Catherine Gaulton: The Magic of the Reciprocal Model

Cover art for episode 72 of Healthcare Change Makers with Catherine Gaulton

(Access show transcript) We’re closing out the year by reflecting with HIROC CEO, Catherine Gaulton, who has spent the year in awe of the passion and talent of those who work in our healthcare system. 

Summary

With the insights from 2024 under her belt, Catherine is filled with ideas, hope, and confidence in the magic of the reciprocal model for the upcoming year. One of the initiatives Catherine is looking forward to includes continuing to meet Subscribers where they are across Canada through joining Subscriber forums, conferences, and quality days. Another exciting thing on the horizon is finalizing HIROC’s strategic plan for 2026 onwards by tapping into the phenomenal guidance from staff, Subscribers, and the board. 

On our final episode of the year, reflect alongside Catherine as she shares some of the new things she has learned in 2024, the top trends and success stories she’s heard from Subscribers, and what brought her joy this year. You’ll even hear about her new puppy, stay tuned until the end!  

Mentioned in this Episode 

Transcript    

Philip De Souza: Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Healthcare Change Makers. As it's the end of the year, we have our traditional end-of-year sit-down with HIROC’s CEO, Catherine Galton. Welcome, Catherine.

Catherine Gaulton: Hi, how are you?

Philip De Souza: I'm well. Well, let's get right into it. So, Catherine, how was the year for HIROC?

Catherine Gaulton: A fantastic year for HIROC. We've accomplished so much. We check to see how we're doing in relation to our strategic priorities, which as you know, are really about addressing those things with our Subscribers that are a concern for them and that we're seeing in claims in relation to areas where there are patient safety risks. So lots of work there, lots of work around ensuring that we're staying focused on service and that's such a dominant feature for HIROC and our staff. 

And so that's been really great, really moving the mark on that. We launched HIROC Intelligence this year as one example, where Subscribers can now go in and see their own data, do some comparisons without needing HIROC to be involved. And that self-sufficiency in our Subscribers is huge for them.

And for our staff, we have been working a lot around engagement. It's difficult when you are not together all the time to ensure that you stay as connected as if you were. And so, we're really focusing on that as a major part, realizing that service to each other is crucial to how we serve Subscribers. 

But a fantastic year financially, things have been great. We've been able to give money back in surplus distribution to our Subscribers and that's always great knowing the stressors that are in the system financially right now. It's been a great year.

Philip De Souza: Oh, absolutely. And I know there's many more because you and I talk quite a bit, we can’t talk about them all. But I'm happy you highlighted a few.

Catherine Gaulton: Right, 55 in one minute, there could be more but I’m going to stop there just in the interest of time.

Philip De Souza: And yes listeners, I told Catherine to keep it short too. So, she has a longer list, I can tell you that much.

Catherine Gaulton: Yeah.

Philip De Souza: I know you're a lifelong learner. So why don't you share something new you've personally learned this year. It could be something you learned about the healthcare system. It could be something you learned from a Subscriber, something about safety and risk in general, or even something personally that you took away from a meeting, conference or forum, because you go to many of those too.
Catherine Gaulton: For sure. I think, you know, a big learning for me this year has been in relation to AI and really kind of wrapping my brain around that. I think, you know, it's interesting when you visit the US, there's a big undertone of how you might need to prevent the use of AI. And in Canada, I think we have those conversations as well.

And it just seems to me to be such a huge balancing act around ensuring that you're cautious where you need to be, given what we know about how the data might be collected. Around how it may not yet be at the place where it's reflecting the populations that we all serve. So, keeping those things in mind, but realizing that to not act on the things that we are able to do to improve healthcare, to improve the use of our professionals' time that could be assisted by AI, is a big balancing act. But really, really great learnings. It's one of, again, at least 55 things that I could speak about in a minute because we are constantly, constantly learning. And that's beautiful.

