Compassionate Minds: Conversations with Healthcare Leaders – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Andy Smith.

Since 2017, Dr. Andy Smith has been the President and CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where he leads over 12,000 staff, physicians, researchers and learners and an annual budget of more than $1.4 billion. Prior to his current role, Dr. Smith served as Sunnybrook's Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Executive.

With a long-established career as a surgeon and a recognized leader in the management of colorectal cancer, Dr. Smith is intensely passionate about improving healthcare. He has been involved for many years in quality improvement initiatives in Ontario and is passionately interested in healthcare leadership, innovation and the evolution of the healthcare system in Canada. Dr. Smith is on the Board of Directors for ORNGE, Public Health Ontario (PHO), HealthCareCAN, Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP) and is an active member of Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (TAHSN).

https://amshealthcare.ca/

 

 

 

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Tara Kiran. 

Dr. Tara Kiran is a family physician and a health systems researcher with nationally and internationally recognized expertise in primary care policy, quality improvement, and health system evaluation. She holds the Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation at the University of Toronto where she also serves as Vice Chair, Quality and Innovation for the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Kiran's research focuses on understanding and addressing gaps in access, equity, and quality in primary care, with recent work examining shifts in the physician workforce, the impact of team-based care, and public priorities for reform. Dr. Kiran is the founder and national lead of OurCare, Canada's largest public engagement initiative on the future of primary care, which has shaped policy direction in multiple provinces and informed Ontario's Primary Care Act. She also hosts Primary Focus, a podcast that explores innovative primary systems and clinics—in Canada and around the world. She practices family medicine at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto where she is also a Scientist at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions. Throughout her work, she is motivated by a deep commitment to improving access to high-quality, equitable, and patient-centred care.

http://amshealthcare.ca/

 

 

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Anna Greenberg. Anna is a highly regarded member of Ontario Health's senior leadership team, serving in a number of roles since the organization's beginning. She served as the inaugural Chief of Strategy and Planning and as Chief Regional Officer, Toronto and East, for over two years. Now, as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Anna serves as a strategic partner with the CEO, the Board and senior leadership counterparts, providing additional leadership support to our corporate services. She works closely with senior government officials and health system leaders to continue to shape and drive Ontario Health's vision, mission and values. Anna is also the Executive Lead, Equity, Inclusion, Diversity and Anti-Racism. She has a track record of success, excelling in each role.  

Anna led a number of strategic and corporate initiatives and was instrumental in support of Ontario's Health's system response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Her commitment to actively listening, engaging and educating has helped Ontario Health better recognize and address barriers to equity.

A former president of Health Quality Ontario, Anna championed improved performance monitoring, public reporting and clinical standards. Prior to that Anna served in policy and strategic roles in the cancer system and at the Ministry of Health.

https://amshealthcare.ca/

 

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Donna Duncan.   Donna Duncan is a passionate seniors' care, mental health advocate, and broader public sector leader, bringing more than 20 years of experience in advancing transformative change at organization and system levels.   As CEO of the Ontario Long Term Care Association, Donna leads the largest provincial association representing long-term care providers in Canada. She also is involved in global forums as a member of the board of directors of the Global Ageing Network and serves on the board of the Canadian Association of Long-Term Care. In addition, Donna hosts the highly-rated podcast, Coming of Age, which is changing the conversation about seniors' care, challenging ageism, and exploring innovations in care and public policy for all of us as we age. She is also a sought-after speaker, guest-lecturer and media commentator on seniors' care, health human resources and public policy. Donna previously served as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of The Ontario Caregiver Organization where she led the organization's start-up operations, building a foundation for new leadership and a provincial board to lead the development of services and supports for family caregivers in Canada's largest province.   In addition, she served as President and CEO of one of Ontario's largest children's mental health treatment, research and teaching centres and also a community affiliate of the University of Toronto. Donna led the organization through transformational change and extensive programmatic and quality improvements, culminating in its integration with The Hospital for Sick Children in 2017 as the SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health. Donna has a deep understanding of healthcare systems and works in partnership with leaders across the health and community care sectors provincially, nationally and internationally. She also has extensive experience within government, having worked with federal and provincial ministers and with a United Nations agency.    Donna currently sits on advisory committees for the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, and on the board of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She has also served on the boards of The Ontario Caregiver Organization, Children's Mental Health Ontario, the national Kids Brain Health Network, and chaired the Board of Governors of Seneca College and the provincial College Employer Council.   http://amshealthcare.ca/

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Sophia Ikura.

Sophia is the founder and Executive Director of Health Commons, a pioneering organization dedicated to addressing health disparities by combining the tools of a diverse set of disciplines from epidemiology to service design and political science  to bring community-driven solutions into the health policy space.

With a robust background in senior executive roles within government, Crown Agencies, and politics, Sophia brings a wealth of experience to her leadership.

As the Senior Director of Strategy and Community Engagement for the Toronto Regional Health Authority (formerly the Local Health Integration Network), Sophia was instrumental in engaging health system leaders and diverse communities across a population of 1.2 million and a budget of $4.4B in healthcare investments. Her efforts informed strategic health system planning, bringing population health management approaches to help address equity gaps across the diverse communities of Toronto.

