The 2025 summit series focused on ‘ACCESS TO CARE’
’ACCESS to CARE’ has become an urgent priority for both healthcare & political leaders in Canada, yet the gap between demand & capacity continues to widen. We can’t spend our way out (and no, AI is not a magic bullet). Many people are focused on trying to solve this, but the reality is that urgent day-to-day priorities have an uncanny way of forcing incremental approaches. What's really needed are breakout solutions, which is why leaders from across the healthcare continuum came together to explore fresh, actionable ideas on how to narrow the divide between treatment demand and care capacity.
The approach was simple, but effective:
. create a safe/trusted environment for unconstrained discussion
. reframe the problem and explore fresh, actionable ideas
… capture the most compelling insights & ideas and share widely to maximize impact
A SPECIAL THANK YOU to Petal Health
We held two summits in 2025… one in Ontario and a second in BC. This would not have been possible without the financial support of PETAL Health and we are genuinely grateful. Their decision to take-on the Presenting Sponsor role for this series demonstrates how deeply they care about solving the Access to Care challenge, but it goes much further. The fact that they attended each summit a participant… a voice at the table with the same goal as everyone else… shows a level of commitment and authenticity that goes well beyond the norm and we are honored to be their partner on the journey to improve Access to Care for all Canadians.
THE PUNCHLINE
The discussions at both summit events were so rich, and the fresh insights and ideas so plentiful, that attempting to summarize it all in a single output feels like a fools errand. That said, there were some ideas that were common across both the Ontario and BC leaders… these seem particularly important when thinking about Access to Care nationally.
So, rather than lose richness by trying to compress the two summit events into a single output, we chose to focus this ‘consolidated’ report on those ‘shared’ ideas and insights. These offer a glimpse into foundational thinking across that crosses provincial boundaries, but they are not a substitute for reviewing the rich thinking that emerged in the Ontario and BC summits. If Access to Care is an issue you care about, we’d also recommend that you invest the time to review the individual outputs from Summit-1 (Ontario) and Summit-2 (BC)…. see details below.
SUMMIT #1 - ONTARIO
The first summit in the series was held In Toronto, on May 6, 2025. It was a full-day experience that brought together two dozen leaders from across the Ontario Health Ecosystem. The voices in the room covered a wide range of perspectives, across the care delivery and health system continuum, but everyone who attended came as an an individual, not an organization. The idea is to examine the challenge through a fresh lens and openly share insights and ideas (without any pressure to support an agenda or ‘know the answer’).
The day consisted of three formal briefs, each followed by facilitated discussion, networking opportunities, and a closing discussion that surfaced the most compelling insights and action items accumulated throughout the day. No phones. No distractions. Just a small group of change makers exploring possibilities with an open mind and a shared sense of purpose.
OPEN SHARING
The discussions were candid and far-ranging, all in the spirit of unconstrained thinking and sharing openly. The artefact from the YYZ summit goes beyond capturing the raw insights and ideas, reflecting both the details and the spirit of the discussions.
All artefacts from the 2025 THINKsummit program are being made available under Creative Commons License*, not just to the participants but to everyone with an interest in trying to help narrow the divide between treatment demand and care capacity.
* “THINKsummit” is the intellectual property of Rampworth, a division of Time Capsule Trading Inc. All artefacts from the 2025 THINKsummit series, presented by Petal health, can be repurposed under the terms specified in Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license
( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ )
SUMMIT #2 - BRITISH COLUMBIA
The second summit in the 2025 series was held In Vancouver, on Oct. 2, 2025. It was a full-day experience that brought together two dozen leaders from across the BC Health Ecosystem.
As with Summit-1, the attendees participated as individuals, sharing their personal perspective rather than the view of their respective organizations. People’s experience ranged from across the care delivery and health system continuum, yet everyone fully embraced the spirit of openly sharing ideas and insights that might help to improve access to care.
The format included 2 formal briefs, each followed by facilitated discussion, networking opportunities, and a high-energy wrap-up session where the group focussed on surfacing the most actionable insights and ideas. No phones. No distractions. Just a small group of change makers exploring possibilities with an open mind and a shared sense of purpose.
OPEN SHARING
Just like the Toronto Summit, discussions were far-ranging & candid. A spirit of unconstrained thinking and sharing ruled the day. The artefacts from the summit go beyond capturing the insights and ideas, reflecting both the content and spirit of the discussions.
All artefacts from the 2025 THINKsummit program are being made available under Creative Commons License*, not just to the participants but to everyone with an interest in trying to help narrow the divide between treatment demand and care capacity.
* “THINKsummit” is the intellectual property of Rampworth, a division of Time Capsule Trading Inc. All artefacts from the 2025 THINKsummit series, presented by Petal health, can be repurposed under the terms specified in Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license
( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ )
LOOKING FOR MORE?
If you’d like more information, or better yet, you’d like to be a part of next steps to bring some of the ideas to life, please drop us a line
(it’s going to take a village to solve the Access to Care challenge… a BIG one)