Our Subscribers teach me something every day. So, I say 55, but if I work 250 or more days a year, not a day goes by that I don't learn something from our Subscribers.

Philip De Souza: Oh, and what are one or two, as a bonus, things that brought you joy or a smile to your face this year?

Catherine Gaulton: Well, you know I think I always start with my family because they do. They bring me huge joy. Our sons, my husband, watching them grow, watching them navigate the world, look very adult while I still think of them as my children, that has brought me great joy.

But I think, you know, aside from that, watching our staff come together to think about how we ensure that HIROC is still meeting the needs of our Subscribers brings me joy every time. And it was interesting, we were doing a t-shirt design piece at our staff cafe. And without exception, there was a theme of Subscribers, where we sit in the system and what that means for our Subscribers, so that was just huge. 

And I'll say a big joy for me is going across this country and seeing the passion… and I know I say this every year and yet maybe in some ways I'm still amazed every year that the people who work in our system, despite its stressors, have such passion for what they do and such passion for doing what helps those we all serve. I’m sorry but now I'm on to three things that are my favorite things. There are many more, but that piece between family and our people, our people at HIROC and what they're doing and what our Subscribers are doing, there's always so much. 

And you know, it's interesting, my father, who's has made me laugh more this year than perhaps previous years, he's really brought additional humor into my life as he ages too. So anyway, I'll stop there.

Philip De Souza: No, those are all good. And I'm happy you brought up the one with staff because it's true. As Catherine mentioned, you can check out the post on our LinkedIn page – we did a competition at our staff café. Once staff got rolling in their groups to create t-shirts, every t-shirt that they designed encompassed Subscribers and how we serve Subscribers. I'm happy you brought that up. That was a very good example of joy.

Catherine Gaulton: Yeah, for sure.

Philip De Souza: And what are the top three things you heard from Subscribers this year? Maybe things that are keeping them up at night or trends or success stories.

Catherine Gaulton: Yeah. I think there are lots of success stories. It's amazing to me how creative and very talented the people who work in this system are. And I think about how HIROC offers fairly small amounts of money through its foundation to incent projects that our Subscribers want to implement, that are all about quality and safety. But when you listen to what Subscribers are able to do at $20,000 or less, it's absolutely amazing to me. Whether that's how we're making sure that newborn temperatures are kept constant, or how we've used the implementation of oxytocin protocols and actually used it as a driver across the whole system. How in the midst of absolute system change, like in Newfoundland or Saskatchewan or Alberta, you are still seeing there's this kind of predominant underpinning of change, and yet the things that are important stay very, very true for Subscribers in all of those jurisdictions. Looking at the innovations in Ontario, I'm amazed by the extent to which our organizations are coming together to really promote wonderful things, whether that's alternate places for our homeless populations who might otherwise have been in emergency departments, or the coming together of long-term care with very acute organizations. Looking at what is starting to come out of the integration of care in Ontario, because it's the one jurisdiction that hasn't done structural integration, at least not in the same way… It's just been wonderful.

Philip De Souza: No, absolutely. And I think all the examples, because there are many more, encompass how many people out there would think, ‘How does my insurer play into this?’ But it's so amazing to see how the HIROC team, including you, because you lead us and you drive our strategy, how we can then tap into what all the Subscribers are teaching us or teaching each other, and then share that valuable knowledge. So what's happening in St. John's can happen in Winnipeg, or what's happening in Regina can happen here in Ontario. That's just one thing that I admire about you leading us to think in that way… how the expertise of our Subscribers, and the reciprocal model, is truly magical that it's sharing this knowledge.

Catherine Gaulton: Yeah. You and I and Trevor, we were just at the CCHL Canada West Health Leaders Conference and André Picard gave a talk... But he's thinking about models external to Canada that he was describing as examples. And the interesting thing is that there is not one example there that actually isn't replicated in Canada in the various corners of this country and implemented well before they were implemented elsewhere.

