Hospitals all over Ontario use us for these things - We'd love to help you with them too.
If you are a hospital CEO, Chief of Staff, Chief of Department or Medical Affairs leader I will assist with recruitment, discipline, succession planning, and change management with your Professional Staff.
I routinely represent hospital leaders in disputes with doctors, dentists, midwives or NPs before the Medical Advisory Committee and hospital Board.
I literally wrote the book on Professional Staff management and hospital privileges.
If you have a privacy breach, we will help you properly notify affected patients, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and professional Colleges.
We will assist you in dealing with the media and internal communications to change practices. We are able to advise you on freedom of information requests, managing your personal information banks and how to use protections for quality of care information.
Hospitals face risk daily. You need to manage those risks strategically and in keeping with your organizational mission, vision and values.
There may be times when you feel like there is no perfect answer to your dilemma, but you still need to be able to move forward. We'll look at the clinical, legal, ethical, organizational and systemic issues that arise. My Anchors and Kites model helps you ask creative questions that give your team momentum.
We de-escalate challenging situations involving patients and their families.
Our advice will equip you not to over- or under- react to any given situation. We can ghost write your letters or provide you with a script for meetings with patients and their families so you feel confident in your communications.
If your hospital has clinical or administrative policies that need updating, we can help.
If you are preparing for accreditation or just want to ensure you are following best practices, we write plain language policies that your team can follow.
If you need to review a particular case or establish rounds for quality improvement, I understand quality management issues including the Quality of Care Information Protection Act, and how to use it.
Some things hospital leaders have said about me
Every website needs a contact form - here’s mine. If you think you might need legal advice, or training, if you want to know more or if you’re just having a bad day and want to tell someone about it, please get in touch.
Bringing the law to life.
P.O. Box 13024
RPO Bradford Centre
Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5
(416) 855 9557
Please do not send any urgent, sensitive or confidential information from this website. Contacting me, sending me an email or completing a request for me to contact you will not make me your lawyer. That's because there are rules I have to follow to determine whether I can advise you. There may be situations where I cannot act for you because of a conflict of interest or if I do not have the expertise you need. You are not a client unless and until I have agreed to act for you in which case I will write to you to explain how I work and my legal terms and conditions. By clicking “Send” you acknowledge that you have read and understood this disclaimer and that Kate Dewhirst is not yet retained to represent you.
Free webinars - advance registration needed
Whether you're an experienced privacy officer or new in the field, pick Kate’s brain for free for an hour, in this live webinar. No charge, but you’ll need to register in advance.
Part of Kate’s monthly webinar series.
Our 2025 program is now live.
Full details of the 2025 webinar series and registration here.
For managers and other leaders from mental health and addictions agencies, hospitals, CMHAs, CHCs, school boards, FHTs and Indigenous health services
This is an annual membership program with monthly webinars.
Full details and registration here.
For Privacy Officers within healthcare organizations.
This course focuses on how to become a more confident privacy officer and gives you the tools to document your privacy program. Full details and registration here...
For Privacy Officers within healthcare organizations
This is an annual membership program that takes theory into practice and tackles real life scenarios to build Privacy Officer skills.
Full details and registration here.
For Primary Care clinics, Hospitals, Community Agencies, Mental Health Teams, Public Health Units, School Boards, Police departments
Scheduled to your team's needs for comprehensive or refresher training More details...
Want to read privacy breach stories to learn how to improve your work? We have summarized all the Information and Privacy Commissioner's health privacy decisions for you Download here...
Kate says:
My mission is bringing the law to life. I make legal theory understandable, accessible and fun! I’m available and love to work for all organizations in the healthcare sector across Ontario and beyond.
P.O. Box 13024, RPO Bradford Centre
Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5
(416) 855 9557