AMS Seeking Chief Executive Officer

AMS is seeking a Chief Executive Officer. The CEO will lead AMS in funding $1.5-2.0 million annually for innovative research and education initiatives that nurture and deepen the humanistic aspects of health care in Canada.

Since its incorporation in 1937, AMS has made a significant contribution to the health and health care of Canadian society. Founded by Dr. Jason Hannah as Canada’s first physician-sponsored, not-for-profit prepaid health care organization, AMS provided health care coverage to individual subscribers – people such as shopkeepers and farmers – who would not otherwise have qualified for membership in a prepaid health insurance plan. When the province of Ontario joined the national Medicare program in 1969, AMS’s role as a health care provider ceased. The Government of Ontario then permitted the corporation to use its remaining reserve fund for charitable purposes, allowing AMS to offer grants in areas that focused on the history of medicine and latterly health care more broadly, humanities and professional education in the health sciences. Today, in partnership with many different organizations and individuals, AMS continues to act as a catalyst for seeding sustainable change and influencing the practice of medicine, nursing and other health professions. The AMS offices are located in Toronto.

Reporting to the AMS Board of Directors, the CEO is expected to provide leadership for initiatives currently underway, including the multi-year AMS Phoenix Project: A Call to Caring; to develop a new strategic plan; to engage with partners to support the AMS core mission and values; and to raise the profile of AMS. The ideal candidate will understand the complexity of the Canadian health care system, and will have a well-established reputation for commitment and passion for it. Proven communication and collaboration skills; a sense of vision and the ability to inspire; financial literacy to supervise the business operations of AMS; experience in working with a not-for-profit Board; and the ability to identify and support champions of innovative ideas will be required.

This is a part-time role, with an initial term of contract for a minimum of three years, and is renewable. The Search Committee will begin consideration of candidates in mid-April 2013. Nominations, applications and expressions of interest should be submitted to the address shown below.

Janet Wright & Associates Inc.
174 Bedford Road, Suite 200
Toronto, Ontario M5R 2K9
amsceo@jwasearch.com

Special AMS Notice

Recently it came to the attention of the AMS Board of Directors that a book that was withdrawn from circulation in 1992 was available on the AMS website. The book, Mahlon W. Locke: The Foot Doctor, was part of the AMS sponsored Canadian Medical Lives series. After its publication it was discovered that a significant portion of the book had been copied from the MA thesis of Dr. Barbara Clow without acknowledgement or her permission thus constituting a serious copyright violation. It was agreed that all copies of the book in AMS’s possession would be destroyed and a public notification placed in national newspapers. Inexplicably, a copy of the book survived and a pdf copy of it was placed on the website several years later. This pdf copy has now been removed from the website and erased. We apologize to Dr. Clow for this unfortunate occurrence.

Special Announcement

The AMS Phoenix Project: A Call to Caring

The Board of Directors of Associated Medical Services (AMS) is pleased to announce an innovative multi-year initiative that focuses on making a positive and lasting difference in how health professionals develop and sustain their abilities to provide humane care to people.

The AMS Phoenix Project: A Call to Caring is based on the premise that health professionals provide the best care when they are able to balance human compassion and technical expertise. AMS will act as a catalyst for change by making strategic investments and working with educators, health professionals, workplaces and other partners to nurture and sustain education and workplace environments that support this balance.

Over the next few months, AMS will be developing a structure to oversee the Phoenix Project, which will include an advisory committee, partners’ forum and secretariat.

At this time, AMS Board is pleased to announce that:

• Dr. Dorothy Pringle has been appointed as Chair the AMS Phoenix Project Advisory Committee. A member of the AMS Board, Dr. Pringle is an accomplished nursing leader, educator and researcher. She is professor emeritus at the University of Toronto where she was the Dean of Nursing from 1988-1999. Dr. Pringle has five honorary degrees, is a recipient of the Jeanne Mance Award from the Canadian Nurses Association for lifetime contributions to nursing, and is an officer of the Order of Canada.
• Dr. Brian Hodges has been appointed as the Project Lead. Dr. Hodges is an internationally-renowned educator who completed his medical degree in 1989, psychiatry residency in 1994, a Master's of Higher Education in 1995 and a PhD in 2007. Dr. Hodges is the Vice-President of Education at University Health Network. He was named Full Professor and Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair in Health Professions Education Research at University of Toronto in 2009.

The AMS Phoenix Project has officially launched its new website, www.theAMSPhoenix.ca in December 2011. The members of the advisory committee and partners’ forum has been announced and additional information is provided. As new elements are still in development, we invite you to join us and give us feed back.

AMS Phoenix Project: A Call to Caring backgrounder download.

the AMS Website

Welcome to the AMS website. This website reflects the changes that AMS has undergone and the historical basis of AMS’s evolution as an innovative charitable organization that has been making a contribution to the health and health care of Canadian society for the past seven decades. Whereas AMS pioneered the use of modern technology in health services administration (known then as IBM cards), it is now reliant on modern forms of information technology as represented by the internet and the web.

AMS Booth at CNE

The website incorporates the logo and motto adopted in 2005 by the AMS Board. The logo is a representation of a snowflake as a symbol of AMS charity and contribution that has been distributed across the nation over the past decades. Like snowflakes the influence of AMS charity is spread widely. AMS's contribution has been distributed in different forms resulting in a profound and enduring impact on people and institutions through endowed chairs, support for scholarly activity and publications and other forms of contribution to health care.

AMS the corporation has also evolved. Jason Hannah’s unrecognized landmark contribution in prepaid health care was eventually supplanted by government-sponsored prepaid health care across the nation. AMS’s contribution to history of medicine, bioethics and education is having a continuing impact in various manifestations throughout Canada and beyond. Given the success of its contributions in history, bioethics and education AMS the corporation is no longer providing intramural expertise and support but provides continuing financial support for worthwhile initiatives that are administered and sustained by universities and academic/clinical departments and publishers. Competitive grants that have been offered and administered by AMS are evolving into partnered grants such as the grants-in-aid that are available under the partnership with the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)and the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine (CSHM). The AMS Board of Directors has determined that there will be no additional competitive grants to be administered by AMS. All of the current competitive grants will be brought to closure.

AMS will continue to provide Board approved grants in areas that have been traditionally supported by AMS, specifically history, humanities and professional education in the health sciences.