SPEECHES

Dr. Cy Frank
On the Occasion of the Naming of the New Foothills West Tower in Memory of J.R. (Bud) McCaig

October 19, 2006 - Calgary - Thank you, Ann, and thank you all for joining us here this morning to honour Mr. Bud McCaig. 

Others who will speak this morning will talk about Bud’s many exceptional qualities – his integrity, passion, wisdom and leadership – but the quality that I thought about the most in preparing my remarks for this morning was his humility.

In fact, I could hear him whispering in my ear: “Don’t talk about me”. He would always say (or indicate by how he would change the topic) that it was never about him – it was always about how all of us should (and can) help other people.

As Deb and Ann have already said, Bud was always deeply engaged in doing anything he could to “make it better for others” and, in our case, finding a better way of providing health care to all Albertans. 

• A better way that values and encourages continuous innovation. 

• A better way that makes the patient’s journey through the health care system safe, beneficial and satisfying. 

• A better way that is not only sustainable by Albertans, but one that Albertans will want to sustain.

We miss Bud’s passionate voice, but we haven’t forgotten it.  I certainly haven’t forgotten it.

The Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute, which exists today as a direct result of Bud’s vision and generosity, has become a catalyst for that better way – a facilitator of change through partnerships and a team approach – with evidence.  And I emphasize – with evidence, which is a real key.

Two and a half years ago, I stood in front of an audience of Albertans gathered here in Calgary to mark the launch of the Institute.  At that time, I promised: 

• We can make a difference. 
• We can change health care in this province for the better. 
• And we will do this by employing a new health care model that others can emulate.

Standing here today, I’m pleased to say that thanks to the support of our partners and our dedicated team at the Institute: 

We have made a difference and we are continuing to make a difference. 

• We are helping change health care for the benefit of Albertans. 
• And – with encouragement from the Board of the Institute, with a lot of hard work by the Institute staff, with key leadership and support from our health regions and doctors – Alberta is evaluating a new team-based health care model that others not only can emulate – but that others want to emulate.

For many very good reasons, access to bone and joint care in Alberta (and most of Canada) has deteriorated to the point where it has been taking longer to have a hip or knee replaced than it does to have a house built.  (Although, I have to say, the housing boom has been threatening to close that gap – in a bad way!)

You will all agree that in a perfect world, waiting for care just doesn’t make sense.  Patients – most of them elderly – waiting in pain for long periods, their mobility restricted, consuming additional public health resources to relieve their pain – driving up costs.  Suffering.

Bud recognized that the ratio of seniors to working-age people will almost double by 2033 and that the demand for care of bone and joint problems – and, in fact, all health problems of the elderly – will escalate as a result. 

Bud was deeply committed to doing something about this.  Why not try to create that perfect world . . . and what better place to start that change than in Calgary and in Alberta?

Thanks to Bud’s foresight and generosity, as well that of his family and friends, I’m happy to say that change is beginning to happen in this critical area – right here in Alberta. 

As many of you know, the Institute’s model for bone and joint health care has been tested in a year-long pilot for hip and knee replacements in the Calgary, David Thompson and Capital health regions.

Interim results on a sample population people in December of 2005 were extremely positive: 

• very significant declines in waiting time to see a surgeon and in waiting time for surgery; 
• a healthy drop in hospital stay; 
• greater satisfaction among both patients and care providers; 
• and, for taxpayers, more efficient utilization of scarce – and expensive – health care resources.

This was, however, only a pilot, tested on only a fraction of the population who need it, showing what can be done – not what is being done for everyone – at least yet. 

That pilot also represents a key test of the Institute’s ongoing strategy of supporting quality improvement through monitoring and evaluation (evidence)!

The Institute will issue a comprehensive report, including three-month follow-up, on the year-long pilot on the full compliment of 1,200 patients that have now gone through that ‘new way’ early in the New Year. 

But we are very excited to say that early indications have been positive enough  that the three health regions that participated in the pilot and their doctors are taking steps to progressively roll out the model as a new standard for all of their patients who need hip and knee replacements. 

Meantime, health systems and provider groups across Canada are calling.  They’d like to emulate our made-in-Alberta model.

We aren’t stopping at hip and knee.  The Institute is adapting its new model to treat back and spine conditions and, as you might have heard earlier this month, doctors at the University of Calgary’s Sport Medicine Centre introduced a similar model aimed at dramatically cutting waiting time for patients with knee injuries. 

Plans are also in the works to expand this model to treat other areas of bone and joint care.

The potential is enormous. 

As we’ve said before, we believe our bone and joint care model can also be adapted to other areas of medicine where large populations need timely access and care – such as cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders, to name a few. 

Let me tell you – change is not easy and we’re not there yet!   Change of any kind requires the self-confidence to depart from the familiar.  Innovative change requires the self-confidence to step into new frontiers. 

Bud recognized this and encouraged us to “try it”.  And he believed strongly that Alberta can and should set the gold standard for public health care in Canada by taking the lead in helping reform this prized institution.

I believe we are on the way.  The vision Bud shared with all of us is becoming a reality.

I would like to conclude by thanking a number of people:

• Ann, Jeff and the whole McCaig family for their kindness and generosity in continuing to help us fulfill Bud’s wishes and our collective dreams;
• all of you – Bud’s friends, colleagues and supporters – many of whom he would say are equally, or even more deserving of any recognition;
• the Calgary Health Region (Mr. Davis, Mr. Tuer , Deb Apps, and the Board) for this event and its legacy; and
• finally – on a very personal note – I just wanted to say that I will forever remain indebted to my good friend and role model – Mr. Bud McCaig. He changed my life and I will never forget him.