The Provincial and Regional Clinical Quality Program brings together health system leaders to inspire and foster change to improve patient experiences and outcomes. The provincial and regional clinical quality leads are part of Ontario Health’s clinical leadership team within the Clinical Institutes and Quality Programs portfolio.
Provincial Clinical Quality Leads
The provincial clinical quality leads provide expert advice and visionary leadership at the provincial level, working with regional leadership and relevant stakeholders to identify and achieve province-wide goals and objectives and to promote a culture of quality. They also identify and support the implementation of cross-sector Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) priorities and work with Ontario Health Teams and quality improvement staff embedded in organizations to ensure that regional clinical models of care align with Ontario Health’s quality standards.
Timothy Jackson, MD, MPH, FRCSC, FACS, Provincial Clinical Quality Lead, Surgery
Dr. Jackson is a general surgeon at University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto. He completed medical school and a general surgery residency at McMaster University. He received a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University and is a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery Fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. His clinical focus is bariatric and gastrointestinal tract surgery. Dr. Jackson’s research interests are surgical quality improvement and minimally invasive surgery. At UHN, he is the medical director of the operating rooms at Toronto Western Hospital, and he holds the Medtronic Chair in Minimally Invasive Surgery. At the University of Toronto, he is an associate professor of surgery and the program director of the Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship Program.
Sameer Masood, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Provincial Clinical Quality Lead, Emergency Medicine
Dr. Masood is an emergency physician at the University Health Network and the director of quality, safety, and innovation for the UHN emergency departments. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a clinician investigator with the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. He completed his undergraduate studies, doctor of medicine degree, and residency training in emergency medicine at the University of Toronto, and then went on to complete his master’s degree in Public Health at Harvard University, with a focus on quality improvement and clinical effectiveness. Dr. Masood’s work focuses on quality improvement, health care innovation, health technology integration into clinical care, and quality improvement in emergency medicine. He founded and continues to lead UHN’s first virtual emergency department and is the chair of the UHN Clinical Decision Support Committee. Dr. Masood has received several awards for his scholarly work, including awards from Health Quality Ontario, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, University Health Network, and the University of Toronto. His work is supported by the AHSC AFP Innovation Fund.
Olivia Ostrow, MD, FAAP, Provincial Clinical Quality Lead, Emergency Medicine
Dr. Ostrow is an academic clinician. She is the director of quality and safety for the Division of Paediatric Emergency Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children and an associate professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. She is a medical safety leader at the Hospital for Sick Children and the associate director of the hospital’s Choosing Wisely campaign. Since 2020, Dr. Ostrow has been the associate director of the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto. She is also the paediatrics lead for Choosing Wisely Canada, and she co-chairs Ontario Health’s provincial Emergency Department Return Visit Quality Program. Dr. Ostrow is passionate about health care quality and safety and is actively involved in front-line improvement work.
Fahad Razak, MSc, MD, FRCPC, Provincial Clinical Quality Lead, General Medicine
Dr. Razak is an internist and epidemiologist with training in health services research and global health. His research focuses on improving the care of hospitalized patients through the application of advanced analytic methods to hospital big data. He cofounded GEMINI, the largest hospital research network in Canada and one of few such examples globally. GEMINI covers about 60 percent of Ontario’s medical hospital beds, making it a living laboratory to study hospital care. Dr. Razak completed an engineering science degree, a medical doctorate, and a residency at the University of Toronto. He was the first physician to be appointed the David E. Bell Fellow at Harvard University. Notable research recognitions include the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine’s New Investigator Award and the Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship from the PSI Foundation. He has received grant funding from sources such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the National Institutes of Health in the United States. He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed publications.
Amol Verma, MD, MPhil, FRCPC, Provincial Clinical Quality Lead, General Medicine
Dr. Verma is a physician, scientist, and assistant professor of general internal medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, as well as the Temerty Professor of AI Research and Education in Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a general internist with a clinical practice focused on inpatient general internal medicine and a health services researcher, studying and improving hospital care using electronic clinical data. He cofounded and co-leads GEMINI, the largest hospital research network in Canada, which is collecting data from more than 30 hospitals in Ontario. Amol completed medical training at the University of Toronto, a master’s degree at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and research fellowships through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Canadian Frailty Network, and the AMS Healthcare AI and Compassion Fellowship. He is also the vice-chair of the Researcher Council of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada.
Regional Clinical Quality Leads
The regional clinical quality leads work with regional leadership and relevant stakeholders to identify and achieve region-specific goals and objectives and to support the implementation of quality initiatives, programs, and strategic priorities. They also support the work of Ontario Health and the Ontario Health regions in building regional quality improvement capacity and capability. They provide both regional and clinical advice to Ontario Health’s quality programs and champion the quality programs with Ontario Health regional teams.
