1. Research Community Forum
April 8, 2019

2. Overview Service planning: What is it and why is it happening?
How does this impact Research?
What does this all mean for us?
Your questions
Speaker: PAT
We know you’ve probably seen or heard some of the communication around service planning happening at St. Michael’s and the other two sites.
So today we’re talking about Service Planning that is going on at Unity Health Toronto and also the impacts that, and other budget related factors will have on Research going forward.

3. Service Planning Model:
Background
Service Planning Model:
A plan to streamline network portfolios, programs and departments to achieve savings targets through efficiency and improvement strategies.
Speaker: PAT
Suggested notes:
This ‘service planning model’ is the development of a plan to streamline network portfolios, programs and departments to achieve savings targets through efficiency and improvement strategies.
With a new government in office, a new strategic plan in the works, and a still relatively new organization after the amalgamation, we all need to work together to contribute to the sustained financial health of the organization.
Research, just like every other department in the hospital, is being asked to find ways to promote cost efficiency.
This service planning is occurring against a specific backdrop of the unique research funding model in Canada. Let’s take a minute to review that.

4. Research funding model in Canada:
Background
Research funding model in Canada:
Grants: Funding from federal, provincial and industry grants, largely for operating dollars, doesn’t cover the full cost of research
Institutions (Univ/Hosps): All institutions, across Canada, face this challenge and must fill the gap through other sources. E.G., part of the research budget comes from the hospital
Speaker: PAT
Suggested notes:
Many of you work with teams that have secured impressive amounts of funding from federal, provincial and industry grants, but with the funding model in Canada set up the way it is – this is not enough.
For example, grants received from CIHR allocate only a fraction of what is truly needed for overhead costs – this is the cost of the administration and services needed for research projects.
Given the additional cost needed to deliver quality research projects, part of our budget also comes from the hospital’s budget.
With inflation and external cost pressures beyond our control (the rising costs of equipment), we know our costs will continue increase. Given this current funding challenge, we must identify savings opportunities that do not compromise the quality of research.
Due to the funding structure for research in Canada, this is a reality that all universities and hospitals in the province and the country are facing – we all need to find efficient and sustainable ways to continue to fund the excellent research we are doing.

5. How does this impact Research?
Speaker: DALTON
Suggested speaking notes:
Of the 16.7M in research revenue - 29% of it comes from the hospital.
Note: the ‘Other Funding Revenue’ – 41% - includes sources such as the hospital’s foundation, recoveries from our Core Facilities, sharing arrangements, our advancement fund, etc.
NOTE: Next slide zeroes in on this.

6. How does this impact Research?
Speaker: DALTON
Suggested speaking notes:
In the past year, that has meant the hospital contributed about $5 million to the research base funding.
Because the hospital is looking for efficiencies in its budget, the research budget we get from the hospital could also be impacted.
In this way, we are like every other department in the hospital, and we are in this together.

7. What does this mean for us?
Financial picture for the province is changing. This on top of an already challenging research funding landscape in Canada.
We receive sizable support from the hospital to cover the full cost of research. In light of service planning, we may experience changes going forward:
Services: Level of services the ORA can provide may change
Contributions: Level of contributions to services such as the CORE may change
Long term sustainability of research must be a priority. We must achieve efficiencies now to prevent large deficiencies in the future
Suggested notes:
On an individual level, here are some of the changes you will see:
There may be changes to the level of services provided by the Office of Research Administration.
This could mean paying for services previously offered by the ORA, such as library services or literature reviews.
There may also be changes in the level of contributions to the CORE from grant funding
We want you all to take this as an opportunity to plan with us – this is by no means a time to panic. This is a time to be thoughtful and detailed about our spending to continue the success of our Institute.
With all of you, and the hospital, we will find cost efficiencies now to prevent a large deficiency in the future.

8. How you can help Feedback Transparency Communication Areas to improve
Contact the ORA:
Suggested notes:
This isn’t going to be an easy process for any department.
Research is a collaborative and transparent team and we’re always looking for ways to continue that culture.
We appreciate your collaboration and are happy to hear from you if you have any suggestions on how we can streamline what we do and find efficiencies, whether in clinical or Research support services.

9. Questions? Suggested notes:
We now want to open up the floor for questions.