U of S and Saskatchewan's Health Quality Council welcome Research Chair in Health Quality Improvement Sciences

"This new research chair position is one of the first in Canada and the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition is very honoured to serve as the home for this position," said David Hill, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. "We expect Thomas will guide innovative curriculum enhancements that will benefit health profession students in their care of patients and communities. The research program led by the QI Chair will provide policy makers and health system leaders with valuable new evidence about designing and implementing changes to improve quality of health care."
Through the investment from the U of S, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, and the Health Quality Council, Rotter will address different dimensions of health quality including safety, patient-centred care, timeliness, effectiveness and access to health care.
Rotter will work with the U of S health sciences colleges and schools, the Health Quality Council and Saskatchewan's health regions to contribute to continuous, system-wide improvements in health care quality.
"Saskatchewan's health care system has embarked upon a major transformation involving all health regions and health care agencies," said Dr. Susan Shaw, chair of the Health Quality Council. "This new academic post is timely and will help the province apply existing evidence on how to use improvement science to make health care better and safer for patients, and produce new evidence from our Saskatchewan experience. "
Rotter joined the college on October 15, 2012. He completed his undergraduate degree in nursing and nursing management from the University of Glamoran, Wales, UK, a master of public health degree and a PhD in public health from the University of Dresden in Germany. He has held research appointments in European public health with the Department of International Health at Maastricht University in the Netherlands since 2010. His most recent research focused on a comprehensive evaluation and quality improvement initiative of an ongoing co-operation of two university hospitals in a cross-border setting.
The Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) is an integral partner for the Research Chair in Health Quality Improvement Sciences. SHRF played a key role in the recruitment process to attract Rotter to the University of Saskatchewan and will continue to be involved as it will be managing the funds for the position.
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For more information, contact:
Heather Dawson, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2502
heather.dawson@usask.ca
Greg Basky, Health Quality Council (Saskatchewan)
(306) 668-8810 ext. 111
gbasky@hqc.sk.ca