His point, and I think it's really well taken, is how do we learn from each other so that these are not pockets of things that are innovative, and that they really spread? And as you know, HIROC’s sort of in the midst of that. So we have the beauty of seeing everything that's happening in so many parts of the country and supporting it… And of course, you know the things that our Subscribers talk about are always so well thought through that with the question of coverage, I've not seen where it's an issue because it's so well considered. But that excellence is happening in this country. And so the extent to which HIROC is part of that spread is something that we should really be proud of, I think.

Philip De Souza: Absolutely. And speaking of being proud of and looking forward to, what's something you're looking forward to next year in 2025?

Catherine Gaulton: Well, you know, it's interesting, we've been trialing, going to different parts of the country. So historically, HIROC had its AGM in Ontario, Subscribers might be able to come to Ontario, they might not. And over recent years, we really also tried to leverage, and we learned this through COVID, we were able to do podcasts across the country or, virtual conferences across the country, to now do an Atlantic conference and to also do a Western conference. And those have worked really, really well. 
But one of the things that's been insightful for me is the extent to which we could just camp on to what our Subscribers are doing anyway. So their quality days. This year, you know, at Mackenzie Health, the Ottawa Hospital, and in Newfoundland and work in Alberta, where we could actually become part of what our Subscribers intend to do anyway versus coming and having you know a special session. We'll still continue to do that, but really to talk about how we can contribute to what they're thinking of doing anyway in forums that they're thinking about. I'm really excited about that. 

I'm really excited about the fact that we are we're going to be finalizing our strategic plan for 2026 and forward, with phenomenal input from Subscribers, phenomenal input from our staff and just amazing and insightful guidance from our Board. We're just extremely lucky on that front. So I'm really excited about what that will hold and I'm really excited about the last year of the current plan. There are some real things there that are meant to move the mark, not for us but for our Subscribers. And I think that's what's important for our staff so that they move the mark for our Subscribers, absolutely.

Philip De Souza: And you heard it from Catherine first, Subscribers – if there is something that you're hosting next year, 2025, where HIROC can be a partner or a subject-matter experts, like Catherine said, please do reach out to her directly. And you can reach out to me at [email protected]. We'd be more than delighted to hear about it or even hear success stories from it so we can share those stories across the reciprocal.

And so enough about work. Let's talk about how you adopted a new puppy. So how's that been going?

Catherine Gaulton: Oh, my gosh. I don't know, it's either that I've gotten older since the last time I had a puppy and that my memory is entirely absent from when I last did that about 15 years ago… but this this guy is giving us a run for our money. He's so joyful. And so joyful that it makes him a very tiring pet to have right now, but a lovely, lovely dog. And he enriches our lives absolutely.

You know, running zoomies in the backyard. Or my brother visited this weekend, and he pestered him for the entirety of his visit in order to play with him. So that's been a lot of fun.

Philip De Souza: He's definitely very active, I can confirm.

Catherine Gaulton: Yes. For sure. Well, many Subscribers have seen him insert himself into the screen if I'm working from home on a day. And it usually stops the conversation because people enjoy talking about their pets, obviously, and seeing pets.

Philip De Souza: Of course, 100%. And are you consuming things, reading or watching anything interesting as of late?

Catherine Gaulton: So much that it's really great. I just joined a new book club, and we read, and this is an interesting read, it's the shortest read I've ever done, aside from short stories, called Small Things Like These, which is an interesting path to reflection that doesn't seem as if that's what it's going to be about in the first instance. And this sort of gradually being taken through someone else's thinking in order to be reflective of ourselves… really amazing.

I’ve finished reading True Reconciliation by Jody Wilson-Raybould, and it's one of the most amazing books I've read, extremely great for reflection. But interestingly, she took actual excerpts from written communications, either laws or communications between Indigenous people and government, or whoever might be the rulers, including, you know, major corps at the time, too.
So these are the actual documents and they're interspersed in this book. You know, interestingly, the color of the pages is different so that you can pull them out of the front of the book when you're looking at it.

