![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
UW painter is mourned![[Schuphof]](/images/2005/1213schuphof.jpg)
A funeral service was held yesterday morning for
Jan Schuphof, a painter in the buildings section of UW's plant
operations department, who
died
December 6.
He had been working for UW since November 1998. He is survived by his wife, Jane, and their son. Memorial donations were suggested to the Grand River Hospital Foundation for equipment for in-patient oncology. |
The goal of the session was to define the key concepts that will guide the development of a framework for balancing the benefits to the health system of information and communications technologies with the risks these new technologies introduce as they are put into place.
A major challenge faced by health system leadership is the maximization of the benefits of ICT and the minimization of associated risks, along with the balancing of both with the objective being the overall optimization of positive impacts on patient access, safety and outcomes. SSHA recognized that a framework is needed to guide thinking and decision-making regarding the benefits and opportunities created by ICT and the privacy, security, safety, financial and other risks associated with ICT. The session had drawing up this framework as its main objective.
"This was an amazing event," said Mike Connolly, CEO of SSHA. "It just goes to show the breadth and depth of exchange and what can be achieved by bringing together the right people in the right way. We not only accomplished our objective of outlining a framework, but we also achieved a kind of intellectual ignition that will carry forward to the benefit of our health system."
The session brought together professionals from health system domains and professions impacted by ICT including hospitals, regional health organizations, community and home care, and government, represented by physicians, nurses, allied providers and administrators. It also incorporated experts in ICT, privacy, security, risk management, law, accounting and other areas.
"The session demonstrated the power of dialogue among informed and knowledgeable people," said Ian Kyer, a participant and a lawyer with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. "By bringing together leaders from the various sectors of the health sector, everyone benefited." "What we achieved was proportional to the quality of the participants and their dedication to addressing health system issues," said UW's Shirley Fenton and Rupak Mazumdar, the session organizers. "We sought information, but we also got wisdom and the creativity that comes from bringing together all of the perspectives needed to address an issue and providing a forum where they can think together."
"One of our realizations is that health organizations need to start with their objectives, determine what they want to achieve and what the technology is supposed to deliver, determine the risks that come with the technology, mitigate these risks and then balance the benefits and the risks," said Brendan Seaton, the Chief Privacy Officer for SSHA. "What this session gave us was the start on a framework that will allow us to do just that." The products of the think-tank session will be available online early in 2006.
Smart Systems for Health Agency is an independent operational agency of the Ontario Government mandated to build and provide the information and communications infrastructure to support eHealth in the Province of Ontario. The Waterloo Health Informatics Think Tank is a forum for industry and academic leaders to explore, examine, critique and analyze information-related problems and solutions in health informatics, and a key component of WIHIR's Industry Outreach Program.
Hutchinson received a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree in 2002, and now, as marketing and recruitment co-ordinator for the faculty of engineering, she's responsible for communications to prospective undergraduate students, including publications, web, and special events.
![[Hutchinson]](/images/2005/1125hutchinson.jpg)
Asked what makes her proud to work at UW, Hutchinson
(right) replies: "We are
number one for reputation! We're the best school ever! But what I
brag about most is the atmosphere on campus. Because we are so
diverse in our faculty, staff, and students, I find UW to be a
very open and welcoming place. We've got a supreme amount of
intelligence here and that makes for great conversations no matter
where you meet people!"
More from the profile, posted this month on the Keystone web site:
What motivates you personally to give to Waterloo? "The university has given me amazing experiences and opportunities, so I felt it was time to give something back. I love this place, and will always regard UW as the place that helped me get a great start in life. I've donated to undergraduate scholarships both in the Faculty of Environmental Studies and in the Faculty of Engineering."
Why do you feel the University needs funds today? "UW is a huge institution, and although we are a school, we're still a business and need funds to operate. My goal is to do the best I can to make UW a great place for students -- I always have their best interests in mind."
What do you do in your spare time? "I love doing anything that gets me outside. I play hockey and volleyball, and bike or swim most mornings before work. I just started volunteering with the Grand River Conservation Authority doing children's programming at the Laurel Creek Nature Centre. I'm also taking a class on wetlands and love to study."
