I am writing this editorial from my office at Montréal InVivo this month. Since March 15th, we have been working two to three days a week in downtown Montréal. The hybrid formula suits us well and I feel it’s here to stay. What about you? Are you still telecommuting or are you back in the office too?
We took the opportunity to hold our Board meeting in person last Friday. A first in over two years! I have to say that it was a great opportunity with the visit of the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, who spoke with the members of the Board. I thoroughly enjoyed this candid and open dialogue. From the meeting I learned that the Minister attaches a great deal of importance to the governance of innovation in his Ministère and that the reorganization plan aims to make more room for innovation in both practices and technologies. To this end, the replacement of Paul L’Archevêque, who recently completed his contract as Chief Innovation Officer, will be an opportunity to demonstrate the important role the Ministère truly attaches to this important function in facilitating the introduction of new health technologies into the Québec network.
The discussion also focused on the issue of rare diseases, because for more than two years a Montréal InVivo project committee has held consultations on the subject and is finalizing the development of a strategic action plan for rare diseases, complementing the Québec policy on rare diseases which should be announced very soon. The official launch of this strategic plan with concrete recommendations will take place on April 22. One of the recommendations is the establishment of a consultation table bringing together stakeholders, including the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, in order to prioritize actions that can be implemented quickly and that make all the difference for patients and their families. Stakeholders’ involvement will be a key success factor in the implementation of the Québec policy on rare diseases and in positioning Québec as a leader in Canada in this field. We will discuss this during a special session on rare diseases at EFFERVESCENCE 2022. Go ahead and buy tickets, everyone. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to (finally) see all your colleagues in the sector IN PERSON! You will also have a golden opportunity to meet several distinguished guests.