Call for Nominations: Canada's Drug Agency Establishing First Patient Member on Board of Directors

Canada’s Drug Agency is advancing our commitment to building meaningful relationships with patient communities by establishing a new Patient Member role on our Board of Directors. Through our open call for nominations, we are seeking a dedicated and experienced individual who will bring new perspectives to our table.

While Patient Members have been a fixture on many of our committees, the creation of this role is part of our ongoing efforts to further our Partnership principle, broaden patient engagement throughout all areas of Canada’s Drug Agency, and bring patient experience to the organization’s Board-level governance.

The Patient Member will bring to our Board the lived and living experience of accessing health care services and has a demonstrated interest in health care issues at the community, regional, or national level.

The Board of Directors of Canada’s Drug Agency is collectively accountable for the stewardship of the organization, setting its strategic direction and priorities, and upholding the organization’s vision and values, with all members sharing the same obligations and expectations.

Call for Nominations

Qualified individuals are invited to submit a nomination via our website between July 8 and July 30, 2024. By opening the nomination period over the summer, we can ensure that the successful candidate is appointed and may participate in the annual Board of Directors retreat later this fall.

The selection criteria for the Patient Member include experience engaging in health systems in Canada as a patient or unpaid caregiver. For example, this can include living with a chronic condition that involves multiple interactions with health care providers or having lived experience as a patient or caregiver with an acute or chronic illness requiring complex treatment.

The selection criteria also include experience in 1 or more areas that span:

• familiarity with issues in health care systems in Canada
• board governance
• leadership, ideally integrating personal experiences constructively
• offering unique perspectives that contribute to the diversity of perspectives at the Board level
• finance (understanding of budgeting, accounting principles, financial statements, and audit processes)
• strategic planning
• risk management
• policy development (understanding of the formulation of public policy and the process of making important organizational decisions)
• health service delivery (practical considerations related to the delivery of health care services)
• health systems management (understanding of the systems and structures through which health care services are delivered across the country)
• culture and people management
• inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA)
• understanding of the history and cultural practices of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples and how to engage with Indigenous organizations to advance their priorities
• health technology assessment (a multidisciplinary process that uses explicit methods to determine the value of health technology at different points in its life cycle)
• procurement of health technologies
• government relations
• performance measurement
• data governance (standards that apply to how data are gathered, stored, processed, and disposed of) communications and marketing
• legal
• biomedical ethics
• knowledge mobilization (activities and outputs that build awareness and enable the use of research in policy and clinical settings)

Visit our Call for Nominations web page for the Patient Member role description, eligibility criteria, and the nomination process.

Timeline

• July 8, 2024 — Call for Nominations opens
• July 30, 2024 — Call for Nominations closes
• October 1, 2024 — Targeted appointment of selected candidate
• October 16 to 18, 2024 — Appointed Patient Member attends Board Retreat