Is There Alignment Between Health Care and Political Leaders on Priorities?

As a leader of a Canadian health care organization, you understand the importance of having a clear strategic direction that allows you to deliver quality care to your patients and communities, educate future health professionals, or create and maintain policies and procedures to protect the public. You've collaborated with your teams, analyzed trends, and set evidence-informed priorities to guide your decision making. You feel confident that you're steering your organization in the right direction.

But then the political winds change. Suddenly, the priorities you've carefully established seem misaligned with the new focus coming from your provincial capital or Ottawa. Projects you've invested in get stalled or discontinued. Funding shifts toward initiatives that, while flashy, don't address the most pressing needs of patients, students, or practictioners.  

The troubling reality is that health care and political leaders are often dramatically misaligned on priorities:

When we polled our audience at Reimagining Health Care Leadership on the statement, “Our health care and political leaders are aligned on priorities.” a whopping 84.9% disagreed or strongly disagreed.

So why this disconnect? A few key factors are likely at play:

• Politicians often focus on short-term, highly visible "wins" they can campaign on, while health evidence points to longer-term, system-level priorities
• The realities of a publicly funded health system mean that health care is vulnerable to shifting political headwinds
• Siloed decision making processes limit collaboration between health experts and policy makers
• The time horizons and incentives of health and political leaders are fundamentally misaligned

As a health care leader, this constant misalignment is understandably frustrating. You're trying to drive real improvements but keep getting derailed by political shifts outside your control. The impacts are real: delayed projects, wasted resources, and strategic whiplash within your organization.

But while the situation may feel hopeless at times, there are steps you can take to lead through the turbulence and drive change:

• Prioritize relentlessly: Use evidence to identify a small set of top priorities and pursue them doggedly. Saying no can be as important as saying yes.
• Build alliances: Actively cultivate relationships with key policy influencers. But also look sideways, partnering with other health orgs to align and advocate.
• Master the message: Craft a compelling strategic narrative that connects health priorities to political realities. Less clinical jargon, more public impact.
• Stay the course: Accept that political disruptions will happen. Plan for leadership transitions and policy pivots to maintain momentum.
• Engage your people: Involve your teams in setting priorities and explaining changes. An engaged org is more resilient to external shifts.  

As a health care leader, you're used to navigating complexity. You already balance dozens of stakeholders, shifting demographics, and resource constraints, all while keeping the needs of your people and those you serve at the forefront. Misaligned political priorities are one more challenge on the list, but one you have the skills to manage.

Meaningful change is always hard. If aligning health care and politics were simple, it would have happened by now. But your organization has a vital purpose, and our communities are counting on you to fulfill it. By leading strategically, communicating proactively, and engaging your people, you can stay true to your priorities while navigating political turbulence.