Hunter Prize finalists showcase ten ideas to fix Canada’s health-care crisis

Ten finalists have been chosen for the Hunter Prize for Public Policy, along with their groundbreaking ideas to fundamentally improve Canada’s health-care system.

A diverse group of finalists targeted areas such as community health, virtual long-term care, and new funding that dynamically responds to wait times in an attempt to find a politically feasible policy reform that would solve Canada’s wait-times crisis.

“We are delighted to have received such an overwhelming response in our inaugural year of the Hunter Prize,” said Derrick Hunter, a trustee at the Hunter Family Foundation, which funds the prize.

“Clearly, we have touched a nerve. Canada is full of concerned citizens keen to offer novel solutions to some of the intractable and ‘wicked’ problems that we face as a nation. We hope that this forum continues to prove its worth in the years ahead as ideas move into implementation,” said Hunter.

The finalists were picked from nearly 200 entries and the winning entry will be chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, including Robert Asselin, Dr. Adam Kassam, Amanda Lang, Karen Restoule, and Trevor Tombe.

The Hubs will publish ten op-eds by the finalists that will explain their high-impact, low-cost, but politically feasible proposal to reduce health-care wait-times in Canada. The winner will be unveiled in September.

The finalists are vying for $50,000 in cash prizes, including $25,000 for the winner to help translate their idea into an actionable public policy. The runner-up will receive a $5,000 prize. Those placing three through 10 will receive prizes of $2,500.

The ten finalists, in no particular order, are as follows.

• Ayesha Haquea midwife and researcher, for a proposal to leverage community-based health-care providers to reduce ER visits.
• Kristina Kokoreliasa senior academic program coordinator and associate scientist, along with co-author Ashley Flanagan, a health research and policy manager, for a proposal to create a virtual long-term care at-home program.
• Dom Lucykthe communications director with SecondStreet.org, for a proposal to cut wait times by reimbursing patients for surgeries in other provinces or countries.
• Jennifer Zwickerthe director of health policy at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, for a proposal to develop a national institute to modernize access to specialized treatment.
• Aftab Ahmed, Anmol Gupta, Harshini Ramesh, master of public policy candidates at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, for a proposal to create a pan-Canadian, demand-driven, centralized, and interoperable teleradiology network, which would have the potential to alleviate the issue of long waits times for CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds.
• Stephen Fryersa paramedic and educator, for a proposal to create a facility staffed with paramedics and physician assistants to reduce wait times for patients who require less intensive care and help ameliorate offload delays in EMS.
• Bacchus Baruathe director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute, for a proposal to tackle wait times through targeted and transparent funding that dynamically responds to the true demand and complexity for medically necessary services.
• Aninder Grewala registered nurse, along with co-author Kate Bykowski, for a proposal to increase the use of nurse practitioners in primary care settings, which includes expanding the number of NP-led clinics for post-operative patients.
• Jenna Quelcha PhD Student at the University of Toronto, for a proposal that would see provincial regulatory bodies pilot a new licensing option for foreign-trained health-care professionals.
• Matthew Yaua physician, along with co-author Krish Bilimoria, also a physician, for a proposal to expand hospital hospice services through targeted immigration and funding.

The Hunter Prize for Public Policy, which is funded by the Hunter Family Foundation, aims to shake up Canadian policymaking by promoting fresh ideas to take on a “wicked problem” and improve the economic and social well-being of Canadians.