Talking Healthcare

Through 2020, everyone all over the world awaited the development of a lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. When vaccines were approved for distribution, a clear public health message was heard globally: get whatever vaccine you can, as soon as you can. Distribution strategies varied from country to country and in Canada, individuals could book a vaccination appointment through multiple avenues - directly through a hospital, at a pharmacy, through Provincial government portals, via local public health authorities, etc. In an effort to help connect people with available doses, Canada’s Vaccine Hunters emerged. This episode tells the story of how hundreds of volunteers outside of the healthcare system came together to support fellow human beings through the use of digital technologies. Open source code for appointment optimization is now available to anyone who needs it.

Guests: Andrew Young and Eric Herscovich
Host and Producer: Taylor Johansen
More information about Vaccine Hunters Canada can be found here: https://vaccinehunters.ca/; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChrrV2QqvsD6kc_BJyaPzOA

The 45th IHF World Hospital Congress is a unique global forum that brings together IHF Members and leaders of hospitals, health services, and healthcare organizations. Providing an invaluable networking opportunity for leaders in healthcare, the themes chosen for each congress focus on the biggest trends and common issues in the sector.

Expert-led sessions are complemented by workshops, breakouts, scientific posters, and exhibitors from across the industry. It’s a hive of knowledge exchange, collaboration, and innovation – a chance to gather our international community to focus on what healthcare leaders can learn from each other to improve service delivery at home.

For this episode, Dr Farida, chair of the Scientific Committee, invited members of the Scientific Committee to share their experience working together on the formulation of the Congress program. Dr Abdullatif and Ryan also shared their expectations for the upcoming congress.

Dr. Farida AlKhaja
Chief Executive Officer, Clinical Support Services & Nursing Sector, Dubai Health Authority, United Arab Emirates
Farida Alkhaja is working in Dubai Health Authority for the past 25 years. She is leading six core services in DHA, Pharmacy services, Pathology & Genetics services, Clinical Nutrition services, Diagnostic Imaging services, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation services and Nursing services. AlKhaja has received her Bachelor degree of Pharmacy Sciences from Cairo University in Egypt in the year 1996.

Dr. Abdullatif Saad Alokifi
Assistant of Director General for GD of Hospital Affairs, Ministry of Health, Saudi ArabiaDr. Abdullatif Alokifi is the Assistant of Director General for General Administration of Hospital Affairs, the General Supervisor of Wazen Program and the Chairman of Hospital Commissioning Unit at Saudi Ministry of Health, KSA. Coordinator for IHF. He used to be the Director of Strategic Planning and Operation in General Administration of Quality and Patient Safety at Saudi Ministry of Health, KSA.

Ryan Keiler
Associate Director, Standards Development and Interpretation, Joint Commission InternationalRyan Keiler serves as an Associate Director of Standards Development and Interpretation for The Joint Commission International. In this role, Mr. Keiler serves on work groups, task forces, and committees to support the development and re-development of international accreditation standards and interpretations.

One of the biggest ‘service shifts’ in the healthcare sector since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the widespread adoption of telehealth. As well as being a viable option to provide continuity of care and treatment to patients during the coronavirus pandemic, telehealth has transformed how health systems can respond to chronic workforce shortages and optimise their clinical capacities.

So for our first Talking Healthcare podcast in 2022, we have invited Sharon Allen and Dr. Amit Tahkker to discuss the challenges and opportunities of telehealth for Africa’s diverse healthcare systems.

About the Speakers:

Sharon Allen, Co-founder and Executive Director of World Telehealth Initiative (WTI)
As Executive Director of the World Telehealth Initiative (WTI), Sharon has engaged with the American Telehealth Association, the White House Telehealth Innovation Summit, Nigeria’s Healthcare Today – Keynote, MENA Telehealth Conference, Telehealth Innovator’s Forum, AAFP Global Health Summit, and more. Under Sharon’s leadership, WTI has developed an innovative model that leverages remote philanthropic physicians to provide sustainable medical expertise via telehealth. Moreover, Sharon has been selected to serve on the World Health Organization Digital Health Board of Advisors and Roster of Experts. She is currently working with WHO on their Telehealth Roadmap for the Underserved.

Dr. Amit N. Thakker, President of the Africa Healthcare Federation
Amit is the President of Africa Healthcare Federation, the immediate past-Chairman of Kenya Healthcare Federation and has served as a Director at LumiraDx, Seven Seas Technology, AMREF Flying Doctors, Action Aid and Ghanima Limited. Dr. Thakker actively supports governments, corporates, health organisations and development partners to foster effective public-private partnership initiatives towards improved health outcomes. As an active member of several institutions including international business group YPO Gold (Nairobi Chapter), Dr. Thakker also chairs the University of Nairobi Alumni Medical Chapter and serves as an advisor to Asia Africa Investing & Consulting Ltd, Coalition for Blood in Africa (CoBA) and Ministry of Health, Kenya.

International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th of March each year – a campaign to raise awareness of gender inequity issues.
In this episode, Dr Sangita Reddy from Apollo Hospitals India sat down with Dr Sawsan Abdel-Razig and Dr Pascale Anglade, both from Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and long-standing members of the Women in Leadership SIG steering committee.

Dr Sangita Reddy shares with us some inspirational stories on how women's equity has come to occupy such an important place in her life. She talks about the importance of creating a strong and supportive ecosystem and of having a transformative purpose in life – among many other things.

This year, the IHF is bringing the 46th edition of the World Hospital Congress to the beautiful city of Lisbon in Portugal. This is the second time this prestigious event will be held in Lisbon, but for the first time, it is being co-organized by a Consortium of three local hospital leadership associations.

In this episode, Linda Clark, Director of Professional Development at IHF, interviewed the Presidents of the three associations to share updates and developments in organizing the Congress and what attendees can expect in Lisbon.