Hospitals across Ontario have adapted more than any other area of the health system, continually responding to changes in patient needs, evolving policies, and shifting expectations in communities. We know the status quo is not enough – and that we must keep learning, innovating, and improving to meet the demands of a constantly changing landscape.
With this in mind, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) created a Health Policy and Applied Research Lab. The lab is designed to create space for exploring and iterating critical policy and research questions. It applies robust research practices and offers a system-wide perspective on Ontario's health care landscape – examining the real world implications and consequences that our health system often lacks the capacity to address. With a focus on emerging, complex, and long-horizon concepts, the lab supports hospitals in advancing a high-performing, sustainable health system.
Current Areas of Focus
The Lab's work spans multiple areas, including high-performing health systems, anchor institutions, hospital-primary care relationships, Indigenous health, data and research opportunities, and diversity in hospital leadership. The following resources are currently available, as the Lab continues to explore these key areas of focus.
Anchor Institutions and Civil Society
Anchor institutions are organizations that are large, relative to the communities they serve, and locally rooted. They leverage their resources, influence, and stability to support community well-being and economic resilience.
Many hospitals in Ontario are already doing this work. By stepping further into this role, they're better positioned to mobilize the health system, drive innovation, and shape outcomes across health, social, and economic domains.
The Lab explores this evolving leadership in its research brief: Hospitals as Community Anchors: Adopting an “Anchor Mission."
High-Performing Health Systems
What does “high performing" mean in health? There are many definitions for “high-performing health system" but a lack of consensus on a single, consistent definition. As Ontario's health system continues to navigate increasingly complex challenges, the need for a shared understanding of what high performance means is critical for system alignment.
This scoping review, published in BMJ open, takes a global view of how high performance in health systems is defined in literature, identifying key characteristics that apply across different countries and contexts. An overview of the research is also available.
By clarifying what high performance means, and how it can be measured, the Health Policy and Applied Research Lab aims to support leaders in making informed decisions that drive system change. This work is part of a broader effort to ground health system improvement in evidence and shared priorities.
Read more about high-performing health systems: Health System News What Does a High-Performing Health System Really Look Like?
