Engagement between AOHC Board and Member Boards:
Questionnaire for Member Boards
September 2014
Purpose of the Questionnaire:
To review method and content of engagement between AOHC and its member boards.
AOHC has been conducting twice yearly constituency meetings for almost ten years. Given feedback
from members, we have decided that it was timely to review our engagement process between AOHC
and its member boards. In addition, given the advances in information technology, other avenues for
member engagement are now available that may be considered.
History:
In 2004, 6 regional constituency meetings plus a Francophone constituency meeting was held 2 times
per year based on the AOHC constituencies.
By 2014, the LHINs were firmly entrenched and the focus for Boards was more at a LHIN level. The
regional constituency meetings no longer seemed to work. The impact was that the constituency
meetings grew from 6 to 13 (one per LHIN minus 1 LHIN without any members). In addition, Community
Family Health Teams (CFHT) and Nurse Practitioner Lead Clinics (NPLC) constituency meetings were
added for a total of 17 meetings in spring and fall. (13 LHIN based and 4 constituency based meetings:
Aboriginal, Francophone, CFHT and NPLC).
Many members were also invited to participate in a geographic constituency meeting plus a
constituency meeting based on member type.
These meetings have had varied success – with some meetings having full attendance and participation
and others having to be cancelled due to lack of attendance.
Feedback from the Spring Constituency Meetings:
At the Spring 2014 meetings, the AOHC posed a series of questions related to the value, purpose and
structure of constituency meetings.
This is some of what we heard:
a) Participation in Constituency Meetings:
Board members attend Constituency meetings to:
 Network
 Share information with other boards
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b)
Get provincial updates
Our ED/CEO said it was important
Our board has made a commitment to attend
Some reasons boards do not participate or find it difficult to participate include:
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Too much one way talking and not enough time to discuss or share
We can read the material – and don’t need to attend
Too busy
Not relevant
AOHC is not seen as important to our local work
Travel is too far for a 2 hour meeting
Meeting is not scheduled at a time we can attend
Never made it a priority as a board
Our ED/CEO attends and reports back relevant information
We attend another constituency meeting (Aboriginal, Francophone, CFHT, NPLC) and do not see
the relevance of attending both.
c) Content of Constituency Meetings:
Participants at the spring constituency meetings shared the following views about the content of the
meeting:
 We would like to spend more time meeting and talking to members from other boards.
 We would like to spend more time dealing with common governance issues for boards.
 One way information sharing on provincial updates would be provided best through webinars
that can be taped and shared with the entire board for discussion or for viewing individually at
board members’ convenience.
 We come to hear the provincial updates and how it applies to our boards.
 Too much one way talking and not enough sharing
 Too much material is covered.
 We want to know what we do at the local level to support provincial advocacy to move forward
local or sector issues at a provincial level.
d) Frequency and Location:
A number of options about frequency and location were discussed.
 Continue with the two LHIN based constituency meetings per year in person.
 Continue with the two LHIN based constituency meetings per year enabled through web based
participation or OTN.
 One LHIN based member meeting in person per year – sometimes between October and end of
March.
 One LHIN based member meeting on the day before the conference – from 3-5 before the AGM
at 7:00.
 Two webinars per year to provide updates on key provincial issues
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e) Materials for Meetings:
The goal is to send the materials out well ahead of the meetings. In some cases the materials are
sent out at least a month ahead. Yet many participants stated that their boards did not receive the
information and that they did not have the materials in advance of the meeting; while others in the
same constituency meeting had all the materials.
f)
Title of Meetings:
Some new participants thought the title ‘constituency meetings’ was too formal and intimidating.
A recommendation was that the name should be changed to “Board to Board Meetings” or
something similar; to indicate that these meetings are about boards connecting to one another; and
dialoguing and learning about provincial and sector wide issues that may impact your centres.
g) AOHC Liaison
One idea that seemed to have support from many members is that each board be asked to
designate an “AOHC liaison”. This person could be designated by the member board as the key
linkage with AOHC. One board member suggested that this designation could be considered as that
director’s ‘committee’.
