RhPAP Board Member Profile
Name: Andrew Neuner
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Role: Chief Executive Officer with the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA)
Appointed to RhPAP Board: 2018
About Andrew Neuner
Andrew Neuner was appointed to the RhPAP Board of Directors in 2018 as a representative of HQCA, a provincial agency that pursues opportunities to improve patient safety and health service quality for Albertans.
Andrew is an accomplished and visionary executive with more than 30 years of healthcare leadership experience. He has held executive leadership positions in both rural and urban settings with responsibility for acute, community, and long-term care; mental health and addiction services; health prevention and promotion; Indigenous health; and laboratory services. In addition, he has led strategic planning and managed a broad range of healthcare administrative services.
With a distinctly people-focused approach to leadership, Andrew develops meaningful relationships with stakeholders and communities locally, nationally and internationally that help him identify and recommend quality and safety improvement initiatives suited for Alberta. He brings a sincere passion for and proven commitment to addressing the challenges of health reform and meeting community and provincial needs in a rational and responsible way.
Andrew has held various executive healthcare positions across Canada: notably as Vice President, Community Integration, and Chief Operating Officer for Interior Health in British Columbia. He is a Certified Health Executive and holds a Bachelor of Health Services Administration, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Arts in Leadership & Training from Royal Roads University.
Why it is important for your organization to be a member of the RhPAP Board?
The HQCA believes the quality agenda (as defined by the Alberta Quality Matrix for Health) should be well-represented by leaders of all health organizations in the province. Providing governance to RhPAP, an organization with a rural focus, will help bring the quality lens to this important demographic in Alberta.
What does it mean to you personally to be a part of the RhPAP Board?
I was born and raised in rural British Columbia and have a passion for creating vibrant rural communities. Some of the most rewarding professional opportunities and experiences I have had in healthcare were tied to my role supporting and managing operations throughout rural British Columbia. Those experiences shaped my perspective and approach to provincial health improvement work, always keeping rural and remote needs in mind, and I look forward to helping RhPAP at a governance level to make meaningful differences for the patients, families and providers in rural and remote Alberta.
What are the important issues you hope to address as a member of the RhPAP Board?
- Providing a strong voice for rural health issues in Alberta. The HQCA strives to capture and report patient, client, family and resident experiences to healthcare decision-makers and leaders to influence and advocate for patient safety and healthcare quality improvements. Identifying opportunities to ensure the rural and remote perspective is represented is important to the HQCA and my involvement in governance will help inform emerging RhPAP strategic directions.
- Attracting, retaining, and educating the rural health workforce. I have always maintained a people-focused approach to leadership and hope to provide helpful insights at the governance level to make a positive impact on these strategies.
- Developing team based care models. Health professionals in a rural setting are more likely to stay when they are part of a team and patients benefit as well from having access to a greater variety of skilled professionals.
Why is maintaining an accessible health workforce close to home important for Alberta?
More and more, the evidence is showing that health outcomes and patient experience (both dimensions of the Triple Aim framework) improve when care is delivered closer to home. As Alberta further considers and implements a shift to community-based care, ensuring the unique needs of rural and remote areas are considered is paramount to ensure quality and safety top of mind.