COVID-19: Get the latest updates or take a self-assessment.
Payal Agarwal, BASc, MD, CFPC Family Physician Women’s College Hospital
Dr. Payal Agarwal is a practicing family physician in Toronto and hospitalist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She looks at how emerging technologies both improve the delivery of health care and health science education. As an Innovation Fellow at WIHV, Payal creates new models of virtual care, adapting successful approaches from the tech, design and start-up world. She is also a consultant for several health care start-ups on product design and usability.
Ross Baker, PhD Professor and Program Lead, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation University of Toronto
G. ROSS BAKER, Ph.D., is a professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto and Program Lead in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. Ross is co-lead for a large quality improvement-training program in Ontario, IDEAS (improving and Driving Excellence Across Sectors). His recent research projects include an edited book of case studies on patient engagement strategies, an innovative approach to monitoring and measuring patient safety, and an analysis of interprofessional team dynamics in quality improvement.
Melanie Barwick, PhD, CPsych Senior Scientist Research Unit, Sickkids Associate Professor Psychiatry Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Melanie Barwick, PhD, CPsych is a Senior Scientist in Implementation Science in the Child Evaluative Sciences Program of the Research Institute at SickKids, Head of the Child and Youth Mental Health Research Unit (CYMHRU) in the Department of Psychiatry, affiliated with the SickKids’ Learning Institute and SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, as a scientist and member of the leadership. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is a Director on the governing boards of the Children and Youth in Challenging Contexts (CCYC) Network Centre of Excellence, the Global Implementation Initiative (GII), and AMREF Health Africa. She is an Associate Editor for the journal, Evidence & Policy.
Onil Bhattacharyya, MD, PhD Associate Professor Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto
Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya is the Frigon Blau Chair in Family Medicine Research at Women’s College Hospital, and an Associate Professor in Family and Community Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
He was a 2015-16 Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice based at the Commonwealth Fund, where he studied methods from the design and software industries and their application to healthcare. He is co-lead of Better Access to Care for Complex Needs (BeACCON), a provincial network within the national Canadian Institute for Health Research Strategy for Patient Oriented Research.
Jennifer Everson, BScN, MD, CCFP, FCFP Vice President Clinical, and Primary Care Physician LHIN Lead Health Quality Ontario Clinical Quality Lead
Jennifer Everson BScN, MD, CCFP, FCFP is currently the Vice President, Clinical with the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network (HNHB LHIN), assisting with their clinical planning across the region. She also sits on a variety of provincial committees and provides leadership as McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences liaison to the HNHB LHIN. Jennifer also is the HNHB LHIN Clinical Quality Lead for Health Quality Ontario and a member of their Ontario Quality Standards Committee.
Jennifer is Past Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee at Hamilton Health Sciences and was Chief of the Department of Family Medicine from 1997 to 2004 before taking on the role of Chief of Staff in 2003. She was Vice-President Medical from February 2005 through January 2009 and provided leadership to the more than 1,500 physicians with privileges at the Hamilton Health Sciences.
Jennifer began her health care career in 1981 after graduating from Queen's University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and then attended McMaster University Medical School for her undergraduate medical training. In 1987 she completed her residency in family medicine.
Jennifer’s areas of interest includes patient safety and quality medical practice. She continues to practice family medicine at the Stonechurch Family Health Team, one of the academic training sites in Hamilton. As an associate clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, she is involved in the education of new physicians and residents.
Lee Fairclough, BSc, MRT, MHSC Vice President Quality Improvement, Health Quality Ontario
Lee has a diverse background, with experience in health delivery as a radiation therapist, health research and informatics, systems planning and policy, leadership and institutional board membership.
Previously, Lee was Vice-President of Strategy, Knowledge Management & Delivery at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) and member of the executive team that established the organization in 2007. She served as Director of the Toronto Regional Cancer Programme, and Director of Informatics and Administration, Clinical Research Unit at Princess Margaret Hospital, UHN. Ms. Fairclough was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR), and a Board member with a number of community agencies. She is an adjunct professor with the Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto.
Cathy Faulds, MD, CCFP, FCFP, CAC (PC), ABPHM Family Physician and Practising in Palliative Care Chief Clinical Lead South West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN)
A graduate of Western University in 1986, Dr. Cathy Faulds received Certification in Family Medicine from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) in 1989, and she became a Fellow in 2004. She completed her Certificate of Added Competence in Palliative Care in 2016 and her American Board of Palliative and Hospice Medicine in 2010.
