Message from the President
Delivering value, sharing successes For this special issue, we reached out to our CHES membership and asked them to provide us with some examples of how their involvement in CHES has provided them with valuable ideas and learning experiences which they have been able to bring into play at their workplace. These are ideas that have saved their organizations money through efficiencies gained, or through the provision of different options to an approach to a process or project. After all, this is what CHES is all about – the sharing of knowledge, information, and best practices; as well as mentoring, guiding, and even providing 'mutual aid' to other facilities around us. As CHES National President, I would also like to welcome the many first time readers that have been delivered a copy of our journal as a means of introduction to the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES). I sincerely hope you take away a good feel for what CHES is all about, and how healthcare facility managers and staff from across Canada are working together to improve the efficiencies of their part of the overall operations, while at the same time maintaining service delivery levels and managing the inherent risks involved with the operation of a healthcare facility. CHES members achieve this through not only sharing their experiences and best practices, but also through their input and involvement in the creation of new engineering standards; providing feedback and ideas to our industry partners to help improve system and equipment designs; attending trade shows, workshops, and conferences, where new knowledge is shared; and through their commitment to being leaders in their organization and in their field. CHES is also involved on an international level with groups such as the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), the International Federation of Healthcare Engineers (IFHE), and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). Through groups such as these, CHES takes its knowledge and learning across all borders and brings internationally acclaimed 'best practices' to Canadian healthcare, along with the ability to benchmark against other facilities on an international scale. CHES has always believed in delivering ‘value for money’ to its membership. CHES membership includes access to the top ten CSA standards that impact on healthcare facilities; a value worth at least ten times the cost of a membership. CHES educational offerings are very reasonably priced. For instance, our Webinar Education series comes at a cost of $25 to $30 per session, and can be shared with as many staff as a facility wishes. Our workshops, trade shows, and conferences are also reasonably priced and quite often offer other learning opportunities in conjunction with the show. These include courses on Healthcare Construction, Infection Control, and Medical Gas Systems. In short, all healthcare facilities across Canada should have CHES members amongst their staff so that their facility can share in the benefits that other facilities have enjoyed for years. I thank you for taking the time to read through our journal and I hope it serves to give you an appreciation for the great organization that the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society has become.
John J. Knott, CET, HMT, CEM CHES National President
8 Canadian Healthcare Facilities