Our Board
Quality Healthcare Network Board 2010/2011
Ms. Rheta Fanizza, MBA - Board Chair
Ms. Fanizza has more than 15 years experience in a variety of senior leadership positions within the acute and community care sectors. Ms. Fanizza currently works for Saint Elizabeth Health Care (SEHC), an innovative home health care company, as Senior Vice President. Prior to joining SEHC, she was the lead consultant and Chief of Staff to the Honourable Elinor Caplan for her provincial review of the competitive bidding process used by Community Care Access Centres (CCACs). Following the completion of the review, Ms. Fanizza was a consultant to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to advise them on implementation strategies based on the recommendations contained in the CCAC review. For five years, Ms. Fanizza was the Vice President of Diagnostic, Information Management and Clinical Support Services at The Scarborough Hospital – one of the busiest community hospitals in Ontario. Ms. Fanizza Chaired the Board of Directors of the Shared Lab, a joint venture regional microbiology laboratory. She has ledportfolios such as education and research, quality improvement, utilization management, infection control and environmental services in large community hospitals in Toronto. Ms. Fanizza graduated with a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University.
Ms. Patti Cochrane, RN, MHSc - Vice Chair
Ms. Cochrane is a passionate and innovative thinker who is motivated by making a difference for patients and care providers. Over 30 years of nursing and administrative experience have provided a foundation for providing leadership at Trillium Health Centre in my current role as Vice President, Patient Services & Quality.
In 2006, Ms. Cochrane was the recipient of the Leadership Innovation Award from the Society of Graduates at the University of Toronto. This recognized her achievements in leading the design for the new inpatient wing, the Non-nursing Task Force recommendations and her leadership in patient-centredness at Trillium Health Centre.
Don Ashton, MBA, CMA - Board Treasurer
Mr. Ashton is Executive Director of Finance for 3M Canada Company. In his current position, he is responsible for the financial planning and operations of 3M’s Canadian Subsidiary. Mr. Ashton has over 20 years of progressing financial and accounting experience. This includes financial management for the Healthcare business unit of 3M Canada, and an assignment as a Six Sigma Black Belt focused on process improvement across the organization. Mr. Ashton holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Western Ontario. He also graduated as a Certified Management Accountant from the Society of Management Accountants of Ontario. Mr. Ashton sits on the Victoria Order of Nurses (VON) Foundation Board for London/Middlesex/Elgin as a Director.
Dr. Jim Worthington, MD - Past Chair
Dr. Worthington is presently Vice-President, Medical Affairs, Quality, and Patient Safety at The Ottawa Hospital, having previously been Medical Director of Emergency Medicine, Critical Care and Trauma at The Ottawa Hospital and an emergency physician for the past 25 years. He has had involvement as Chair of the Emergency Medicine Quality Assurance Committee of the Ottawa Civic Hospital, and subsequently The Ottawa Hospital, Chair of Quality Improvement Focus Group in 1998, as well as Chair of the Emergency/Radiology Quality Assurance Reporting Group. For the past year, Dr. Worthington has been corporately responsible for quality and patient safety at The Ottawa Hospital and is presently responsible for the development of the Patient Safety Centre at The Ottawa Hospital. He was one of the authors on the paper with Dr. Alan Forster on adverse events at The Ottawa Hospital and is presently involved in other quality and safety research initiatives with members of the Ottawa Health Research Institute.
Dr. Worthington is presently a fellow with Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, this is a two-year fellowship that seeks to ensure that decisions are made through the use of evidence, in this role, Dr. Worthington will be networking with other fellows and their host organizations across Canada. This presents an opportunity for collaboration outside of Ontario
Ms. Marla Fryers, MScN. - Past Chair
Ms. Fryers is Vice President Programs & CNO at Toronto East General Hospital. She began working at Toronto East General Hospital in September of 2000. In 2006, Ms. Fryers took on the role of VP Programs and CNO. In this role, she has responsibility for all patient program areas. Ms. Fryers also has responsibility for Professional Practice, Nursing and Organizational Learning and Change.
Prior to assuming the role at TEGH, Ms. Fryers served as the VP, Child Health at Children’s and Women’s Health Center in Vancouver, BC. This responsibility included all patient programs in 3 physical sites. BC Children’s Hospital, Sunnyhill Rehabilitation Hospital and St Joseph’s Hospital inpatient pediatric program.Prior to BC Children’s, Ms. Fryers held the first Chief of Nursing role at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Ms. Fryers completed a Masters of Science in Nursing at the University of Toronto. She currently holds a clinical appointment with the University of Toronto. She engages in clinical research in partnership with the Nursing Research Unit at the University of Toronto. She also speaks on the topics of healthy workplaces, talent management, performance excellence and communication skills training. She sits on the Boards for the Quality Healthcare Network and the Regional Geriatric Program of Ontario. She has also participated as a member of the OHA Negotiating Team for the Ontario Nurses Association collective agreement in the last 2 rounds and will participate again this year as the negotiations open for the upcoming contract.