Sophia's experience includes serving as a senior advisor to the Premier of Ontario and three Health Ministers over a five-year period. In these roles, she advised on critical matters such as health system funding reform, the provincial quality agenda, health human resources, public health, wait times management, home and community care, and hospital administration.

Prior to these roles, Sophia was the Director of the Nursing Secretariat, where she developed and implemented a four-year nursing human resource plan. This initiative guided $180 million in recruitment and retention activities, resulting in the creation of over 12,000 nursing positions across the health sector.

Sophia holds a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Queen's University. Her academic background, combined with her extensive professional experience, equips her with a unique perspective on health system challenges and solutions.

Through Health Commons, Sophia is committed to amplifying community expertise and the wisdom that comes from lived experiences to develop practical, hyper-local solutions for equitable health outcomes. The lab integrates service design, community engagement, co-design, and policy expertise to create impactful health interventions.

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In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Brian Hodges. 

Brian Hodges is Executive-Vice President Education and Chief Medical Officer at University Health Network, and Professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Brian is a practicing psychiatrist, teacher, and healthcare leader. His research and writing focus on assessment, competence, compassion and the future of the health professions.

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In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Keith Thompson.

Dr. Thompson is a family physician, a graduate of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and an Adjunct Faculty Professor with both the departments of Family Medicine and the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration at Western University. He also serves at Western as a co-investigator on two virtual care studies and is a Medical Mentor for the Medical Innovation Fellowship program at WORLDiscoveries.

He is an early-career researcher with a special interest in reconciling digital health technologies and the foundational principles of family medicine as defined by Dr. Ian McWhinney. He was one of the initial Canadian physicians hired to consult with the Teladoc/BestDoctors Canada start-up team in February of 2018 and worked as Chief Medical Officer for iTelemed—a telemedicine startup in London, Ontario.

He is currently the Chief Medical Officer for the Toronto-based company NuraLogix, an advanced AI machine-learning software company capturing patient parameters by analyzing facial blood flow using smart device cameras. He is a current working group member for IEEE SA Telehealth Industry Connections, IEEE New Jersey Coast SIGHT (Special Interest Group for Humanitarian Technology) program member, and 1708 Standards for cuffless BP devices.

He is an e-health working group executive member of the World Congress of Family Doctors (WONCA). He is a member of the C.D. Howe Institute, a non-profit for research in governmental policy.

http://amshealthcare.ca/

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Lisa Richardson.

Dr. Lisa Richardson practises General Internal Medicine at the Toronto General Hospital and is the Associate Dean, Inclusion and Diversity; as well as Acting Vice Dean, Strategy, at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She is an education researcher at the Wilson Centre with a scholarly focus on how to integrate Indigenous and critical perspectives from the social sciences into medical education. Dr Richardson is the Strategic Lead in Indigenous Health for Women's College Hospital where she founded Ganawishkadawe – The Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health. She is on Council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and co-chairs the Royal College's Indigenous Health Committee. Lisa is also a founding executive member of the National Consortium for Indigenous Medical Education and belongs to the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada.

 

www.amshealthcare.ca

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Nicole Woods.

Nicole (Nikki) Woods, PhD is the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair for Research in Health Professions Education. She is also Director of The Institute for Education Research (TIER) at University Health Network and Senior Scientist at The Wilson Centre, University of Toronto. Dr. Woods leads an internationally recognized research program that uses methods and principles from cognitive psychology to advance medical education theory and practice. Her research has significant implications for education across the developmental continuum and various health disciplines. A Fellow of the Karolinska Institute Prize for Medical Education Research since 2019, Dr. Woods is currently a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. In 2021, Dr. Woods was recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN.

https://www.capelearning.ca/

https://www.theexcellab.com/

UHN Communications: communications@uhn.ca

UHN Research Communications: Zoya.Retiwalla@uhn.ca

 

http://amshealthcare.ca/

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Adil Khalfan. 

Adil Khalfan is President and CEO of Kensington Health, a not-for-profit health service organization located in Toronto, Ontario. Adil has a vast background in nursing, public health, international development, and health system strategy in Canada and internationally. His career has crossed many sectors with diverse populations, including community care, public health, acute care, home care, regional care, and specialty health. He has worked extensively in Ontario and the Middle East, and understands the relationship between accountability and strategy, planning, quality, performance measurement, best-practice implementation and change management. 

Adil was the founding CEO of Royale Home Health (of Royale Hayat Hospital in Kuwait). Before that, he served as Middle East Executive Regional Director and Operational Lead for University Health Network (UHN) where he led an international cancer centre transformation in the region. 

He is a Registered Nurse and holds a BSc Nursing from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. Prior to joining Kensington Health, Adil served as Ontario Health's Senior Vice President, Health System Performance and Support, where his position has required him to oversee Ontario Health's work to advance provincial strategies, funding, accountability agreements, standards and initiatives through information, evidence, and other supports to assess, inform and improve overall health system performance and effectiveness.

www.kensingtonhealth.org

www.amshealthcare.ca

https://linktr.ee/AMSHealthCare