Interprofessional practice chiefs bring new ideas to life
Susan Montgomery, Delia Palmer, Mike Kampen and Ari Collerman are chiefs of interprofessional practice at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS). Their responsibilities are wide-ranging, making this senior leadership role tricky to summarize in a job title, or explain without getting mired in hospital-speak.
“Even my husband doesn’t fully grasp the scope of what I do,” jokes Palmer. And some HHS staff, especially newer additions, don’t have a full handle on what, exactly, the role involves, say the chiefs. With all this in mind, here’s a breakdown of their key responsibilities, and why they’re a vital part of HHS.
What’s a chief of interprofessional practice?
- Chiefs are at the same level as directors, and they report to vice presidents.
- They oversee regulated health-care providers like nurses, and unregulated providers like nursing aides. Other professions in their portfolio include allied health-care staff such as genetic councilors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and many more. They aren’t responsible for doctors, who fall under a different stream of management.
- Chiefs help bring innovative new ideas to life, so that HHS is on the leading-edge of health care.
- For example, all HHS staff are encouraged to share ideas that could improve processes, safety and patient care through the hospital’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) initiative, which empowers front-line staff to find solutions to everyday issues through a bottom-up approach to problem-solving.
- Chiefs play a key role in identifying and implementing these innovative new ideas at HHS hospital sites.
- Another example is working with HHS research and innovation teams, so that patients benefit from new treatments and care.
- Chiefs are heavily involved in hospital accreditation, a quality review and improvement process that HHS goes through every four years.
- They work with managers, directors, practice chiefs and vice presidents to ensure the hospital’s health-care professionals and teams are performing their roles properly, legally and effectively, in keeping with policies and professional standards of HHS and regulatory bodies, such as professional colleges. They also work directly with those regulatory bodies.
- Chiefs are heavily involved when there are performance concerns, discipline issues or investigations. Their goal is to help HHS health-care providers and teams facing challenges get back on track and meet their full potential wherever possible.
- The chiefs meet once a month, to share information, keep each other up to date and support each other since they all bring different backgrounds and strengths to the table.
Many roads led to chiefs’ positions
All four chiefs started their careers in patient care, but in very different roles before moving into management, staff education and leadership positions.
Palmer started out as a health care aide and then a nurse, Collerman was a nurse working in emergency care, Montgomery was a physiotherapist and Kampen was a respiratory therapist. While their early career choices were different, they shared key traits that included a passion for learning and professional development; an interest in leadership, peer support, education and mentoring; and a desire to make improvements for staff and patients.
The other common element they’ve shared over the years was having highly supportive leaders. All four said they had HHS managers and mentors along the way who recognized their potential and encouraged them to try new and larger roles, leading to their current position as chiefs.
Helping people be their best selves professionally
“When people ask me what I do, I share that I’m a supporter,” says Palmer, chief of interprofessional practice for oncology, based at HHS Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre.
Delia Palmer
Palmer started her career as a health-care aide and went on to become a nurse, working in several different roles, with a focus on caring for cancer patients. She has been with HHS for 24 years.
“Nursing appealed to me because I enjoy people and building relationships,” says Palmer. But she found herself wanting to do more, including making improvements to the profession and supporting fellow nurses. So she took leadership training and shifted to management, education and leadership roles.
Supporting fellow health-care professionals, with a big-picture plan to improve the system and patient care, became her passion.
“This is why I love the chief position,” she says. “It gives me the opportunity to combine my people skills and my extensive nursing experience to advance the life and careers of others, just like my leaders did for me. As a chief, I get to work with individuals one-on-one to close any gaps, and enhance their development so they can become the best versions of themselves professionally.”
HHS a goldmine of opportunities for advancement
Hamilton Health Sciences is a large organization, and staff are encouraged to try new roles that are of interest to them, says Kampen, who joined HHS in 2004 as a respiratory therapist.
Mike Kampen
“When I came to HHS, I saw it as a goldmine of opportunities for professional development and advancement in my field,” says Kampen, who was qualified to do more than was in his job description.
His accomplishments have included broadening the scope of the respiratory therapists’ roles at HHS, so that they can contribute more to patient care.
Over the years, Kampen was encouraged by various leaders to take on roles in management, leadership and staff education. Those opportunities were all steps towards his current role as chief, which covers HHS Hamilton General Hospital’s regional rehabilitation, emergency and critical care staff, as well as emergency and critical care staff at HHS Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre.
“It’s been quite a journey with a lot of opportunities,” says Kampen.
Fostering strengths spurs leadership moves
Susan Montgomery’s role as chief covers the palliative care consult team and geriatric rehabilitation at JHCC, some adult outpatient programs at HHS McMaster University Medical Centre, and all of HHS West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, HHS St. Peter’s Hospital the HHS Satellite Health Facility and HHS Urgent Care Centre.
Susan Montgomery
She joined HHS almost 20 years ago as a physiotherapist in orthopedics and enjoyed working with patients directly. She wasn’t looking for leadership opportunities at the time, but her managers recognized her potential and encouraged her to take on new, bigger roles which led her becoming a clinical leader and unit manager before her current chief’s role.
“That’s the really unique and wonderful thing about HHS,” she says. “To have so many leaders who see strengths in their staff and foster those strengths is really remarkable.”
A passion for introducing new and better care
Ari Collerman’s role as chief covers the women’s and children’s portfolio including HHS McMaster Children’s Hospital and the HHS Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, as well as clinical support services and the surgery programs across the hospital system.
Ari Collerman
Collerman has been with HHS for more than 25 years. His clinical background is emergency services in both adult and pediatric populations.
Collerman has a passion for studying and introducing new and better ways of providing care, improving care through the use of technology, and investing in the development of health professionals.
“I have an intimate understanding of patient care having been a patient, a nurse, and leader at HHS. For that reason it is clear to me that when we support the development of our teams and apply best practices, we create an environment where patients can receive the best possible care,” says Collerman.
