Central Michigan University and the University of Western Ontario
Joint Center for Healthcare and other Civilian ToL Operations
Central Michigan University (CMU) through its Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions offers a particularly suitable crucible for the development of the new generation of healthcare executives well versed in ToL, its applications, and in operations based on the ToL concept. CMU has nationally and internationally recognized faculty specializing in:
• healthcare administration
• international healthcare operations
• healthcare and national security affairs
• simulation-based training.
In addition, CMU is currently the only academic organization nationwide offering a doctoral degree in healthcare administration based on distributed education/training methodology.
Founded in 1878, the University of Western Ontario is committed to its mission of providing the best student experience among Canada's leading research-intensive universities. Western is home to approximately 3,800 full-time faculty and staff members, and approximately 30,000 full-time undergraduate and graduate students. Through its 12 Faculties, and three affiliated Colleges, the University offers more than 400 different majors, minors and specializations. Research is an integral part of the University's mission and external support for research projects currently exceeds $225 million per year. Premiere among its faculties and schools are the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and the Ivey School of Business and affiliated education and research centers. An emphasis in both these faculties is in leadership and in producing the next generation of leaders in health care, business, industry and government.
Collaboration of CMU with the University of Western Ontario and the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership provides an unprecedented integration of ToL with an international approach to the wide range of issues related to health services and healthcare administration, and all associated aspects of business, national security, law, etc. Importantly, the combined expertise covers activities conducted both under normal and crisis situations.
In addition to being able to provide general ToL training to its own masters and doctoral students and external agencies and programs, CMU and UWO can provide similar training focused on:
- senior (executive) personnel of individual agencies
- integration into “transboundary high performing leader teams”
- organization/agency focused pilot implementation of ToL
- efficacy studies of performance in ToL-centered operations
- continuous refresher ToL training
- large scale, preparation development focused on ToL-based leadership.
These activities are further supported by:
- concurrently run seminars, workshops, and symposia devoted to ToL activities
- agency/private sector–focused executive workshops and pilot implementation programs
- establishment of transboundary training links to NGOs (e.g., Red Cross)
- scientific analyses of organizational performance efficacy and operational utility (“ground effect”) in ToL-based environments
- Evaluation of data and building knowledge databases
- Multidisciplinary research resulting in publications facilitating enculturation of ToL within the government, corporate, and volunteer sectors both at both national and international levels.
Although current natural disasters furnish an impetus and the recognition and need for approaches such as ToL in coordination and response to such emergencies, in the long term we see ToL as an approach that is critical in ‘normal’ times to address the complexities of health care today, i.e. ongoing healthcare reform that includes changes in practice involving greater degrees of
collaboration across the health professions and in the continuum of care across multiple institutions and facilities; containment of spiraling health care costs; and implementation of regional and pan-national electronic health records that have been singularly unsuccessful to date and often fail because of the lack of leadership, lack of qualified personnel, and separate interests of multiple stakeholders. The activities of the joint US-Canadian ToL Operations Center will focus initially on healthcare. Subsequently, the Center will establish collaborative links with other academic and corporate organizations. Activities of the Center will be aimed at the development of a multi-disciplinary ToL network addressing the wide spectrum of national and international issues in which healthcare constitutes an integral part of the increasingly complex, transboundary operational environment. |
