Task Forces

Community Pediatrics Task Force

Based primarily on the report of the Departmental Cyclical Review from 2016, a Task Force has been struck to assess the needs of clinicians in the community who take care of children who have been treated in the Montreal Children’s Hospital. The goal is to choose practical projects which will make a tangible difference in the shared care of these children, and develop collaborations which will enhance teaching opportunities.

Evolution of the Community Pediatrics Task Force (June 2017)

Members

Dr. T. Emmett Francoeur, Chair, Executive Associate Chair (Partnerships and Network) and Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Benjamin Burko, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Estelle Chetrit, Faculty Lecturer, Department of Pediatrics, and Assistant Dean of MDCM Admissions, Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Catherine Duong, Head, Family Medicine, LaSalle Hospital
Dr. Diane Munz, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Carole O'Beirne, Adjunct Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Mitchell Shiller, Associate Chair (Finance) and Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Women in Medical Leadership Task Force

To date, there are disproportionately fewer women than men in leadership positions in the McGill Department of Pediatrics especially in the roles of Division Directors, Associate Chairs, Vice-Chair, Department Chair, Head of the Montreal Children's Hospital Child Health Research and designation of "professor". Therefore, the Chair of the Department of Pediatrics has mandated a Task Force to develop realistic action plans that can be implemented to engage more of the Department of Pediatrics female faculty to take on leadership roles.

The goal of the Task Force is to develop and recommend gender equality guidelines and realistic and productive actions plans that will be implemented by the Department of Pediatrics to increase the number of women applying for and assuming leadership positions within the Department of Pediatrics.

The Task Force has undergone the following initiatives in order to develop a report that is well-informed, evidence-based and relevant to the Department of Pediatrics:

1. Literature review
2. Participation in Leadership for Medical Women (Physician Leadership Institute, Canadian Medical Association)
3. Department of Pediatrics survey sent (resident and faculty MDs/PhDs)
4. Department of Pediatrics focus groups (residents and faculty MDs/PhDs)

Women in Leadership Task Force Final Report (May 2017)
Women in Leadership Task Force Executive Summary (May 2017)

Members

Dr. Laurie Plotnick, Chair, Associate Chair (Education) and Division Director of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Ingrid Chadwick, Assistant Professor, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University
Dr. Jean-Pierre Farmer, Chair, Department of Pediatric Surgery
Dr. Stephen Liben, Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. June Ortenberg, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Joyce Pickering, Associate Chair, Department of Medicine
Dr. Maria Psihogios, Resident, General Pediatrics Core Residency Program, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Aimee Ryan, Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Human Genetics
Dr. Christine Sabapathy, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Samara Zavalkoff, ​Assistant Professor and Residency Program Director, Division of Pediatric Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics

Staffing the Department's Clinical Teaching Units Task Force

Please note this task force is currently disbanded.

The Department of Pediatrics (MCH) inpatient operations have been under steady pressure due to physician resource restrictions and tight replacement regulations rules. Safe operations of each clinical unit has an impact on the well-functioning of all other units within the hospital, and any unit staffing issue should be approached with a Departmental perspective, and with a transparent and collaborative attitude.

This task force aims to develop shared ideas and provide recommendations regarding specific expectations of service requirement from our Department’s clinical staff, including call duties, and means of accountability. We also will suggest ways of distributing resident resources that optimize service coverage while maintaining our standard of excellence in learning experience. Lastly, we hope to provide recommendations for a transparent and objective mechanism to meet staffing shortages that maintain patient safety, clinical quality and staff work-life balance.

Members

Dr. Mylène Dandavino, Chair
Dr. Geoffrey Dougherty
Dr. Harley Eisman
Dr. Catherine Henin
Dr. Thérèse Perreault
Dr. Saleem Razack
Dr. Robert Sternszus
Dr. Catherine Vezina

Transition from Pediatric to Adult Care Task Force

Transition of complex pediatric patients from a child health milieu to an adult one is a challenging task. Clearly this transition can be facilitated at the systems level by improved integration, a continuum of care and communication between all parties. One would think that the geographic adjacency offered by the recent consolidation on the Glen site would be an enabling mechanism for transition at all levels of our academic mission.

At a recent joint meeting of Division Directors from the Departments of Medicine & Pediatrics, there was tremendous mutual enthusiasm in addressing this issue through collaboration and innovation. It was also recognized that there have been successes in our experience to learn from. It was also universally noted that partners in primary care must be part of any proposed solution.

To this end the Chairs of Family Medicine, Medicine and Pediatrics are creating a Task Force. This Task Force, comprised of representation from each Department, will work together to fashion possible solutions that can then be put before the Departments, hospital, Faculty, philanthropy and the MSSS for support. The goal will be improving clinical care and thus outcomes for affected patients and their families, as well as enabling training/educational opportunities and research efforts with the overarching strategic goal to make McGill and the MUHC a recognized leader and innovator in this emerging and important field.

The Task Force will invite the active participation, as core members, of other health professionals (e.g. nursing, social work), patient representatives and MUHC administration. A report and actionable suggestions for implementation is expected as of December 2017.

Joint Adult-Pediatric Task Force on Pediatric Transition to Adult Care - Update September 2017

Members

Department of Family Medicine:
Dr. Mark Roper
Dr. Anita Brown-Johnson

Department of Medicine:
Dr. Jennifer Landry
Dr. Ariane Marelli

Department of ​Pediatrics:
Dr. Lorraine Bell
Dr. Julius Erdstein