The board could decide that this be the board chair or any other board member. The intention
would not be to limit interaction to only one person but would ensure that at least one person
represents the member board at AOHC related events.
The role of this designate would be to link with AOHC to receive and bring forward AOHC
information such as the Board to Board report, attend webinars and regional meetings; and to
ensure AOHC is aware of centre specific issues and needs that have a sector impact.
The feedback from the spring constituency meetings is one source of information. Given that we only
received feedback from centre boards that attended the Spring Constituency meetings, we wanted to
ensure that we hear from every board, especially those that do not routinely attend.
Next Steps
1. Based on the feedback from the spring constituency meetings, we have designed a questionnaire
that reflects the feedback received to date. We have included some responses from those we have
already heard from but urge you not to limit yourself to these responses. There are lots of
opportunities to add additional information and comments.
We would request that each board have a discussion at your upcoming board meeting and to
complete ONE questionnaire per board. To assist with this discussion, a copy of the questionnaire
has been included in Appendix A. When submitting your board response, please use the Survey
Monkey link provided.
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The deadline for responding is October 31, 2014.
The results of this survey will be analyzed and reviewed by the AOHC Board at its December meeting
and will inform our engagement process moving forward.
2. The Board to Board report will be issued as scheduled in early October.
3. A Board Webinar on the changes in the new Provincial Government, LHINs and other updates will be
scheduled in mid-October, after Community Health and Wellbeing Week.
4. The Fall Constituency meetings will proceed as planned. (See current schedule of confirmed
meetings in Appendix B). The focus of these meetings will be AOHC’s next three year strategic
plan. It will be a good opportunity to provide input into this process. More to follow on this at a
later date.
If your constituency meeting has not been confirmed to date, we will be connecting with you shortly
to set and confirm this meeting.
Please send any agenda items for Fall Constituency Meetings to corinne@aohc.org.
We would really appreciate it if you could complete the Board Questionnaire re Engagement between
AOHC and its member boards by October 31, 2014. We are hoping to review the results at the
December AOHC Board meeting which will give us time to respond to you before the next round of
scheduled constituency meetings.
Your support is greatly appreciated.
Cheryl Prescod
Chair of Ownership Linkage Working Group
AOHC Board of Directors
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Appendix A:
Part I
Engagement with AOHC Board: Questionnaire for Member Boards:
1. Name of Centre:________________________________________________________________
2. Type of Centre:
 AHAC
 CHC
 CFHT
 NPLC
Participation in Constituency Meetings:
3. Does your Board attend Constituency meetings on a regular basis:
 yes
 no
4. Please rank the top 3 reasons your Board participates in these meetings:
__ Networking
__ Information sharing with other Boards
__ Getting provincial updates
__ Our ED/CEO said it was important
__ The Board has made a commitment to attend
__ Other _________________________________________________________________________
5.
Why did you give the above ranking?
_________________________________________________________________________
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. If your Board does not participate regularly in the LHIN based constituency meetings, please
indicate ALL applicable reasons:

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Format of meetings – not enough time for knowledge-sharing and networking
We can read the material – and don’t need to attend
Too busy
Not relevant
AOHC is not seen as important to our local work
Travel is too far for a 2 hour meeting
Meeting is not scheduled at a time we can attend
Never made it a priority as a Board
Our ED/CEO attends and reports back relevant information
We attend another constituency meeting (Aboriginal, Francophone, CFHT, NPLC) and do not see
the relevance of attending both
 Other _________________________________________________________________________
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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7. Content of Constituency Meetings:
Please indicate all the statements that you agree with:
 We would like to spend time meeting and talking to members from other boards.
 We would like to spend time dealing with common governance issues for boards.
 One-way information sharing on provincial updates would be best provided through webinars
that can be taped and shared with the entire board for discussion or for viewing individually at
board members convenience.
 We come to hear the provincial updates and how it applies to our board.
 We should cover less material and allow more time for dialogue.
 We want to know what we can do at the local level to support provincial advocacy.
 Other _________________________________________________________________________
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Board to Board Engagement:
8. How much engagement do you want from AOHC? Your ED/CEO is also highly engaged through
regular ED Network meetings and regular emails. Is this sufficient? Do you need or want regular
contact with AOHC at the Board to Board level?
