January/February 2009 - Ontario College of Pharmacists

council report
DECEMBER 2008
Council Approves Proposed
Amendments To The
General Operating By-Law
The amendments to the Regulated
Health Professions Act, which will
come into force on June 2009 as part
of the Health System Improvements Act
(HSIA), include changes to the section
of the Procedural Code that pertain
to the Register. Accordingly, Council
discussed and approved amendments
to Article I (Definitions), Article XII
(Register) and Article XIII (Filing of Information
by Pharmacists, Pharmacies
and Health Profession Corporations)
of the by-law. These amendments expand
the list of information that the
public must have access to and direct
that all the information on the Register
(as stipulated in the Code as well
as other information to be maintained
in the Register in accordance with our
by-laws) shall be posted on the College’s
website.
Furthermore, there was agreement
that the College will interpret
the Health System Improvements Act
(HSIA) Register amendments to require
the College to continue to have
available to the public the results of the
discipline and incapacity proceedings
that are on the public Register as of
June 3, 2009 but not to include in the
Register as of June 4, 2009, results of
discipline and incapacity proceedings
which have been removed as of June
3, 2009. This interpretation of the
HSIA amendments is consistent with
the position of other Health Colleges.
For more detailed information
respecting these amendments, please
refer to the website at www.ocpinfo.
com
As required by the regulations,
feedback is being sought and
members of the College are requested
to direct comments by February 23,
2009 to: Connie Campbell, Director
of Finance and Administration, -
ccampbell@ocpinfo.com
Capital Budget Approved
As reported in the previous issue of
Pharmacy Connection, at its meeting
in September, Council agreed to defer
approval of a capital budget for building
and leaseholds pending consultation
to determine how the current
facilities owned and operated by the
College could be reconfigured to increase
the utility and efficiency.
This spring, on the recommendation
of the Building Committee, the
College contracted the services of
Mayhew Workspaceworks, a real-estate
and design firm to undertake an
objective analysis of the space needs
and expectations. Upon confirming
the importance of the existing facilities
to the organization, they explored
the concept of utilizing the
current space in a different way and
have recommended an approach that
would incorporate alternate work arrangements,
including telecommuting
into the College’s operations.
Following a comprehensive interactive
process, involving all levels of
management and staff, Mahew made
recommendations respecting conversion
of the space and the business
processes. Levels of telecommuting
were established for all existing job
functions at the College with criteria
attached to each. A two year transition
period is proposed to evolve both
the physical facility at 483 Huron
Street as well as the technological
supports for operations to enable
the majority of the operations to be
undertaken at home office locations.
Based on these recommendations,
Council approved an expenditure of
$1,800,000 for transitioning internal
College operations to a telecommuting
platform ($1.3 million – facility related;
$0.5 million for work process
conversion).
The transition is aimed at maintaining
or improving services provided
by the College as the need to accelerate
on-line services for staff translates
to increased on-line services for the
public, members and other stakeholders.
Although many other business
sectors have moved to telecommuting
as a means of providing flexibility
for staffing while reducing overhead
costs for facility related expenses,
our College was commended for its
leadership among regulatory agencies
in pursuing this option.
For the next two years, it is anticipated
that the space at 186 St.
George would be utilized to temporarily
hold staff dislocated from their
workspace at 483 during construction.
As we progress through the
transformation of the 483 space, the
Finance Committee will consider the
appropriate action with respect to
property on St. George Street.
Submissions Update
In early October, this College,
together with other regulated health
pharmacyconnection • January/February 2009
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