Centre Stage:

Dr. Michael Baker, Physician-in-Chief University Health Network, Practicing Physician & Executive Lead, Patient Safety, Ministry of Health and Long-term Care

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.

“...the most noble gesture I can make, is to leave the field with more high quality and more improvements in care, than when I found it.”

I’m Dr. Michael Baker. I currently hold the position of Physician-in-Chief at the University Health Network. In addition to my administrative role at UHN, I take pride in the fact that I continue to see patients in my hematology clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital and in general medicine at UHN. And last but not least, I am the Executive Lead – Patient Safety in Ontario for the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care for which I oversee the government's patient safety agenda.

“My leadership style is to be a consensus builder. The only way that someone in charge of a unit or a department can be successful is if the people in that unit or department are included in the work and are fully engaged and understand and are willing to participate.”

That’s not to say that all decisions are made using democratic principles. I think a leader also needs to be able to choose amongst the many, often conflicting, improvement opportunities. That leader needs to then recommend an active process to develop consensus within the unit or department around that opportunity, through education, discussion, forums and information.

“I’m personally passionate about being a doctor…I feel that is my main mission - to be someone who participates directly in care giving.”

In all my years in medicine, beginning with doing laboratory-based fundamental research and having a period in my career where I was an educator and an organizer of medical school courses, and in recent years as an administrative leader and a hospital vice-president and the head of a large department, I have always maintained a practice of medicine in which I have contact with patients and their families directly every week; sometimes every day. I feel that is my main mission - to be someone who participates directly in care giving.

The research that I’ve done, the teaching that I’ve been involved with, and the administrative leadership that I’ve been able to do has all been supportive and supplementary to that – being a caregiver. It is my personal experience as a caregiver that has given me perspective and I think that stands the test of time.

Too often, many healthcare leaders that begin their careers as part of a healthcare team, whether it be as a doctor, a nurse, a physiotherapist or a pharmacist, when they are asked to take on leadership and administrative positions, they give up their bedside contact with patients. I think that’s a shame. I’m very proud that at UHN, our President, our Executive Vice-president, our Surgeon-in-Chief and our Physician-in-Chief all continue to practice medicine.

“When I was a child in a family of immigrants, I had a cousin who lived in Edmonton and became a doctor. He was the first professional in the family and he was such a hero to us. This really inspired me at an early age to aim for that type of accomplishment.”

As a physician I have had role models who I’ve wanted to emulate; people that have continued to practice at the same time that they’ve been able to lead. I’ve been inspired by research mentors, who early in my career exposed me to the excitement of research and taught me the benefits of trying to find new knowledge in this area. There is no end to the amount of knowledge that we need.

Another influential thing for me has been the opportunity to see people take on administrative leadership positions and understand the frustrations and difficulties of changing entire systems and societies to improve care. This has been marvelous to watch. The man who’s name chair I hold, the late Charles H. Hollenberg, was a personal influence on me for the dramatic way in which he was able to change systems for the better in spite of all the frustrations of doing so in a public system.

“In all of the lines of work that I have, from the practice of medicine to the leadership of a large department, the most noble gesture I can make, is to leave the field with more high quality and more improvements in care, than when I found it.”

In spite of the most marvelous advances in technology and medicine, providing the care with the highest possible quality and safety will always remain a noble and challenging goal.

The University Health Network is proud of its record as an innovator and sees itself as a hospital that has been designed to contribute to advancement in knowledge and now we can say in quality as well.

Early on when we were paying too little attention to quality and patient safety the Quality Healthcare Network, was formed out of an agreement with five hospitals including UHN’s Princess Margaret Hospital. In 1992 we were pioneers and leaders in this area. Being not only a founding member, but also a consistent member of the Quality Healthcare Network has been important for us, our self-image, and hopefully for our patients as well.

We are proud to have had a Quality Committee early on. Our Board of Trustees, led by a senior financial expert, leads our Quality Committee. At UHN, the President and Executive Vice President and all of the department heads are involved in leading the quality agenda. I think we were early on in that and I think belonging to the Quality Healthcare Network has been instrumental in helping us do that.

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 VHA Home HealthCare, Ontario

Summer, 2008, Ben Chan from Ontario Health Quality Council

Fall, 2008, Lindsay McGee from Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, Stratford, Ontario