Immune and Molecular Therapy Bolstering and Supporting Patient Adverse Event (IMBRASE) Program
Team: Dr. Marcus Butler, Dr. Sam Saibil, Nancy Gregorio, Michelle Mackay, Lesley Moody, Dr. Luisa Bonilla, Dr. Anna Spreafico, Dr. David Hogg, Simonne Simon, Alyssa Macadeo, Diana Grey, Dr. Keith Stewart.
About: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is improving the quality of care for people with cancer by proactively monitoring melanoma patients.
IMBRASE is a symptom assessment protocol and management algorithm for people with advanced or metastatic melanoma who are receiving immunotherapy drug treatment. The program follows the patients proactively and manages their care in a tailored manner, determined by patient characteristics and risk levels.
Before the IMBRASE program, the strategy for monitoring melanoma patients was reactive, where patients would speak with different nurses throughout their care, and receive multiple assessments and advice on managing their symptoms and side effects.
The program has led to fewer emergency department visits for high-risk patients. It has improved patient safety, responsiveness, access to care and timely intervention.
Year: 2020
Award Type: Quality
Organization/Department: The Ottawa Hospital, Palliative Care Nurse Specialist in the Emergency Department
Team: Katie Nichol, Sara Olivier, Lisa Galitzine, Dr. Lisa Fischer, Dennis Garvin.
About: The Ottawa Hospital is improving the quality of care for people with cancer and palliative care needs by integrating palliative care resources into the emergency department to involve palliative care earlier in the patient’s care.
A palliative care nurse specialist is available for consultation Monday to Friday at the emergency department. The nurse specialist supports discharges to appropriate community settings, increases coordination between the emergency department staff and community resources, and provides mentorship and education.
The project has led to improvements to patient care as patients are transferred to hospice or palliative care directly from either the emergency department or home within a few days. It has also enhanced the relationship between the emergency department and palliative care teams, optimized community resources and aligned care with patient preferences.
Year: 2020
Award Type: Innovation
Organization/Department: Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Outpatient High Dose Methotrexate
Team: Dr. Tara Baetz, Rachel Sheldon, Rya Ibit, Leslie Young, Sarah Chambers, Tricia Carasco, Kardi Kennedy, Renee Hartzell.
About: The Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario at Kingston Health Sciences Centre is improving care for adults on a high dose methotrexate treatment regimen by using an outpatient model of care.
This complex systemic treatment regimen is typically an inpatient procedure, administered monthly for several cycles. Because of its complexity, the treatment has historically been feasible only in an inpatient care setting, even though patients are otherwise quite well and independent. Using the outpatient model of care for appropriate patients both improves care, and meets the needs of patients and families in the Southeast region.
This model of care depends on active patient engagement and self-management. It has resulted in providing care closer to home, improving the patient experience, reducing the bed burden in the inpatient oncology care unit and saving health system resources.
2019 Winners
Year: 2019
Award Type: Quality
Organization/Department: Lakeridge Health, R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre, BETTER (Building Emotional Therapies Through Education and Relationships) Clinic
Team: Jane Dimitriou-Currie, Connie Bell, Christine Boissoin, Julie Caswell, Debbie Devitt, Sheri Horsburgh, Ilana Kopolovic, Yousef Kwamie, Darrilyn Lessels, Sarde Matti, Anthony Naassan
About: R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre (DRCC) is improving the quality of care for people with cancer through the Building Emotional Therapies Through Education and Relationships (BETTER) clinic.
The BETTER clinic is a bi-weekly outpatient clinic, within an ambulatory clinic, that provides people with cancer timely access to psychiatric services. In addition to providing high-quality care to address people’s psychosocial needs, the BETTER clinic also supports physicians and nursing teams by providing appropriate resources for people experiencing anxiety and depression.
Before the BETTER clinic, the average wait time for people to receive psychiatry services at DRCC was about 6 to 9 months. Since the clinic opened, wait times were initially reduced to 4 weeks from assessment to consultation, and are now just 2 weeks from referral to consultation.
Year: 2019
Award Type: Innovation
Organization/Department: University Health Network, Implementing Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) at UHN
Team: SarahRose Black, Celina Dara, R.J. Edralin, Paul Ellis, Leanza Francesco, Ann Heesters, Benjamin Kaasa, Patricia Murphy-Kane, Jessica Lam, Madeline Li, Karen Martin, Gerald O’Leary, Gary Rodin, Ruby Shanker, Derek Tsang and the UHN MAiD Teams
About: UHN was one of the first healthcare organizations in Canada to establish an organized MAiD program after Bill C-14 was passed, decriminalizing medical assistance in dying.
While developing the program, UHN conducted extensive consultations with healthcare professionals across the organization, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, patient educators and translators.
Since being implemented, the MAiD process at UHN has become known as one of the most rigorous in Canada. This is because it requires 3 independent medical opinions to determine a person’s eligibility, separate from the opinion of the primary care provider.
The MAiD program at UHN was created with the idea that people, with their clinical teams, are partners in their care. While the MAiD legislation describes the role of physicians, nurses and pharmacists, UHN has brought a multidisciplinary team of health professions into the process to ensure the highest quality of care.
2018 Winners
Year: 2018
Award Type: Quality
Organization/Department: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, The Interprofessional Malignant Bowel Management Program
Team: Stephanie Lheureux, Amit Oza, Yeh Chen Lee, Nazlin Jivraj, Terri Stuart-McEwan, Catherine O’Brien, Tanya Chawla, Eran Shlomovitz, Jenny Lau, Stephane Laframboise, Sarah E. Ferguson, Jennifer Croke, Johane P. Allard, Preeti Dhar, Valerie Bowering, Katherine Karakasis, Pamela Savage, Lisa Tinker, Sarah Buchanan, Pamela Ng, Neesha Dhani, Marcus Butler
About: The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has significantly reduced the length of stay for gynecologic cancer patients with malignant bowel obstruction. They transitioned to a model of care where people with the condition, or at risk of it, are managed as outpatients by a multidisciplinary team of doctors and nurses.
The Interprofessional Malignant Bowel Management Program was introduced at the centre to identify people with or at risk of malignant bowel obstruction. This condition is a common complication in women with gynecologic cancers that can lead to serious illness or, in severe cases, death. The program triages patients according to their diagnosis or risk level, and then manages their care using a standardized approach.
As part of the program, the team created clinical guidelines to ensure standardized care for patients both in the hospital and at home. The team also created treatment algorithms for patients at risk of developing malignant bowel obstruction. In addition, multidisciplinary case conferences helped to ensure treatment consistency between healthcare teams. Resources for patients were also developed to help manage their symptoms.
Year: 2018
Award Type: Innovation
Organization/Department: Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Program, Suspicion of Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Program
Team: Dr. Jim Shaver, Dr. Mukta Krishnan, Krista Tuck, Desiree Scriver
About: The Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Program has created an innovative new cancer diagnostic program.
The Suspicion of Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Program detects cancer in its earliest stages. It encourages primary care and emergency department physicians to refer patients with a suspected cancer to a specialized clinic to be further assessed. The clinic rules out cancer or makes a diagnosis, and patients who are diagnosed are then referred to the appropriate surgeon or oncologist at the cancer centre.
The program was created to reduce the high number of patients who were being inappropriately referred to the cancer centre without a confirmed diagnosis. As an outpatient clinic, the program reduces the amount of hospital admissions and resources spent on incorrect referrals.