Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

OVATION Awards Winning Entry
Communication Management
Special Events with budget up to $50,000
AWARD OF MERIT
Entrant’s name: Anna Larson
Organization’s name: The Regional Municipality of Halton
Division / Category: Division 1: Communication Management; Category 6: Special Events, 6a with a budget up to
$50K
Title of Entry: Docs on Ice
Time Period of Project: 2010‐2011
Brief Description: As a gesture of appreciation to Halton’s physicians, through its Physician Recruitment program,
Halton Region partnered with the Doctors’ Hockey Club and the Alzheimer Society of Hamilton Halton to sponsor
the Docs On Ice Charitable Hockey tournament in Oakville, April 7 to 9, 2011. The tournament raised $150,000 for
the Alzheimer’s Society, an all‐time record, and showcased Halton as a perfect place to practice (hockey and
medicine).
1. Business Need/Opportunity
The Regional Municipality of Halton serves more than 500,000 residents in the City of Burlington, and
the Towns of Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville. Halton Region’s Physician Recruitment Program works to
build partnerships in the medical profession, enhance community involvement, facilitate practice
opportunities and co‐ordinate provincial and local incentive programs. Halton’s physician recruitment
marketing and promotion strategy is based on an understanding of the needs of local hospitals, local
practices and clinics and on cultivating relationships with family medicine residents over a two‐to‐four
year period so they might consider Halton as their choice of location when the time is right. The
program has been in place since 2002. A key communications strategy has been to formally
acknowledge the local physician community at least once annually, usually through an evening
networking event. In 2011, plans included a second event, Docs On Ice, an annual fundraising doctors’
hockey tournament that began in 1983. The tournament was inspired by the memory of hockey player
and urologist, Dr. Peter Howes from Peterborough, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1981.
Each year, Docs on Ice is hosted by a different city to raise funds for a local charity in the host
community. In 2011, the tournament was held in Oakville, April 7‐9. Run by physicians and volunteers,
the tournament raises money through donations, sponsorship, registration fees, and special
events. From the first tournament held in Peterborough with eight teams, 29 years ago, Docs on Ice has
grown to include more than 800 physicians and 100 Medical Students, with over 50 teams from across
Ontario. High profile celebrities, including NHL players and alumni, media personnel, and television
personalities generally attend the event. To date, Docs on Ice has raised over $1 million dollars for
charity. Funds raised through Docs on Ice Oakville 2011 supported the Alzheimer Society of Hamilton
Halton. The goal was to raise money to build the “Docs on Ice Resource Centre” in Oakville to provide
resources to Halton residents living with Dementia.