The Ontario Pharmacy Evidence Network (OPEN) is disappointed to announce that the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) has cancelled funding for the OPEN:STIMULUS 3 year program grant. OPEN:STIMULUS’s research will end on July 17, 2019, 14.5 months earlier than the original end date.

OPEN:STIMULUS was one of 11 peer reviewed Health Service Research Fund program grants funded by the MOHLTC investigating a wide variety of health care topics. OPEN was informed that the decision to end the program grants was made after a line-by-line budget review that aimed to direct government resources solely towards direct patient care efforts.

OPEN:STIMULUS was a major grant which provided funds to help OPEN create quality sustainable health care services for Ontarians. The STIMULUS grant funded projects at four post-secondary institutions across Ontario and was based out of the University of Waterloo.  It supported the following:

• Development of community pharmacies as connected health hubs – led by Nancy Waite, professor and Sherilyn Houle, assistant professor, University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy and Lisa Dolovich, professor, and Lisa McCarthy, assistant professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
• Community and healthcare provider-supported de-prescribing – led by Barbara Farrell, clinical scientist from the Bruyère Research Institute and Dee Mangin, professor, McMaster University DeGroote School of Medicine
• Development of the first provincial data atlas describing delivery of medication management services including changes over time – led by Suzanne Cadarette, associate professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
• Incorporating sex, gender and vulnerable populations analyses – led by Nancy Waite, professor, University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy and Emily Milne, Department of Sociology, MacEwan University
• OPEN Patient Engagement Strategy and Citizen’s Panel – led by Zahava Rosenburg-Yunger, assistant professor, Ryerson University

While OPEN is very disappointed with this decision, OPEN researchers will continue to pursue important health research supported through other funding sources.

OPEN is committed to staying open! It will continue to foster a network of researchers, students and knowledge users that conducts research to inform policy, education, and health care practice. OPEN is proud of its many accomplishments, including, most recently, the OPEN:STIMULUS funded creation of  OPEN Citizen’s Panel. These citizens, just like our researchers and knowledge users, are engaged and contributing to ensure that OPEN is able to link research findings to improving Ontarian’s health.