Richard Reznick, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen's, is one of 11 leading experts appointed as members of the Premier's Council on Improving Health Care and Ending Hallway Medicine on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

The announcement was part of a broader Ontario Government proposal to address challenges within the Ontario health care system, including hospital wait times and the lack of available beds.

“There are dramatic needs to improve our performance in healthcare, including ending hallway medicine,” says Dr. Reznick. “These are complex challenges that will require broad vision, creative thinking, and dogged determination. As Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, I see on a daily basis both the strengths and weaknesses of our system, and am very excited to be a part of the Premier's Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine that will help us move forward in delivering the best possible care to our patients across Ontario.”

Under the leadership of Rueben Devlin – who was named chair of the council and special advisor to the premier on healthcare following the election – the council will recommend strategic priorities and advise on actions that can be taken to improve Ontario's health outcomes and improve patient satisfaction, while making Ontario's health care system more efficient. The council members include representatives from academia, as well as the legal and hospital administration communities.

Dr. Reznick is one of two members of the council with a Queen’s connection, along with Humber River Hospital President and CEO, Barb Collins (MBA’05).

Since being appointed dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2010, Dr. Reznick has worked to strengthen relationships with Kingston Health Sciences Centre, while leading the development of new programs and approaches to differentiate Queen’s medical education. Under his leadership, the Queen’s School of Medicine launched Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS) – Canada’s first and only direct admissions track for high school students.

More recently, Queen’s became the first medical school in Canada to institute a Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) model of medical residency training across all specialties. CBME transitions from a time-based means of measuring skill-development, to one that focuses on the ability of a medical resident to achieve competency in completing clinical tasks. Through more individualized learning and assessment, the program aims to help the next generation of medical residents become better physicians.

“During his tenure as dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Reznick has been at the forefront of the development of innovative programs and approaches to medical training and assessment,” says Principal and Vice-Chancellor Daniel Woolf. “I have every confidence that his ability to find new approaches to long-standing challenges will serve him and the Premier’s Advisory Council well.”

For more information on the announcement, visit the Government of Ontario newsroom.