Please reflect and comment.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. The “Board to Board” report is issued twice yearly by the AOHC Board. Does your Board receive
copies of this? Is it useful?
Please comment.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Frequency and Location:
10. Please indicate the combination of options that your Board would support:
 Continue with the two LHIN based constituency meetings per year in person.
 Continue with the two LHIN based constituency meetings per year enabled through web based
participation.
 One LHIN based member meeting in person per year – sometimes between October and end of
March.
 One LHIN based member meeting on the day before the conference – from 3-5 before the AGM
at 7:00.
 Two webinars per year to provide updates on key provincial issues.
 Other _________________________________________________________________________
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Materials for Meetings:
11. Are materials for constituency meetings distributed to all Board members?
 Yes
 No
12. What can we do to ensure boards receive relevant materials? What can we do to ensure attendees
to constituency meetings receive the materials in advance?
Reflection and Comment: ____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
13. Title of Meetings:
Should we change the name of Constituency Meetings?
 Yes
 No
If yes, please recommend some names: ________________________________________________
AOHC Liaison:
14. Would your Board consider designating an AOHC Liaison?
 Yes
 No
What should this role be named? ______________________________________________________
15. What do you think the responsibilities of this position should be?
__________________________________________________________________________________
16. Any other comments? _______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Part II:
AOHC:
17. Does your Board understand the role of AOHC?
 Yes
 No
Comments: _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
18. Would a ½ hour mini orientation about AOHC, in either written or webinar form, be useful?
 Yes
 No
Other suggestions? _____________________________________________________________
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Governance:
19. What are the top three governance issues your Board is dealing with this year?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
20. Does your board do ongoing governance training?
 Yes
 No
21. What kind of training does your Board do?
______________________________________________________________________________
22. Do you see a role for AOHC in supporting your governance training?
 Yes
 No
If yes, please comment.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Part III:
Model of Health and Wellbeing
23. Has your Board had a presentation or participated in a webinar on the MHWB?
 Yes
 No
24. Has your Board signed the MHWB Charter?
 Yes
 No
25. If no, what support would you need to sign the Charter:
 Overview webinar on MHWB for Boards
 Presentation on MHWB at your Board meeting
 Other: _____________________________________________________________________
26. If you have signed the MHWB Charter, have you sent a copy to the AOHC?
 Yes
 No
Health Equity Charter:
27. Has your Board had a presentation on the Health Equity Charter
 Yes
 No
28. Has your Board signed the Health Equity Charter?
 Yes
 No
29. If no, what support would you need to sign the Health Equity Charter:
 Overview webinar on Health Equity Charter for Boards
 Presentation on Health Equity Charter at your Board meeting
 Other ______________________________________________________________________
30. If you have signed the Health Equity Charter, have you sent a copy to the AOHC?  Yes  No
THANK YOU!
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Appendix B: Confirmed Fall 2014 Constituency Meetings
Fall 2014 Constituency
Meetings
CFHT constituency
(provincial via OTN)
Central East constituency
(North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN)
Eastern constituency
(Champlain LHIN)
Eastern constituency
(South East LHIN)
Northern constituency
(North East LHIN)
South Central constituency
(Hamilton Niagara Haldimand
Brant LHIN)
South Central constituency
(Waterloo Wellington LHIN)
South West constituency
(South West LHIN)
Date
Location
Thurs Nov 6 5:30-8:00
OTN
Thurs Nov 13 5:30-8:00
Sat Oct 25 9:30-1:30
Huronia NPLC
(Oro-Medonte)
Carlington CHC
(Ottawa)
Kingston CHCs
Wed Nov 5 5:30-8:00
CSC du Grand Sudbury
Tues Oct 28 5:30-8:00
De dwa da dehs nye>s
AHC (Hamilton)
Wed Nov 12 5:30-8:00
Woolwich CHC
(St. Jacobs)
London InterCommunity
HC
Wed Oct 29 5:30-8:00
Thurs Oct 30 5:30-8:00
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