Originally published on thechronicleherald.ca.
Throughout my career as a nurse, researcher, professor, and leader I’ve had the privilege of working with many patients and families, researchers, healthcare providers, and policy and decision makers across the globe.
These international experiences have taught me that there is much we can learn from each other – it’s about working together. It is through strong, trusting partnerships that we’re able to develop strategies to address the challenges we’re facing here at home.
In Nova Scotia, there is such a partnership that dates back 150 years. The QEII Health Sciences Centre and Dalhousie University share a vital connection for professional education, clinical practice and medical and health research. As the largest adult health centre in Atlantic Canada, the QEII hosts health professional students from Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Faculty of Dentistry.
This partnership between education and practice is critically important to ensure our healthcare workforce has the capacity to meet the needs of our patients and communities.
In addition to being a teaching hospital, the QEII is a hub for medical and health research and innovation aimed at improving health care and the wellbeing of Nova Scotians.
When breakthroughs happen, they’re not meant to sit forever on a shelf in the pages of an academic journal, but to be integrated into our healthcare system to help change – and in some cases, save – the lives of patients.
In collaboration with Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), and recently with private industry, QEII and Dalhousie University researchers are able to bring their research to fruition – translating their research into clinical practice and policy.
This collaboration is demonstrated in such instances as the recent $2-million investment from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to support the work of Dr. Michael Dunbar, QEII orthopaedic surgeon and professor at Dalhousie University. Dr. Dunbar’s work to adopt innovative technology into orthopaedics practice will offer Nova Scotians more efficient and effective healthcare diagnoses and treatment options – vital to improving lives and advancing standards of care. Nova Scotia Health Authority is working to support the commercialization of this provincially-implemented software platform and assessment tools to improve orthopaedic wait times and patient outcomes across the province.
Nova Scotia’s 41 healthcare foundations are another important partner in our healthcare system, funding vital medical equipment and technology, and healthcare research projects – all thanks to the generosity of thousands of Atlantic Canadians. These donors are funding programs and initiatives that wouldn’t exist otherwise. For example, the QEII Foundation Translating Research Into Care (TRIC) grants that create direct, positive changes in health care by combining the expertise of scientists and health administrators.
I’m in awe of the amazing results that this province’s research partnerships have been able to successfully generate. From the researchers and clinicians, to government and private industry, to donors and patients, we all have a role to play in health care. By working together, we can not only improve but advance our healthcare system.