Academic hospitals in the Toronto region collaborate to optimize occupational health and safety

Abstract

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 cases began to rise in Ontario, Canada, the central role of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) to ensure the well-being of hospital workforce became highly visible. While Ontario’s hospitals concentrated efforts to meet each challenging and uncertain wave stressing the system, it was apparent that there is a lack of consistency in best practices and policy response across the healthcare sector. Additionally, the unprecedented pressure on healthcare workforce as they attempted to meet the pandemic’s new surging demands resulted in workforce shortages and increased levels of burnout, making it difficult to engage, support, and retain the staff necessary for delivering highest quality of services. The Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN), a dynamic consortium of 14 healthcare organizations, established a collaborative to implement an integrated effort and align on structure, processes, and standards that will increase strength and defensibility of TAHSN programs. To foster community building, identify areas of common concern, and co-create practices during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, a structured network of 14 OHS directors across the healthcare organizations was established. This article discusses the origin of the TAHSN collaborative, the thriving community vision for partnership, and the case study methodology used to combine capabilities to showcase innovation and excellence in care together.