The Change Foundation Announces Retirement of
Founding President and CEO Gale Murray
After helping to establish The Change Foundation (TCF), and after nine years of leadership at the helm of this leading Canadian health research organization, Foundation President and CEO Gale Murray today announced her plans to retire at the end of January 2006.
“Gale is the first and only president that The Change Foundation has ever had and I want to thank her for her many years of leadership and dedication in the service of health system change and innovation”, said TCF Board Chair Tony Dagnone. “Through her many years of dedicated service, Gale has built a dynamic and vibrant organization with a track record of producing new ideas and creative solutions to the challenges facing our health care system. Thank you for a job well done.”
“Leading The Change Foundation and maintaining a partnership with the Ontario Hospital Association has been incredibly exciting, and one of the most rewarding opportunities of my career,” said Murray. “Thanks to the contribution of so many of our dedicated staff and board members, and our partners, the Foundation has a strong presence in Ontario and is poised to move into the next phase of its mandate.”
Murray noted that there are four main accomplishments in which she takes great pride:
• Helping lead the advancement of evidence-based decision-making in healthcare, beginning with the production of the annual Financial Review of Ontario Hospitals publication, and more recently with studies on the impact of chronic disease management;
• Supporting innovation in research through activities like the Future Scenarios for Health Care and Hospitals of the Future initiatives, as well as putting theory to practice through the Change Initiative Grants Program;
• Building a strong provincial, national and international network of partnerships with organizations such as the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Canadian Council of Health Service Executives and the King’s Fund in the United Kingdom; and
• Helping the OHA to establish the OHAfrica Initiative to fight HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, Africa.
“Nine years ago when I first got the call to lead The Change Foundation, I never imagined we’d accomplish so much,” added Murray. “The future of the Foundation is brighter than ever and I know that it is going to make a very significant contribution to improving the delivery of healthcare for people for many years to come.”
The Change Foundation was incorporated by the Ontario Hospital Association in 1995 and endowed with part of the proceeds of the sale of Blue Cross in 1996. Its mandate is to promote, support and improve health and health care delivery through four activity areas: Applied Research, Grants for Change Initiatives, and Knowledge Transfer through Development and Education Programs.
The Change Foundation brings together researchers, health care providers, health care managers, and policy makers in Ontario and around the world to understand the impact of change on the health of consumers and the delivery of health care services. Together with its stakeholders, the Foundation is researching, creating, innovating and networking at the forefront of trends and change in health and health care delivery.