Touchstone Institute Annual Report 2012/2013

2012/2013's Message from the Chair of the Board:

When I was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of the Centre for the Evaluation of Health Professionals Educated Abroad (CEHPEA), I knew that I would be playing a major role in an organization that was well established, with a reputation for excellence in assessments and education programs for international medical graduates. As a member of the board for many years, I had the opportunity to experience, first-hand, CEHPEA’s governance and executive leadership teams in action. Margaret Nelligan, CEHPEA’s inaugural Board Chair, led the organization through a number of changes and was a great, guiding light in ensuring effective governance and a steadfast focus on our mission. Thank you to Margaret for her intelligent, wise and practical stewardship.

What I didn’t know, as I stepped in the role of Chair, was the extent of the change and activity that would take place in the coming year. The Board reluctantly accepted Anne Marie Crescenzi’s resignation as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective May 2012 and we were grateful that she continued to provide support to the organization during the transition. Anne Marie, CEHPEA’s founding CEO, is a champion builder. With previous experience heading up International Medical Graduates Ontario (IMG-O), she took the risk of moving to this new entity and succeeded in building CEHPEA into an incredible evaluation and education centre that is the largest of its kind in Canada.

Not only are the facilities that she designed spectacular, but also the intellectual property that has been created within the organization is extraordinary. Anne Marie is an innovative thinker and visionary. She saw the need to move beyond physician-centric programs to other professions. at vision became a reality this year, with the launch of a new assessment process for internationally educated nurses.

Anne Marie also managed to create a great culture. She is a good team builder and has a knack for bringing in the right people to do the job. She is highly respected by the staff, colleagues, postgraduate deans of medical schools and the board. Thank you to Anne Marie for her leadership and vision in creating CEHPEA and for continuing to support the board and the organization during this period of transition.

In 2012, CEHPEA finalized a new, five-year Strategic Plan to ensure the organization’s continued success and relevance as a trusted resource for the province’s health care system. Many initiatives have already been implemented and are reported on in this year’s report. As part of that plan, we will be going through a period of board renewal in the next few years.

I am pleased to report that following an extensive executive search led by the board, Sten Ardal was appointed CEO of CEHPEA, effective March 18.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Murray Urowitz, CEHPEA’s Director of Health Professional Affairs, for his leadership and support as Interim CEO this past year.

Murray’s leadership style is reflective and clear and he was able to move forward with work that was underway and deliver on the organization’s objective.

Finally, CEHPEA’s talented staff members deserve a huge round of applause. With the leadership of the executive team, they have stayed focused on the organization’s mission and continued to deliver high-quality products and services throughout this transition.