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Centre Stage:

Barb van Maris, Preferred Health Care Services, Toronto, Ontario

As part of our new membership benefit package and our ongoing commitment to collaboration, we are giving impassioned improvers within the Network centre stage. We would like to get to know the faces of your organization. If you have a member that should get centre stage, let us know.

“It is a pleasure to work for Preferred Health Care Services. Their dedication to quality and excellence makes my position truly a ‘dream-job’.”

I’m Barb van Maris and I am proud to be a part of Preferred Healthcare Care Services which I joined in February 2009 as the Director of Quality Improvement and Risk Management

Preferred Health Care Services is a provider of a variety of home health care services and we cater to a diverse group of clients, speaking many different languages across Ontario.

“I am most proud of being a part of a community-wide effort that over the last 20 years has changed how we provide health care. Our healthcare system is more Client/Patient Centered, more accountable, and wiser at implementing changes that continue to improve the care we provide. It is an exciting and rewarding field to be in!”

Prior to taking on my current position, I worked in health care for over 25 years in a variety of capacities. I began my career as a program evaluator/educator in public health. I worked for a brief time with Gallup Canada as a Senior Analyst, and was the Research Associate for the Primary Care Research Unit at Sunnybrook Health Science Center. In 1994, my partner Braz King and I started our own company, Smaller World Communications. We provided performance measurement and evaluation services to the healthcare sector. We had the opportunity to work with health care professionals focused on improving the quality of their services from every sector (public health, homecare, emergency, acute care and long term care). The company was purchased by NRC Picker Canada in 2004 and continues to provide performance measurement services.

The major influences I have had in my career and my interest in Quality Improvement are rooted in my formal training as well as the people I have had the good fortune to meet and work with along the way. I hold a Master of Science in Health Behaviour along with Post graduate training in applied statistics, performance measurement and quality improvement.

I have also had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Peter Norton, Dr. Ross Baker PhD, and Dr. Michael Murray (PhD) many years ago and through them learned the value of performance measurement to support quality improvement initiatives. Dr. Anita Myers, from the University of Waterloo, also taught me the basic foundation for evaluating the effectiveness of health programs and I continue to use that knowledge today to assess whether our quality improvement initiatives are making improvements. There are a wide variety of books I’ve read on changing systems, leading organizations, etc. but it really comes down to constantly learning by observing, first-hand, what is working and not working and not being afraid to try doing things differently.

“I am extremely passionate about providing safe, quality health care based on the needs/wants of our clients (client centered). This includes breaking-down barriers the system creates that prevent us from working together across the continuum of care. If we keep the best interest of the patient/client in mind these barriers become irrelevant."

Our organization made the decision to become a member of the Quality Healthcare Network as we believe in the mission and the value of sharing our experiences with each other as we all strive to improve the quality of care we provide.

We hope that being a part of QHN will give us opportunities to learn and to stay current with best practices and health services research.

To learn more about Preferred Health Care Services visit - www.prefhealthcare.com

Centre Stage Index

To view past profiles of impassioned improvers within the Network, click the one that you want to read.

December, 2007, Gordon Milak from Southwest Community Care Access Centre, London, Ontario

January, 2008, Glenna Raymond from Whitby Mental Health Centre, Whitby, Ontario

February, 2008, Michael Heenan from St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario

Spring, 2008, Carol Annett from CEO of VHA Home HealthCare, Ontario

Summer, 2008, Ben Chan, CEO, Ontario Health Quality Council