Shift work, nature of work, multi-unionized and safety sensitive settings make disability management in the healthcare workplace unique and particularly challenging. Evidence-based, practical solutions are here to address the best approaches to optimize your return to work strategy.

Attend the Return-to-Work Strategies in Healthcare Workplace Virtual Conference and invest in the knowledge, resources, and tools you need to improve productivity, attendance, and accommodation of your workers returning to work after an injury.

Topics
  • Building a Culture of Return to Work
  • How a Formalized and Integrated DM Program Influences a Successful Return to Work
  • Duty to Accommodate RTW:A Do’s and Don’t Guide for Returning Injured and Disabled Employees Back to Work
  • CASE STUDIES PANEL DISCUSSION: Hear RTW Challenges and Success Stories from Hospital Workplaces across Canada
  • Getting the Message Right: Strategies to Improve Return to Work Communication
  • Gender and Leadership: Approaches for Healthcare
  • Labour-Management Cooperation in RTW Strategies
  • Medical Experts Documentation and Consultation
  • Addressing Psycho-Social Factors for a Successful RTW
  • RTW Considerations for Healthcare Workers with Long Covid
Speaker Organizations
  • TurnpenneyMilne LLP
  • National Institute of Disability Management and Research
  • Institute for Work and Health
  • Temerty Faculty of Medicine
  • Ontario Nurses’ Association
  • Progressive Health and Safety Consulting
  • Disability Management Institute (DMI)
  • Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Speakers
Learn about the Speakers for the 2023 Return-to-Work Strategies in Healthcare Workplaces Virtual Conference
Christine Bonatsos
Christine Bonatsos
Executive Director | Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Lisa Paterson
Lisa Paterson
Director of Pre-Claim Services | Disability Management Institute (DMI)
Wolfgang Zimmermann
Wolfgang Zimmermann, OBC
President | Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences; Executive Director | National Institute of Disability Management and Research
Asha Rampersad
Asha Rampersad
Lawyer | Turnpenney Milne LLP
Arif Jetha
Dr. Arif Jetha, PhD
Scientist | Institute for Work & Health; Associate Professor | Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Dianne E. G. Dyck
Dianne E. G. Dyck, RN, BN, MSc, COHN(C), CRSP
Occupational Health Nurse and Safety Specialist | Progressive Health and Safety Consulting
Pauline Lefebvre Hinton
Pauline Lefebvre Hinton
Legal Counsel, Human Rights & Equity Specialist | Ontario Nurses' Association
Agenda
View the Agenda and Learn about the Topics for the 2023 Return-to-Work Strategies in Healthcare Workplaces Virtual Conference
Download Printable Version

Day 1 | Wednesday, November 22, 2023 | 10:30am to 4:00pm (EST)

10:30 am – 10:45 am (EST)

Christine Bonatsos
Christine Bonatsos
Executive Director | Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Welcome and Opening Remarks

10:45 am – 11:45 am (EST)

Wolfgang Zimmermann
Wolfgang Zimmermann, OBC
President | Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences; Executive Director | National Institute of Disability Management and Research
Building a Culture of Return-to-Work
  • A global overview of the scale of the problem
  • Where RTW is important to both employee and organization success
  • Inclusion beyond lip service
  • An overview of the impact, policies, and practices in Disability Management
  • International best practice professional and program standards in Disability Management
  • Provincial and federal government support available

11:45 am – 12:00 pm (EST)

Screen Break

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (EST)

Lisa Paterson
Lisa Paterson
Director of Pre-Claim Services | Disability Management Institute (DMI)
Return to Work and Stay at Work: Complex Fatigue Related Injuries
  • Long-covid – common challenges and similarities with other chronic conditions (e.g. fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis)
  • Strategies to support stay at work
  • Potential interventions and options to promote return to work

1:00 pm – 1:30 pm (EST)

Screen Break

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm (EST)

Return to Work in a Healthcare Workplace: Current Legal Best Practices
  • Employer’s legal rights and restrictions
  • Proactive steps that employers can take to facilitate an efficient return to work by the employee
  • Legal considerations in a safety sensitive environment
  • Complicated cases around mental health, and chronic diseases
  • Relevant case law updates
Asha Rampersad
Asha Rampersad
Lawyer | Turnpenney Milne LLP
Pauline Lefebvre Hinton
Pauline Lefebvre Hinton
Legal Counsel, Human Rights & Equity Specialist | Ontario Nurses' Association