After practicing in rural southwestern Ontario, Dr. Faulds continued her comprehensive family medicine practice within the city of London and formed the London Family Health Team, which she served as the clinical lead from 2010-15. She previously served as Lead Physician for the Shared Care Pilot Initiative and the Parkwood Palliative Care Unit at the Parkwood Hospital in London. Currently, Dr Faulds serves as a palliative care physician with St. Joseph’s Health Centre and is a staff family physician at London Health Sciences Centre. Since 1996, she has served as a clinical professor and mentor to undergraduate and graduate medical students at Western University.
Dr. Faulds has participated on the Board of the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) serving as Honorary Secretary-Treasurer in 2011 and 2012, President-Elect in 2013, and President in 2014-2015. She concluded her term as Past-President in November 2016. She is a current Director of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Dr. Faulds has also participated as a reviewer for Canadian Family Physician, Health Quality Ontario, Cancer Care Ontario and the Canadian Diabetes Association. She is currently an investigator for the IRPC of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and for 10 years she served as a disability assessor for Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
In addition to her experience with the CFPC and OCFP, Dr. Faulds has served on numerous committees at Health Quality Ontario on quality improvement plans and primary care metrics. She has served as Co-Chair of Family Medicine Alliance in Ontario as well as Director of the Thames Valley Family Practice Research Team in London. Dr. Faulds continues to do primary care research in areas of palliative care, chronic disease management and quality improvement.
Dr. Faulds has recently served on the Ontario Medical Association Negotiation team and the Primary care advisory committee.
Christopher Hayes, MD, MSc, MEd Chief Medical Information Officer St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
Hayes was a 2013-14 Canadian Harkness/CFHI Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, and had previously been at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto since 2005, where he was the medical director of quality and performance. He is an associate professor at McMaster University in the Department of Medicine and adjunct associate professor at the University of Toronto. From 2008-15 Hayes was the medical officer at the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. He is a recognized leader in patient safety and quality improvement, and has worked with regional, national, and international organizations, and has received multiple distinctions and awards. Hayes holds a master’s of science from McMaster University in Ontario, and a medical degree and masters of education from the University of Toronto.
Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai, PhD Director and Health Economist Centre of Excellence for Economic Analysis Research (CLEAR), St. Michael’s Hospital
Dr. Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai is a Research Scientist and the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Economic Analysis Research, St. Michael’s Hospital. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on applying health economics methods in the real world setting and advancing methods in economic evaluations. She has experience conducting economic evaluations using person-level data and decision modeling. She has collaborated with researchers and decision-makers in various areas to help communicate the value of health initiatives using economic evidence. Dr. Isaranuwatchai is dedicated to promoting the use of evidence in healthcare decision making.
Ahmed Jakda, MD, MBA, Candidate (2018), CFPC (PC) Provincial Clinical Co-Lead Ontario Palliative Care Network
Medical Director, Palliative Care Grand River Regional Cancer Centre
Associate Professor McMaster University, University of Western Ontario
Dr. Ahmed Jakda is the Provincial Clinical Co-Lead with the Ontario Palliative Care Network, the principle advisor to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care on Palliative Care. He is also a family physician who specializes in palliative care. He completed his training in Family Medicine and Fellowship in Palliative Care at The Ohio State University. He is dual board certified in family medicine and palliative care, through the American Board of Hospice Palliative Medicine, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
His clinical practice is located at the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre in Waterloo-Wellington, where he also serves as the Medical Director for Division of Palliative Care. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Jakda is an Associate Clinical Professor with McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario, and provides resident education on an ongoing basis. His research focus is around system policy and patient-centred structures to support patients and families facing advances illnesses.
David Kaplan, MD, MSc, CCFP Primary Care Lead Health Quality Ontario
Associate Professor, Family & Community Medicine Health Quality Ontario
Dr. David M. Kaplan is an academic family physician practising in low-risk obstetrics.
He is currently the Primary Care Clinical Lead at Health Quality Ontario.
Dr. Kaplan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine and Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto.
Previously, he was the Interim Family Physician-in-Chief and Medical Program Director at North York General.
Tara Kiran, MD, CCFP, MSc Family Physician and Quality Improvement Director and Chair of the Board of Directors St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health
Tara Kiran is a family physician and the Quality Improvement Director and Chair of the Board of Directors in the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team, and an assistant professor and clinician investigator in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Kiran’s research focuses on evaluating the impact of Ontario’s primary care reforms on quality of care and related disparities. She has recently taken on a new role as a CIHR Embedded Clinician Researcher with Health Quality Ontario, where she is developing a set of quality measures that assess how good the care is for people admitted to hospital and discharged home. In recognition of her outstanding accomplishments, she was awarded the 2015 New Investigator Award from the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG), and the 2012-13 Rising Star Award from the CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CIHR-IHSPR).