Pam Delgaty, HBScN, PHC NP, Regional Clinical Quality Lead, Ontario Health North East and North West
Pam Delgaty graduated from one of the first nurse practitioner programs at Lakehead University in 2000. Previously, she had extensive experience working for the federal government in Sioux Lookout and a variety of remote communities in Northern Ontario. She also served as a medical officer with the Canadian Coast Guard, working aboard ships. After graduating from the nurse practitioner program, she worked at the Norwest Community Health Centre for 10 years before moving to the Lakehead Nurse Practitioner Clinic, where she has practised since 2011. Pam is presently the executive director there and continues to play an active clinical role. Pam has always believed that the heart of the health care system is primary care. From her diverse experience, she understands the challenge in ensuring that access to this care is equitable among Ontario residents. She hopes to represent nurse practitioners and their vital role in an evolving landscape of health care delivery. Standardization, appropriate representation, and reflection on the work being done are imperative. At a time of great transition within health care, Pam feels privileged to be working with Ontario Health toward the strategic priorities of a more sustainable and efficient health care system.
Paul Gill, MD, MSc, CCFP (FPA), Regional Clinical Quality Lead, Ontario Health West
Dr. Gill is a family practice anaesthesiologist in Goderich, Ontario, practising family medicine at the Maitland Valley Family Health Team and anaesthesia at Alexandra Marine and General Hospital. He is the chair of Digital Health at Gateway Rural Research Institute and held former roles as a digital health lead with the Huron Perth Area Ontario Health Team and with Ontario Health West. He enjoys teaching in his roles as adjunct professor at Western University and lecturer at the University of Toronto. He has been recognized by the Ontario College of Family Physicians for his contributions to family medicine, winning an award of excellence in 2019 for efforts to improve referral processes in primary care. Paul is proud to be returning as the Ontario Health regional clinical quality lead for the West region, as well as the Ontario Health West primary care lead, and continuing in his role as Southwest Cancer Care Ontario regional primary care lead. When he is not working, Paul spends his time on the ice coaching hockey and travelling with his kids from rink to rink.
Amir Ginzburg, MD, FRCPC, Regional Clinical Quality Lead, Ontario Health Central
Dr. Ginzburg is a general internist and has served as a regional clinical quality lead at Ontario Health since 2016. He is a well-respected educator in the quality improvement and patient safety field and is a featured speaker for the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto. Amir has led cross-sectoral improvement initiatives in primary, community, hospital, and long-term care. He helped in the design of the Canadian Incident Management Toolkit and was a master facilitator for the Patient Safety Education Program Canada. He currently serves as executive vice-president, Quality, Risk and Practice, at Trillium Health Partners with a diverse portfolio that also includes patient experience, clinical systems, ethics, infection prevention and control, and medical affairs. Amir holds faculty appointments at the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.
Nadine Laraya, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Regional Clinical Quality Lead, Ontario Health Toronto
Dr. Laraya is a comprehensive family physician based in Toronto. Since 2008, she has worked in both academic and community-based practice settings, providing both in-hospital and in-office patient care, as well as medical education at all levels of training. Nadine currently serves as the community family medicine liaison to St. Joseph’s Health Centre (Unity Health Toronto) and as primary care lead for SCOPE (Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience) at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, roles that promote closer collaboration and dialogue between the primary care and acute care sectors. She has been part of the West Toronto Ontario Health Team since 2020 as a clinical leader representing primary care. Nadine is passionate about understanding and improving quality measures in health care and ultimately achieving health equity among all people living in Toronto’s complex urban environment. She has a growing interest in design thinking and hopes to play a part in developing creative and innovative solutions to complex problems in health care.
Colin Wilson, MD, MScHQ, CCFP, FCFP, Regional Clinical Quality Lead, Ontario Health East
Dr. Wilson is a primary care physician based in Kingston. He is past president of the Kingston Family Health Team and an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University. He completed a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality degree at Queen’s University and further graduate studies in social and economic justice at Harvard University. Colin has a deep interest in quality improvement, specifically complex adaptive system change from a humanistic, communitarian standpoint.
Together, the provincial and regional clinical quality leads:
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Monitor progress against objectives and key performance indicators related to selected priorities
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Engage clinicians in a culture of quality care through the widespread distribution of resources and best-practice strategies, championing known effective models of care, and building engaged communities of practice within identified priority areas
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Work to improve partnerships and foster high-quality, patient-centred care
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Foster innovation by exploring innovative models of care and systems of funding reform across the continuum of care
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Identify enablers and barriers to clinical practice change and design strategies to leverage enablers and minimize barriers
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Enhance communication and knowledge exchange to inform provincial priorities and accelerate the local implementation of quality initiatives
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Support health care improvement by fostering and driving quality improvement across and within Ontario Health’s regions