Annual meeting an opportunity to reflect on first year, look to future

On Sept. 13, Nova Scotia Health Authority hosted its first annual meeting – Healthier Together, Our Journey Begins.

The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on our first year as a province-wide organization and to learn more about our activities and partnerships to build a healthier Nova Scotia. The annual general meeting (AGM) was also a chance to look to the future and the opportunity before us to create a healthier Nova Scotia – together.

Now, more than ever, the health system is well positioned to be a leading partner in helping Nova Scotians be healthy and stay healthy. Together with the IWK Health Centre and the Department of Health and Wellness, we are able to plan and co-ordinate our services provincially and to think and act as one system for the benefit of all.

As we heard from guest speaker Peter MacLeod, a leading expert in public engagement and deliberative democracy, meaningful engagement and real conversations are essential to change. When people are engaged in the why, what and how of change, it builds trust and results in better and more widely supported decisions. Our Talk about health strategy is about engaging Nova Scotians in conversations about the challenges and opportunities for better health, and seeking solutions together. We are working to ensure that we build opportunities for engagement into how we plan and make decisions as an organization.

By working together with Nova Scotians and our key partners in and outside of the health system in the years ahead, we will find that doing things differently than we have in the past can lead to better results and better health. We are healthier together.

• View AGM remarks by Janet Knox, President and CEO

• View AGM remarks by Steve Parker, Board Chair

• View our 2015-16 annual report, Healthier Together, Our Journey Begins

We will post a recording of the annual meeting to our website shortly.