Betty-Lou Kristy Peer Support Substance Use & Provincial Systems Lead TEACH: Teach Empower Advocate Community Health- a peer initiative of Support & Housing-Halton
Betty-Lou Kristy, is the Peer Support Substance Use & Provincial Systems Lead for the Enhancing & Sustaining Peer Support Initiative Mississauga Halton Region. A bereaved mother who lost her son to opioid overdose, and has sustained her 18 year recovery from mental health, addiction and trauma; Betty-Lou has been engaged at provincial systems level as a lived experience/family advocate helping to frame policy, governance & programming. Betty-Lou is the recipient of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Transforming Lives Award & the Ministry of Health &Long Term Care (MOHLTC) ACE Award- Partner Relations category, for her work with Expert Advisory Narcotics
Martin Lees, MSc
Dr. Martin Lees is the primary care and clinical quality lead for ESC LHIN. He has a Master’s in healthcare administration and a PhD in management and organizational development. He earned Fellowship from the Canadian College of Health Leaders, a Canadian Certified Physician Executive designation, and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality certification and teaches in the areas of patient safety, leadership, corporate governance, quality improvement, communication, and strategy. Martin has held positions as Director, President of Professional Staff, Chief of Staff, and Vice President and Chief Medical Executive with responsibility for patient safety, risk management, and quality.
Laura Maclagan, MSc Quality Improvement Epidemiologist Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
Laura began her work with IDEAS in February 2016. Laura provides support to IDEAS teams regarding data collection and analysis for their quality improvement projects. Laura holds a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from McGill University, and an undergraduate degree in Biology from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.
Layla Mofid, PhD Quality Improvement Epidemiologist Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
She started working with the IDEAS Advanced Learning Program in August 2016, providing support to teams in the areas of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Layla holds a PhD in Epidemiology (McGill University), an MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK) and a BSc (Honours) in Health Sciences (Brock University).
Olivia Ostrow, MD, FAAP Staff Physician and Patient Safety Lead for the Division of Paediatric Emergency Medicine Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Olivia Ostrow is an academic clinician and the patient safety lead for the Division of Paediatric Emergency Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children, and an assistant professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. She received her MD at West Virginia University School of Medicine and completed a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics training at the University of California San Diego and the University of Rochester. She is board certified in both specialties and holds a certificate in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety from the University of Toronto. She is an experienced quality improvement champion who is committed to frontline improvement work. Locally, she plays a key leadership role in the Hospital for Sick Children’s Choosing Wisely campaign. At the provincial level, she is actively involved in the P4R Emergency Department Return Visit Quality Initiative with Health Quality Ontario.
Jennifer Quaglietta, BASc, MBA, CHE, PMP, LSSGB Director, Patient Experience, Quality, Patient and Family-Centred Care North York General Hospital
Jennifer Quaglietta is the Director of Patient Experience, Quality, and Patient- and Family- Centred Care at North York General Hospital. Jennifer has developed a quality improvement framework that builds capacity and incorporates high reliability and effective change management. Most recently, Jennifer has led the development a North York General Hospital’s Patient- and Family-Centred Care Strategy – a unique approach to delivering patient-centred care at the bedside.
Prior to her role at North York General Hospital, Jennifer served as the Strategy Lead within Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care providing leadership to implement the Excellent Care for All Act, 2010.
A Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders, Jennifer is a graduate of the Master of Business Administration program from the Rotman School of Management and the University of Toronto’s Bachelor of Applied Science and Engineering program. She holds the Project Management Professional designation and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She is the recipient of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute’s 2017 Patient Safety Champion Award, Project Management Institute’s Kerzner Award and the Ontario Public Service Award for Project Manager of the Year.
J. Bryan Sexton, PhD
Dr. Sexton has captured the wisdom of frontline caregivers through rigorous assessments of safety culture, teamwork, and workforce resilience. His research instruments have been used around the world in over 3000 hospitals, in 30 countries.
His current R01 grant from NIH is a randomized clinical trial of resilience training. He has studied teamwork, safety and resilience in high risk environments such as the commercial aviation cockpit, the operating room, and the intensive care unit, under funding from NIH, NASA, AHRQ, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, and the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation.
