Medbuy is pleased to welcome the entire province of New Brunswick to its membership. The selection of Medbuy means it will provide its services to all zones of the two Regional Health Authorities (Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network) under the leadership of FacilicorpNB, the province’s shared services organization.

“After considering a number of options, and with our government’s full support, the Regional Health Authorities and FacilicorpNB have decided to use Medbuy as our province’s single GPO of choice,” says Gordon Gilman, President & CEO of FacilicorpNB. “We are pleased to work more closely with Medbuy, an organization that is very familiar with the needs and challenges of Canada’s and New Brunswick’s health care system. It’s a partnership that will serve our province and our patients very well.”

New Brunswick’s decision is a part of its efforts to realize substantial savings through more efficiencies and better pricing on medical supplies, services and pharmaceuticals, while continuously delivering quality patient care. The partnership with Medbuy will in effect increase the province’s purchasing power through participating on national contracts with large volumes. This will not only offer higher savings, but also provide the opportunity to realize even more value through efficiencies such as the standardization of product use.

Previously, New Brunswick’s health service providers belonged to more than one GPO. More recently, the province established two health authorities and a shared services organization to streamline management of health support services. Effective immediately, these organizations will work now with Medbuy as the single GPO for the province.

“We are very pleased that New Brunswick has recognized the value Medbuy continues to deliver for healthcare providers across the country,” says Kent Nicholson, President & CEO of Medbuy. “Our organization has deep roots in the province, dating back to one of our founding Members in Saint John, so we look forward to being able to meet the province’s needs by offering the best overall value, cost savings and patient-centred services.”

About FacilicorpNB
FacilicorpNB is New Brunswick’s healthcare shared services organization. Our mandate is to provide safe, cost-effective and innovative support services to Regional Health Authorities in New Brunswick. We currently provide Materials Management, Clinical Engineering, Information Technology and Telecommunications services, and we manage Fundy Linen in Saint John.

About Medbuy
As Canada's longest standing healthcare group purchasing organization, Medbuy partners with health service providers to deliver the best possible medical supplies, services and pharmaceuticals for the best possible price. Over the past 20 plus years, Medbuy has used patient-centred sourcing practices to help save the health system hundreds of millions of dollars.

For more information, please contact:

Ottawa, ON - The Canadian Association for Paediatric Health Centres and Medbuy were pleased to announce last week in Ottawa a new relationship that will deliver more cost savings to paediatric healthcare providers, while also supporting the unique health needs of children and youth.

“CAPHC and Medbuy have been partners for nearly a decade,” says Elaine Orrbine, CAPHC’s President & CEO. “What we have announced creates an opportunity to bring further value to both of our organizations, but for CAPHC Members, in particular, the enhanced partnership will provide an expanded range of options they have to access competitively priced, quality medical supplies and services.”

The new relationship enables CAPHC Members who are not currently Medbuy Members to access Medbuy services in a convenient and simple manner. There are many benefits of this approach. More of Canada’s paediatric health facilities will have access to best cost and best quality products to deliver safe, patient-focused care. For CAPHC, a portion of the rebates generated from purchases will provide the organization with a unique funding stream to develop and implement new quality improvement and patient safety programs.

“This is a truly creative solution to meet the expressed needs of CAPHC and our membership,” adds Ms. Orrbine. “Our Members can work directly with us to learn more about, and access the enhanced services that are powered by the procurement expertise of Medbuy.”

Medbuy has deep roots in Canada’s paediatric care community and has been a supporter of several of CAPHC’s key safety based initiatives over the last several years, including medication reconciliation, narcotic management and high alert medication initiatives to name a few.

“While managing costs is critically important, quality and safety aspect of this partnership is also top of mind with healthcare providers,” says Kent Nicholson, Medbuy’s President & CEO.

“To keep a clear focus on patient needs, Medbuy is inclusive of physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists and other clinical specialists in developing an approach that’s best suited for children,” he says. “The process includes engaging direct care providers in our sourcing initiatives, which ensures that clinical staff has the best tools to deliver high quality, safe and cost effective care.”

Mr. Nicholson also notes that the paediatric care issues championed by CAPHC are issues of high importance to Medbuy Members. “Our organizations have always worked together with leading paediatric healthcare providers to ensure the needs of children and youth are respected. We’ve included these principles in our own practices, so we are pleased to continue to work closely with CAPHC to ensure paediatric care across the country achieves the fullest potential possible.”

