Experts to advise and inform immediate and longer-term solutions to address significant health workforce challenges
A pan-Canadian team of 14 experts brought together by The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health of Canada; The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions; The Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Seniors; and others will advise and inform immediate and longer-term solutions to address significant health workforce challenges. Established by Health Canada, the Coalition for Action for Health Workers reports to the Deputy Minister of Health and will ensure that all Canadians can access the quality care they need and deserve.
One of the 14 experts that is part of this Coalition is Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy, Vice President of Research, Innovation and Discovery and Chief Nurse Executive at Nova Scotia Health.
Dr. Tomblin Murphy is an exemplary leader, a visionary and a distinguished scientist and mentor, and a renowned expert in health systems strengthening and health human resource (HHR) policy and research and authored over 120 publications and reports. Gail has held key roles in leading organizations such as the Canadian Academy of Nursing, the Canadian Coalition for Global Health, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and as an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2021), Fellow of the Canadian (2021) and American Academies of Nursing (2019), and noted as a leader on the Canadian Women in Global Health (2020). The integrated needs-based health workforce planning approach, developed by Dr. Tomblin Murphy and her colleagues, has been applied to several health conditions and populations. Since 2008, she has been the Director of the WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre on Health Workforce Planning & Research, located at the university. Under her leadership, the Centre is collaborating on highly impactful projects with country partners in Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, the Philippines, Saint Vincent &and the Grenadines, South Africa, Trinidad &and Tobago, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Zambia. In her current role in Nova Scotia Health, she has been instrumental in the implementation of Nova Scotia’s Health Innovation Hub which is a leading strategy for several priority innovative implementations in the province including innovative models of care and HHR strategies. She has been named Professional of Distinction for her tremendous contributions to science and innovation by the Nova Scotia Discovery Centre. She also holds leadership roles in HealthCareCAN, Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy and is on the board for HealthCare Excellence Canada.
The Coalition held its first meeting on November 1, 2022. Its initial priorities will include providing advice on workers’ retention so health workers continue to stay in their jobs; increasing the supply of health professionals in the country; improving health workforce data; and opportunities to scale new models of care to address key barriers.
Additional information about the Coalition for Action for Health Workers can be found here.