He has found that results across industries, work settings, shifts, professions, and countries highlight a great deal about reliability in high risk environments – specifically, “you are better off changing the situation, than trying to change human nature.”
Kaveh Shojania, MD Director, C-QuIPS, Professor of Medicine and Vice-Chair, Quality Improvement & Innovation, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
Kaveh Shojania is a general internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and professor of medicine and Vice-Chair, Quality & Innovation at the Department of Medicine. He is currently the editor-in-chief of BMJ Quality & Safety, the leading scientific publication in the fields of patient safety and healthcare quality improvement. He is a core faculty member in the MSc in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety program at the University of Toronto’s IHPME. He has published over 130 articles indexed in Medline, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Jeremy Theal, MD, FRCPC Chief Medical Information Officer North York General Hospital
Dr. Theal is the physician lead for the eCare hospital information system project at NYGH, which has won six national awards for innovation, quality and safety of patient care. He has given invited presentations to clinicians, administrators and policy makers in 11 different countries, and has served as an advisor to more than 100 hospitals, health authorities and companies in Canada and internationally. He is the physician lead of the MOHLTC Hospital Information System Adoption and Benefits Team, and founder of the Canadian CPOE Toolkit. In 2015 he was the recipient of the Minister’s Medal Honouring Excellence in Health Quality and Safety.
Rebecca Van Iersel Health Quality Ontario
Dr. Rebecca Van Iersel is a family physician in Orillia and the vice president, clinical, for the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) responsible for engaging with physicians in the region to advance quality improvement throughout the health care system. Her role includes acting as both the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN’s Primary Care Physician Lead and Regional Clinical Quality Lead working with Health Quality Ontario and the LHIN. As a family doctor, she’s worked for 10 years providing comprehensive care including hospital care, emergency department work and low risk obstetrics.
Dr. Van Iersel has previously served as the physician champion for the Couchiching Community Health Link. She remains involved in the Health Link. She remains involved in the Health Links work across North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN.
At Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH), Dr. Van Iersel has held positions including past-president, Medical Staff Association, and medical director of the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department, Family Medicine and Patient Flow programs. She has been a leader in improving Alternate Level of Care utilization, reducing patient lengths of stay, implementing standardized care and quality based procedures.
Dr. Van Iersel received her Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences and Doctor of Medicine degrees from Queen’s University. She is a graduate of the Ontario Medical Association / Canadian Medical Association Leadership Development Program and is an alumni of the Improving and Driving Excellence Across Sectors (IDEAS) provincial quality improvement program.
Tamara Wallington, MD, FRCPC Corporate Medical Director, Quality and Patient Safety, William Osler Health System
Clinical Quality Lead, Central West LHIN, Health Quality Ontario
VP Clinical, Central West LHIN
Dr. Tamara Wallington is the corporate medical director, quality and patient safety, William Osler Health System. In this role, she has led quality improvement initiatives including the design of a process for the development and evaluation of standardized clinical decision tools. Dr. Wallington has led the roll out of a corporate electrocardiogram (ECG) management system, an integrated diagnostic and management process for the early detection and treatment of sepsis in the emergency department, as well as a corporate anticoagulation initiative. Since the introduction of Quality Based Procedures (QBPs), Dr. Wallington has led the implementation of more than 12 QBPs and is leading work on the delivery of an integrated, collaborative care model in the community.
Trained in internal medicine, public health and preventive medicine, Dr. Wallington is a staff physician at William Osler Health System in the Department of Medicine, and Corporate Medical Director for Quality and Patient Safety.
Dr. Wallington is faculty in the provincial Improving and Driving Excellence Across Sectors (IDEAS) training program, and is the clinical quality lead, Central West Local Health Integration Network, at Health Quality Ontario.
Dr. Wallington was recently named VP Clinical, at Central West Local Health Integration Network.
Brian Wong, MD, FRCPC Associate Director C-QuIPS Editorial Board Member Academic Medicine
Brian Wong is a general internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and associate professor and Director, Continuing Education and Quality Improvement in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He has served as the Associate Director of the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety for the past 5 years. He has extensive experience with the peer reviewed process (both as someone who writes articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals as well as someone who frequently performs peer-review for journals). He recently stepped down from the role of Associate Editor at the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, and is currently a member of the editorial board at Academic Medicine.
Patients, families and the public are central to improving health quality.
Are you passionate about quality health care for all Ontarians? Stay in-the-know about our newest programs, reports and news.