3:00 pm (EST)

Christine Bonatsos
Christine Bonatsos
Executive Director | Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Chairperson’s Closing Remarks

Day 2 | Thursday, November 23, 2021 | 10:30am to 3:00pm (EST)

10:30 am – 10:40 am (EST)

Christine Bonatsos
Christine Bonatsos
Executive Director | Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Welcome and Opening Remarks

10:40 am – 12:00 pm (EST)

Dianne E. G. Dyck
Dianne E. G. Dyck, RN, BN, MSc, COHN(C), CRSP
Occupational Health Nurse and Safety Specialist | Progressive Health and Safety Consulting
Extended Session | How a Formalized and Integrated DM Program Influences a Successful Return to Work
  • Early Intervention in disability management influences a successful return to work
  • An explanation of an integrated disability management program (IDMP) and its key aspects.
  • The Disability Management Program: its influence on employee return to work (RTW) within a hospital setting.
  • The Human Resources Program: Its contribution to hiring and retention of employees, to the development of supportive employee programs, and to fostering supportive labour relations.
  • The Employee Assistance Program: Its role in supporting employee health and RTW.
  • The Attendance Support Program: How it can support hospital employees, so they stay at work (SAW) or RTW.
  • The Occupational Health & Safety Program: Assistance in returning the employee to a safe and sustainable work placement and offering ergonomic support.

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm (EST)

Screen Break

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm (EST)

Arif Jetha
Dr. Arif Jetha, PhD
Scientist | Institute for Work & Health; Associate Professor | Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Getting the Message Right: Strategies to Improve Return to Work Communication

Drawing from a study of return-to-work communication practices within British Columbia’s healthcare sector, this presentation has three main learning objectives that include to:

  • Understand the role of return-to-work (RTW) communication between an injured worker and workplace stakeholder in the process of work re-integration
  • Determine how workplace stakeholders responsible for disability management communicate to workers with an occupational injury including a discussion of best and worst practices
  • Provide evidence on how the delivery of RTW messages influence work reintegration perceptions and behaviors of injured workers that can shape work disability management outcomes

1:30 pm – 1:45 pm (EST)

Screen Break

1:45 pm – 2:30 pm (EST)

Christine Bonatsos
Christine Bonatsos
Executive Director | Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Facilitated Interactive Discussion | Share your RTW Challenges and Success Stories

2:30 pm (EST)

Christine Bonatsos
Christine Bonatsos
Executive Director | Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Chairperson’s Closing Remarks
Virtual Conference Details
What You Will Receive at the 2023 Return-to-Work Strategies in Healthcare Workplaces Virtual Conference

Attend this conference from wherever you are and hear our faculty of experts share their expertise and insights on optimizing your return-to-work strategy. Share your comments, get answers to your questions and have your say in the discussion just as you would at an in-person event:

  • Full access to all presentation materials
  • Participation in sessions in real-time
  • Full access to a recording of the event to view at your convenience
Registration Details
Everything you need to know to Register for the 2023 Return-to-Work Strategies in Healthcare Workplaces Virtual Conference

REGISTRATION FEE
Regular Group Rate | $299 + HST each
Regular Rate | $399 + HST each

Your registration fee includes full access to all presentation materials, participation in sessions in real time, and full access to a recording of the event to view at your convenience for three (3) months.

Payment can be made by all major credit cards. Payment can also be made by cheque by emailing info@birchmountgroup.com and requesting an invoice.

Substitutions can be made at any time. If you are unable to attend, a colleague may take your place at the event. Simply contact us so we can be sure your colleague receives full access to the conference materials, a name badge, and a seat reserved at the conference.

BIRCHMOUNT CONFERENCES GROUP reserves the right to cancel any conference it deems necessary. In the unlikely event that a conference is cancelled, BIRCHMOUNT CONFERENCES GROUP’s liability is limited to paid registration fees.

BIRCHMOUNT CONFERENCE GROUP also reserves the right to change the date, location, and content for event(s) offered herein without further notice and assumes no liability for such changes.

Resource Centre
Speaker Presentations and Toolkits for 2023 Return-to-Work Strategies in Healthcare Workplaces Delegates

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Senior Consultant | McMaster University

Well-researched agenda. Good pace. In just two days, I acquired a years-worth of knowledge.

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Tackled complex and difficult issues with a focus on practical solutions that were useful right away.

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