Patricia (Trish) Barbato, CA
Ms. Barbato is Senior Vice President, Home Health and Business Development for Revera Inc. In her role, she is responsible for the operations and growth of Revera’s home care division and leading business development initiatives in Canada and the United States. Previously, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of COTA Health, a leading community care provider specializing in mental health and rehabilitation services. Ms. Barbato was also Vice President, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer of Providence Healthcare and Managing Director of Bayshore Healthcare.
Ms. Barbato is author of the book Inspire Your Career: Strategies for Success in Your First Years at Work and a frequent speaker on career related topics. Ms. Barbato is currently Chair of the Circle of Champions for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and Vice Chair for Seneca College. Ms. Barbato is a Chartered Accountant, Certified General Accountant and holds an Economics degree from the University of Waterloo.
Bernadette MacDonald, MScN.
In March 2010, Bernadette MacDonald joined Accreditation Canada as Vice President, Programs and Services. Prior to joining Accreditation Canada, Bernadette was the Vice President, Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive at Brockville General Hospital (from 2008-2010) and was Vice President, Surgery Services at London Health Sciences Centre and St Joseph’s Health Care, London Ontario (from 2003-2007). Bernadette has held clinical leadership roles in hospitals in Halifax, Ottawa and Kingston.
Bernadette MacDonald has been a member of the Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board since 2004 and has been the vice-chair of the board since 2008. Bernadette is a past board member of the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario.
Bernadette received a Bachelor of Nursing degree from Dalhousie University and Masters of Science in Nursing degree from the University of British Columbia. She completed the Johnson & Johnson/Wharton Fellowship in Management for Nurse Executives in 2009.
Ms. Jane Mosley, RN, MScN.
Jane Mosley is the Chief Nursing Executive, Professional Affairs of Women’s College Hospital, responsible for the planning, implementation and evaluation of strategies that set a standard of excellence for nursing and health disciplines professionals, and quality of patient care. Her portfolio includes overseeing the Quality, Health Disciplines, and Health Information Management portfolios.
Prior to joining Women’s College Hospital’s senior leadership team, Jane acted as Chief Nursing Executive at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, later moving to the position of Director of Quality and Risk Management at Credit Valley Hospital. While there, she provided strategic advice, direction and evaluation on patient safety and family-centered care. Jane has spoken extensively on quality of care and nursing leadership.
In addition to her role at Women’s College Hospital, Jane is an adjunct professor with the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto, and a sessional faculty member of the Dorothy Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University. Most recently, she completed the J&J Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Douglas Sinclair
Dr. Sinclair is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
at St. Michael’s Hospital.
After a 22-year hiatus in Nova Scotia, Doug rejoined St. Michael’s where his medical career first began. Following his graduation from the Faculty of Medicine in 1980, Doug completed his clerkship in Toronto, became chief resident of Emergency Medicine at U of T and an attending staff emergency physician at St. Michael’s. Doug has spent the last two decades in Halifax in a number of progressive leadership and academic roles, including founding Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, Vice President of Medical Services at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre (QEII) and most recently, Associate Dean of Continuing Education in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University.
Doug returned to St. Michael’s to become executive vice president and chief medical officer in January 2010. “St. Michael’s is a place that has the opportunity to really close that gap that frustrates most academic clinicians in moving research discoveries to patient care,” he says. “I am very impressed by the commitment and focus of the staff at St. Michael’s – their enthusiasm for their work is palpable.”
Dr. G. Ross Baker, Ph.D. - Ex-Officio
G. Ross Baker, Ph. D., is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is the principal investigator of the Canadian Adverse Events Study funded by CIHR and CIHI. In collaboration with Dr. Peter Norton he has completed research on current patient safety activities in Canada as well as completing a review of patient safety initiatives in the US, UK and Australia for the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Health Services. He was a member of the National Steering Committee on Patient Safety and chaired the Working Group on Measurement and Evaluation for the Steering Committee. Ross is Chair of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration, which serves health administration programs in North American and elsewhere.
Dr. Peter Norton, MD, CCFP, FCFP - Ex-Officio
Dr. Norton is head of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary and holds the rank of Professor at the University. Dr. Norton is presently involved with the quality and patient safety activities at the Calgary Health Region. He presents and teaches on quality improvement, patient safety and medical adverse events across Canada. Dr. Norton has an active interest in primary care research with particular emphasis on patient safety, quality of care, physician decision-making, diabetes, patient and family satisfaction with institutional care and primary care health services research. Dr. Norton is a board member of the CQI Network and of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. He is a commissioner of the Health Services Utilization and Outcome Commission of Alberta and a member of the executive of the Section of Researchers of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Barb Van Maris, MSc
Barb has worked in the quality improvement field specific to health care for over 25 years. As Company Leader of Smaller World Communications and later VP of NRC Picker Canada she has consulted with health care organizations to assist them with their performance measurement and quality improvement activities. She has worked in all healthcare sectors, public health, primary care, emergency services, acute, ambulatory care, mental health, long term care and home care. Her focus was to improve the patient/clients experience of care as well as to enhance the workplace for healthcare providers. Currently Barb is the Director of Quality Improvement and Risk Management for Preferred Health Care Services where she has a key leadership role in leading their organization through all their quality agenda, where she shares her passion about providing safe, quality health care.
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