About CAPHC
The Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres is a recognized leader and advocate for advancing the improvement of healthcare for Canada’s children and youth. CAPHC’s mission is to support our member and partner organizations through education, research, and quality improvement initiatives to improve healthcare service delivery for Canadian children and youth. CAPHC now reaches out to over 50 member organizations representing multi-disciplinary health professionals that provide healthcare and health services to children, youth and their families within quaternary and tertiary health centres; community health centres; rehabilitation centres; and home care provider agencies nation wide. Each year approximately 8.75 million children and youth rely on the services of our member organizations.

About Medbuy
As Canada's longest standing healthcare group purchasing organization, Medbuy partners with health service providers to deliver the best possible medical supplies, services and pharmaceuticals for the best possible price. Over the past 20 plus years, we’ve have helped save the health system hundreds of millions of dollars, while also supporting industry-wide initiatives that establish best practices for quality and safe care.

For more information about the CAPHC/Medbuy relationship, please contact:

Medbuy’s Vice President, Clinical Services, Patient Safety & Business Development, Richard Jones, was appointed as a Hospital Delegate to the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) Board of Directors.

As a director of CPhA, Richard offers expertise and insight to help the association enhance patient outcomes, which, in turn, helps to support our own Members’ patient safety and quality care agendas. His position with the CPhA also works to the benefit of our membership by further fostering relationships in the pharmacy community.

“We’re excited to have Richard join the CPhA Board – he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise,” says Jody Shkrobot, the president of CPhA. “His work as president of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, along with his over two decades of experience in hospital pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacy supply chain, truly helps us with our mission to advocate for pharmacists and support our members as we advance the profession and enhance patient outcomes.”

As a not-for-profit voluntary member organization, the CPhA is dedicated to supporting pharmacists working in all practice settings, nationwide. In addition to producing and distributing valuable tools and knowledge, the association advocates for the pharmacy profession and optimal patient care, informs and enhances practice skills and actively participates in the international pharmacy community.

Since CPhA is an integral part of the network of public and private organizations that influence, develop and implement healthcare policy, Richard’s work with the Board will help shape industry standards based on the needs of our membership. Richard will also use his Board appointment to keep our Members informed of the latest trends and tools available in the industry to support patient-centred care and positive patient outcomes.

In addition to his position on the CPhA Board, Richard maintains a strong presence in the sector with seats on two GS1 Canada Boards – the Carenet Healthcare Sector and the Healthcare Pharmacy Sector Boards. He is also a member of the Board of Thames Valley Children’s Centre, a children’s rehabilitation centre serving Southwestern Ontario.

Richard has previously served as CSHP President and as a charter member of the Board of the Institute of Safe Medication Practices of Canada.

For more information about Medbuy’s patient safety and quality care initiatives, please contact Richard Jones at rjones@medbuy.ca.

Medbuy has made three new appointments to its Board of Directors, each of whom brings invaluable perspectives from within the healthcare system. These appointments were a part of the election of Medbuy’s 12-member Board of Directors, led by Chair, Sue Denomy of Bluewater Health, voted by shareholders at our Annual General Meeting earlier this month in Whistler, British Columbia.

• Denise Arsenault, The Hospital for Sick Children, Member at Large
• Sarah Chow, St. Michael’s Hospital, Purchasing Volume Medium
• Angela Zangari, Niagara Health System, Central Canada

“These are key appointments for Medbuy,” notes Tony Dagnone, Medbuy’s Interim CEO. “Our Board of Directors gives us a strong mix of healthcare and supply chain leaders, representing unique perspectives, geographic areas and purchasing volumes. These individuals not only provide Medbuy with sound governance, but also give all Members a voice at the table as we focus on delivering strong service to the national healthcare community.”

Medbuy’s commitment to transparency and driving costs out of the system are well served by Denise Arsenault, who was appointed to the Board of Directors as Member at Large. She brings strong financial and business management leadership from her progressive experience in the public and private sectors.

Ms. Arsenault is a Chartered Accountant and the Vice-President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer at The Hospital for Sick Children, one of the world’s foremost paediatric health-care institutions and Canada’s leading centre dedicated to advancing children’s health. She joined SickKids in July 2010 and now oversees its finances, including controllership, financial services, treasury and financial planning as well as materials management.

Previously, Ms. Arsenault was Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Public Health Ontario (formerly Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion), where she led finance, human resources, information technology and facilities. She also has deep senior leadership experience in the healthcare system having served as Vice-President, Program Support at Hamilton Health Sciences, Vice-President, Business Services and CFO at Hamilton’s Chedoke-McMaster Hospital and Vice-President, Finance and CFO at The Toronto Hospital. In her capacity with Hamilton, she previously served on Medbuy’s Board.

