As I complete my first month as CHIMA’s CEO & Registrar, I am energized by the passion, professionalism and commitment to quality that I have seen so far from the CHIMA staff and board, as well as the professionals that we serve. This drives my optimism about the future of our profession. 

At the intersection between healthcare and technology, it is clear how health information professionals play a critical role in supporting quality health care decisions to improve the health and wellness of those living in Canada, while contributing to a more effective and sustainable healthcare system for generations to come. This is the message that we have been sharing with government officials that we met with last week, including senior representatives at Health Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) as well as the Office of the Ministry of AI and Digital Innovation. These meetings were the result of continued efforts of the CHIMA team and our government relations consultants at Sussex Strategy Group over the past few months.

These efforts reflect a core pillar of our work for the weeks, months and years to come, which is focused on greater engagement and collaboration – with and by our members, strategic partners and broader community – for the purpose of raising awareness of the health information profession and strengthening the value that we bring to the Canadian public.

The other core pillar is that of excellence, both operationally and through good governance at CHIMA and the College to ensure that we can deliver on our mandate and exceed your expectations through member-focused service, transparency, integrity, and commitment to quality improvement.

These pillars will provide us with the foundation necessary to build on the current strength of the profession. They will ready us to embrace and leverage innovations to improve accessibility and quality of the health information which drives patient care, operational and policy decision-making. Our successes will not come from the work of one, but from the contributions of many towards a common goal. I look forward to our journey together.  

As we reflect on this past year, we recognize that the CHIMA organization, our members and our board have been on a journey. We are so pleased to have hired our new CEO, Mahmoud Suleiman. It has been exciting to witness Mahmoud‘s enthusiasm for the organization, the members and the profession. In the few short weeks that Mahmoud has joined CHIMA, he has fully integrated into the team and established rapport with the board. I have had the privilege of spending some time with Mahmoud and I’m grateful for the knowledge and experience that he brings to this organization.

With completing the exciting milestone of bringing on our new CEO, it is now time to look forward. We have heard from our members and we know that member involvement in this organization is very important. We work diligently to develop the mechanisms to make that work. This will continue to support our efforts to provide transparency to our members and opportunities to strengthen the board by continuing to diversify.

This will be important as we navigate the emerging technologies that are going to change our lives and our careers. We know that HIM professionals are exceptionally well suited to lead the charge in this space. We know that the fundamentals of health information management are going to be important to maintain as we work with stakeholders to ensure appropriate use of AI and as we synergize to realize the benefits. We are ready.

On behalf of the board, I want to thank each and every member for your engagement and support of the board and mostly we want to thank all of you for the work that you do that supports this great profession.