A year-end reflection and look ahead to our next chapter
By Jennifer Zelmer, President & CEO, Healthcare Excellence Canada
A friend recently waited more than five hours in the hospital emergency department – not because she needed emergency care, but because it was simply the only way she could get a time-sensitive prescription renewed.
She isn’t alone.
The goal is always the right care in the right place. But too often, that’s not what happens. For example, recent data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows persistent challenges:
- 15% of emergency department visits could have potentially been managed in primary care (CIHI, 2025)
- 1 in 10 new long-term care residents might have remained in the community with the right supports (CIHI, 2024)
- More than 3.2 million hospital days were spent waiting for care in another setting last year (CIHI, 2024)
Across the country, people are proving that better care is not only possible; it’s their reality today.
Hundreds of teams are working to address these and other challenges every day. At Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC), we’re privileged to work with them to expand access to care and ease pressure on emergency departments, help more people age where they call home, advance safe, person-centred long-term care, and support people working in healthcare. For instance:
- Neil’s Harbour, Nova Scotia: Integrating a nurse prescriber in the primary care team improved same- and next-day access to care and reduced lower-acuity emergency visits.
- Laurentides, Quebec: A team supported people with serious lung disease to detect issues early, which reduced avoidable hospital visits and procedures
- Huntsville, Ontario: A nurse practitioner-led clinic in the local library is providing primary care for people without an assigned care provider
- Nunavut: Introducing virtual after-hours support from nurses who know the communities, supported on-site staff, reduced turnover and improved patient safety.
Different needs. Different settings. A shared commitment to better care.
As we prepare to mark HEC’s fifth anniversary and launch our refreshed strategy in 2026, we want to shine a light on the people driving change and ensure their experience shapes what comes next.
Help us celebrate healthcare excellence and accelerate progress. Add your voice!
We’re asking for your help to shape the future of care. What you’ve learned needs to guide what happens next. Add your voice so the progress you’re making becomes the progress everyone can count on. We’re asking you to share:
- How you’ve worked with or learned from HEC
- What healthcare excellence means to you
- An example of collaboration, innovation or positive change in the quality and safety of care that you/your team have experienced
Text, video or photos – any format is welcome. We will reflect these stories back in the new year so we can all applaud and learn from experiences across the country.
You are part of this progress. Let’s celebrate healthcare excellence in action and accelerate progress, together. So that the next time someone needs care, they’ll be able to rely on safe and high-quality healthcare - every time, everywhere.