It’s just phenomenal. And, you know, I think we just heard at the Canada West Health Leaders Conference from Dr. Jaris Swidrovich who did the same thing in a way. His conversation about the about reconciliation or reconciliation action, as he called it, which I really love, through a citation of the facts in a way. And it's just an amazing way to get to your reflection, so I love that.

Philip De Souza: It's um kind of fitting that you were closing off with reflections, because before I pass it off to you for your final thought, I just wanted to add also that, you know, so ah we often ask our guests to reflect back on advice they receive from a mentor, etc. And so I thought I'd switch it around and tell you, and I'm sure you already know, but I'm just telling you because I think it's important to tell people in the moment, how your advice to me about reflection helps drive my team, reflecting on you know successes. And yeah, sometimes even some misses, but it's allowed us to be that much more open and vulnerable and strive for that success. And I think because of that, it's made me, I'd say hopefully, a better leader. But having that time to reflect on all these things just drives that open and candid and amazing culture that we have here. So I'm grateful for you for allowing us those opportunities to think that way.

Catherine Gaulton: Oh, fantastic. And you're a marvelous leader. So you know I think you would have gotten there anyhow. But I think you know to the extent that I've contributed at all, I'm thankful for that. I'll admit that my reflection is not always as immediate as I'd like it to be, but that thinking through what an experience or what an issue means to someone else, has been profoundly important in my life. And frankly, you know, I remember going into a meeting and I think I may have told you this story before of speaking to a group and you know, you have 15 minutes and you're leaving the meeting and I for some reason said, ‘Does that make sense for you?’ And having the person, in the corner of the table say, ‘You know I think it makes all kinds of sense, I just don't know how I'm going to implement it.’ So you know I try in most conversations, as I'm ending them now, I’ll try and say, ‘Does it work for you?’ But I think the more we're trying to consider what the experience, what the issue means for someone else, and who else might be a valuable brain to bring into the conversation, it's always going to be the way to leadership, the way to success, frankly.

Philip De Souza: You know I'm happy you brought that story up because that's exactly what my takeaway for listeners at the end of this year is to do exactly what you've taught me, is to in the moment, share that moment of gratitude, where and if you can. But also, if something is not sitting right, and you know, feel free to share just that and it's totally fine. And I think you've allowed that safe space to do so.
And so with that, I will let you give our final thought of our final episode of the year. What do you have to say?

Catherine Gaulton: I think I'm extremely thankful, really, for my family, for even that puppy, for the people that I get to work with. And for the leaders and persons who are at the frontline of care in healthcare in this country, I just find people to be generous with their time, generous with sharing their wisdom and passionate about the people that they serve, all of us serve. And I just don't think you get that. I think we have people join here in order to feel our small part of that. And yet I think if you're in the system, sometimes it's really difficult to see it. But to step back and look at that and to think of what a phenomenal group of people we have in this country, who are in this business, are doing the very best they can and, frankly, succeeding the overwhelming majority of the time, despite the fact that we, as a group, focus on where things didn't go marvelously well.

The fact is that, the overwhelming majority of the time, we're delivering exactly what people in this country need. So I'm thankful for that. And so happy holidays!

Philip De Souza: Yeah.

Catherine Gaulton: And have a great 2025. It's going to be a good one.

Philip De Souza: Absolutely. All the best to you, David, Ben, Thomas, and of course, little Parker.

Catherine Gaulton: Yeah Ben, who inserted himself in the conversation last year. I'm glad you didn't surprise me this year. So thank you.

Philip De Souza: No, I'm going to keep you on your toes for and another surprise, but don't worry.

Catherine Gaulton: Okay.

Philip De Souza: All the best, Catherine. Thank you for chatting with us.

Catherine Gaulton: Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye.

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