Chair's Report to the Board

I am honoured to serve as the new Chair of the IAB, following in the footsteps of Dr. Jim Christensen, whose wise and informed leadership ensured the board’s international expertise was fully harnessed to support SREMI’s mission. Across the world, emergency care faces the challenge of ever-increasing workload. Changing health-seeking behaviours, alongside the success of modern medicine in helping people live longer with more complex conditions, have all contributed to these pressures. These external factors are magnified by hospital patient-flow constraints, leading to overcrowded departments and intensified workloads for staff.

SREMI’s research focus, particularly on the care of older people and on the impact of alcohol and substance use, directly addresses key aspects of this global challenge. Policy-related initiatives such as the POWER III study on accurate workload measurement, the continuing work on virtual care and CTAS, and an expanding research portfolio in digital health technologies all demonstrate SREMI’s ability to adapt and remain relevant to modern emergency medicine.
However, this demanding environment also reduces the time available for education and makes recruitment to clinical trials more difficult. Despite these challenges, the SREMI team continues to deliver outstanding education and high-quality research, demonstrating agility and commitment in an ever-changing landscape.

This report showcases the breadth and depth of SREMI’s research activities, both completed and in progress, and the impressive volume of resulting publications and presentations. Beyond academic outputs, the Institute’s influence extends widely through its engagement with the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, provincial and national policymakers, and the media. These contributions are not only improving clinical practice in Canada but also ensuring that new knowledge reaches the public. Notably, Dr. Keerat Grewal and Dr. Catherine Varner were both nominated for national awards for improving access to healthcare.

SREMI’s educational impact is equally impressive and continues to grow. EM Cases has expanded its international audience and continues to innovate in medical education. Reflecting this growth, we will soon be welcoming Dr. Katie Lin and Dr. Sara Brade as new Deputy Editors, joining Dr. Anton Helman. Our conferences, including the EM Cases Summit and the Emergency Department Administration Conference, remain oversubscribed, highlighting their ongoing value to the emergency medicine community.

Educational programmes linked to our research, for example, in early pregnancy and oncology, are also successfully translating research into practice. One key challenge for the coming year will be sustaining the global impact of our geriatric emergency medicine programmes following the retirement of Dr. Don Melady, whose leadership has been instrumental in this field.

Last year, we celebrated SREMI’s national impact across Canada. This year, we can celebrate its truly international influence. SREMI featured prominently at both the International Conference on Emergency Medicine and the European Society for Emergency Medicine meeting, from posters and presentations to plenary sessions. Looking ahead, the International Advisory Board will explore how best to sustain and strengthen this global impact and future collaborations.
Like many academic emergency medicine groups worldwide, SREMI faces challenges in recruiting new academic clinicians. The reasons are multifactorial: workload, shift patterns, limited protected research time, funding models, and career identity among them. SREMI has already established a strong framework of opportunities for students, trainees, and post-doctoral fellows, encouraging them to combine academic and clinical careers. We look forward to further discussions at this year’s board meeting on how best to support and expand these opportunities.

SREMI’s success continues to be built on its collaborative foundation between Mount Sinai Hospital and North York General Hospital. This brings together the expertise and experience of academic and community hospitals to ensure our academic pursuits are applicable to a wide population of clinicians and the whole population. The renewal of the partnership between these organizations for a further three years is excellent news. This partnership, encompassing joint appointments, shared administrative and research support, and local research leadership at North York under Dr. Rohit Mohindra, continues to enrich our collective academic strength.

Education and research play a vital role in overcoming the challenges faced by emergency medicine, both clinical and organizational. The impact of research establishments is often assessed using factors such as the number of grants and publications, the alignment of research with “real-world” ED challenges and institutional integration (operational ED care + research + education). This reports highlights how successful SREMI has been this year against these measures. SREMI can take great pride in the impact it is having locally, nationally, and internationally to improve care for patients and populations. 

On behalf of the International Advisory Board, I extend my sincere thanks to the entire SREMI team for transforming what began as a bold and ambitious idea eleven years ago into a thriving, world-leading research and education institute. Special thanks go to Dr. Bjug Borgundvaag, Dr. Shelley McLeod and Dr. Catherine Varner, whose leadership has created an environment where innovation and collaboration continue to flourish.