[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Hurley_Jerry.jpg” caption=”Jeremiah Hurley, associate director of CHEPA. File photo.”]McMaster University will lead the challenge to produce the research necessary to improve Ontario's ability to forecast and plan the province's health human resources needs, through the establishment of the McMaster Chair in Health Human Resources.

The chair was awarded to McMaster by the Ontario Research Chairs program, which will contribute $3 million for its establishment. In addition, McMaster will contribute more than $200,000 per year to support the chair.

The development of the proposal for McMaster to host the chair was led by Jeremiah Hurley, associate director of CHEPA.

The new chair will work to strengthen the behavioural foundations of health human resource planning within a systems approach. Specifically, the proposal calls for a chair holder with strong training in economics who will establish a research program that increases the understanding of how workplace, economic and social factors affect the career and work choices of health professionals, uses an approach that recognizes the interdependencies of the various components of the health care system, and that can be integrated into health human resource planning models.

“The person chosen for this chair will work collaboratively with researchers, policy analysts and policy makers at all levels to create more effective health human resources planning,” said Hurley, who is also a theme leader with the Collaborations for Health initiative. “The chair will lead the development of a research program drawing together expertise from economics, sociology, organizational behaviour, policy analysis and clinical health sciences to improve the empirical basis of health human resources planning and forecasting.”

The Chair in Health Human Resources is part of an Ontario government initiative launched in 2005 to provide the Council of Ontario Universities with the means to create research chairs in key areas of public policy.

McMaster's successful proposal to host the chair will build on its established reputation as a leading health-research university, and its commitment to an interdisciplinary, collaborative research approach.

The chair's efforts will be supported by a variety of existing initiatives and research centres at the University, including Collaborations for Health, which is building capacity in interdisciplinary research across McMaster.

A search for a candidate to serve as the inaugural chair holder is now underway.