A sound understanding of the health sector is necessary to understand how providers are looking to optimize and manage services in the face of tremendous fiscal pressure. In her new role on Medbuy’s Board of Directors, Sarah Chow brings this perspective and more than 25 years of leadership experience in the healthcare sector to our governance team.

She was appointed to the Board representing Members with a medium purchasing volume.

Ms. Chow is a Chartered Accountant with expertise in public accounting and healthcare. For nearly 12 years, she has been the Vice President, Finance and CFO for St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, an academic hospital that excels in specialty care and cares for the city's vulnerable population. In her tenure, she has provided financial management, overseen change management and has been responsible for initiating improvements to both financial and clinical operating processes.

Within her organization, she oversees a broad portfolio of responsibilities including finance, reporting and budgeting, vendor administration and logistics. She was instrumental in building the business case for $135.5 million investment in a St. Michael’s capital building project. Ms. Chow also serves on the Board of Directors of Mohawk Shared Services.

Medbuy’s Board of Directors also welcomes the support and management expertise of another experienced healthcare leader. Angela Zangari of Niagara Health System was appointed as representative for Central Canada. She is a familiar face to many of our Members, having served on our Board previously from 2006-09.

Ms. Zangari is Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Niagara Health System, Ontario's largest multi-site hospital organization comprised of seven sites serving nearly half a million people in the Niagara region. She is responsible for the organization’s finance, utilization, decision support and supply chain management. She also provides financial leadership and planning for the health system’s overall budget.

For more than 20 years, Ms. Zangari has held progressive management positions within her organization, serving as Manager of Finance for St. Catharine’s General Hospital before moving into her role as Regional Director, Financial Operations for Niagara Health System and was appointed CFO in 2007. She is a Certified Management Accountant and quite active in the healthcare system on a local, regional, provincial and national level. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Niagara Health System Foundation and Mohawk Shared Services.

Please visit www.medbuy.ca and click on About Us > Our Leadership to learn more about our Board of Directors and Management teams.

In today’s fiscal pressure cooker, hospitals and healthcare facilities must find the right recipe to trim costs and find efficiencies while continuously providing quality patient care. This is why Medbuy fully supports opportunities for our Members to learn the leading processes to effectively and successfully balance these competing demands.

In line with Medbuy’s overall goal to support our Members’ quality and patient safety agendas, while driving efficiencies in the health system, our Pharmacy Committee will begin Lean certification to maximize quality, minimize variability and eliminate non-value added steps in operations related to patient safety.

“Beyond what we achieve through incorporating quality and safety into our sourcing processes, we make a direct, positive impact on quality care and patient safety by supporting professional development and education for our Members,” notes Richard Jones, Vice President, Clinical Services, Patient Safety and Business Development at Medbuy. “We are in a unique role as strategic sourcing partner to foster and offer opportunities like this because it may not be possible otherwise given today’s fiscal constraints on health service providers.”

The principles of Lean practice are derived mostly from the manufacturing sector and focus on preserving value, while removing “waste”. In keeping with Lean practice, any step in a process that does not create value for the “end customer” – in this case the patient – is considered unnecessary. By trimming down processes, not only do facilities save dollars, but they also create more efficient systems that are highly equipped to deliver quality care.

More healthcare facilities across the country are turning to Lean to increase efficiency and drive patient-focused care. As reported by Canadian Healthcare Manager, both Regina Qu’Appelle Regional Health Authority in Saskatchewan and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto have seen significant quality improvements in their facilities as a result of the program.

As one of the many strategic priorities in our Pharmacy Program’s 2010-13 Strategic Plan, all Pharmacy Committee Members will be Lean certified by the end of June. This is being made possible through Medbuy’s Research, Education and Development (R.E.D.) Fund, an exclusive benefit of Medbuy membership.

The Pharmacy Program has also identified other priorities that demonstrate leadership in patient safety. For example, the program is building a patient safety perspective into our sourcing processes by:

• Playing a key role in the Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project – being the first to take concrete steps that drive forward industry-wide adoption of GS1 bar coding standards.

• Developing a system to review product packaging with Members in the sourcing process to ensure Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) labelling guidelines are met.

• Working with ISMP and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) to become active partners in the development of labelling standards and advocating suppliers engage in labelling standard development.

• Ensuring Medbuy’s contracting services align with all medication management standards set out by Accreditation Canada, Health & Support Canada, ISMP and CPSI to enhance safe use and effective management of medication, while reducing adverse drug events.

• Helping Members plan and implement medication management standards in their facilities.

• Sending Members and key Medbuy staff to educational programs related to patient safety and labelling standards.

• Establishing an inter-committee forum between Medbuy committees, including those of the Operating, Medical Imaging, Materials Management and Paediatric programs, where committees can share information about accreditation standards.