What is the best book that you've read recently? "It's a tie between In My Hands by Irene Gut Opdyke and Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach. The first is a true story about a woman who protected Jews from persecution during the war. The second is a funny book about how to make financial priorities based on your values. Despite the title, it's not about being rich in the traditional sense, but in the sense of being happy with life."
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
French department school shows: "Swing" in concert
9:30 and 12:30, Humanities Theatre.
ePresence Interactive Media software for archiving and webcasting, presentation and webcast hosted by Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology, 11 a.m., Flex Lab, Dana Porter Library, registration online. Touring Players children's show: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" 10:30, Humanities Theatre. Roy Hinsperger, plant operations department, retirement reception Wednesday 3:30 to 5:30, Davis Centre lounge, information ext. 6822. Teaching workshop: "Understanding the Learner", Thursday 9:30, details and registration online. Carousel Dance Centre Christmas show "The Polar Express" Friday 10:00, 1:00 and 7:00, Humanities Theatre. |
As students slog through their exams, meanwhile, they still have opportunities to relax and unwind, says Kate Shippey of UW's campus recreation program: "There are still a lot of activities going on to keep students, staff and faculty active and healthy." For example, all this week there are free "exam fitness" classes (on land and water). There's free recreational skating Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 1:00, at the Columbia Icefield. And there are open swims daily from 8 to 9, 11:30 to 1:30, and 3:30 to 4:30 in the PAC pool. Recreation facilities in general are open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., weekends 9 to 5:30, through December 22.
![[Gertler]](/images/2005/1213gertler.jpg)
Len Gertler (right), founding director of UW's school of planning,
died Friday
evening, a memo from the faculty of environmental studies reports.
He was in the news here
just a
few weeks ago with the publication of the first volume of his memoirs,
Radical Rumblings. A faculty member at UW from 1966 to 1990,
he also headed a major planning study, commissioned by the
province of Ontario, that led to the establishment of the Niagara
Escarpment Planning Commission and protection of this special
landscape feature of southern Ontario. From 1972 to 1974 he took a
leave of absence to serve in the new Ministry of State for Urban
Affairs in Ottawa. On retirement from UW he immediately took a
post as vice-chair of the Environmental Assessment Board up to
2001. He participated in numerous CIDA, IDRC and World Bank
initiatives in Indonesia and Jamaica. Susan Wismer, a former
doctoral student of Gertler's and now a faculty member in ES,
recalls that "He presided over my dissertation research with the
frank discussion and thoughtful openness that is one mark of a
truly distinguished teacher and colleague. Last year, twenty
years later, I had the privilege of working with him again, as he
wrote the Foreword for our book on the latest round of University
of Waterloo involvement in Indonesia -- an involvement Len had
helped to initiate many years earlier. His foreword was written
with the same intellectual honesty, careful deliberation, open
attention to the ideas of others and underlying commitment to the
spirit and deeper meanings of academic life that he had offered to
me two decades before, as my introduction to the University of
Waterloo."
Here's a brief story of interest from UW's 2004-05 donor report: "In the fall of 2004 the student council at Conrad Grebel University College were in a fortunate position financially. Residence expansion, along with the adjacent apartment building, increased the on-campus student population by almost 50 percent. As a result, the additional fees to student council were not entirely offset by program expenses. Darren Kropf, student council president, approached Fred Martin, Grebel's director of development, about donating some of the funds for scholarships or bursary awards. By using matching dollars from the Ontario Student Opportunities Trust Fund, the college was able to match the student council gift of $5,000. Friends of the college added their donations to establish the Student Council Award. The College administration also decided to move undesignated OSOTF donations into this award endowment. These gifts, along with matching funds, resulted in the original gift of $5,000 becoming a named endowment of over $41,000! 'Donating to the OSOTF fund was a no-brainer,' noted Kropf. 'We wanted to use our funds in a way that would benefit students over the long term. Not only does this endowment support individual students financially, but it also promotes the continual emergence of strong student leaders.'"
Chilled water is turned off today in Needles Hall and the Dana Porter Library, which might not be too great a hardship in this weather. . . . The bookstore is holding another sale in the South Campus Hall concourse, today through Thursday, with an emphasis on gift books and cookbooks for the holiday season. . . The staff association has posted a list of those who won raffle prizes during the recent craft sale in the Davis Centre. . . .
CAR