Health leaders coaches` corner: Biographies

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Health leaders coaches' corner: Biographies
Monday, June 6, 2016
Morning Coaches: 11:00 - 12:00
Linda Davis
President and CEO
Northumberland Hills Hospital
Linda is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Northumberland Hills Hospital, a 137 bed
community hospital approximately 100 kilometers east of Toronto. A senior executive with over 30
years of experience in the Canadian health-care sector, she has held leadership positions in a number of
large and medium sized hospitals. Prior to joining Northumberland Hills two years ago, she was the
President and CEO of the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital, a role she held for nine years.
A Registered Nurse, she trained at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. Her career has taken
her from that province to Vancouver, British Columbia and Montreal, Quebec, where she obtained a
Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and a Master’s of Science, both from McGill University, before
moving in 1990 to Ontario.
Throughout her career, Linda has held senior leadership positions in a number of hospitals. She has also
worked within the private sector as a health care consultant.
Linda is passionate about engaging staff and physicians with the focus of continually improving the
quality and safety of patient care. She currently serves as an Accreditation Surveyor for Accreditation
Canada and has conducted national and international surveys. She has been a member of the Canadian
College of Health Leaders for the past twenty-five years and an active member of the CCHL national
mentorship program for the past two years.
Sarah Downey
President and CEO
Michael Garron (Toronto East General) Hospital
On April 1, 2015 Sarah Downey became President and CEO of the Michael Garron Hospital (formerly the
Toronto East General Hospital), a large community teaching hospital in the east end of Toronto. Her
healthcare experience spans two decades of professional engagement in both academic health-science
centres and in complex multi-institutional organizations in Toronto and Ottawa.

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Prior to this role, she worked at the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) as Executive Vice
President, Clinical Programs and held senior leadership positions at the University Health Network’s
Princess Margaret Hospital.
Sarah has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of New Brunswick and a Master of Health
Administration from the University of Ottawa. She holds a Certified Health Executive designation from
the Canadian College of Health Leaders, has spoken at many health-care conferences, and is a mentor to
many in the field.
Sarah is a proud resident of the east end of Toronto, is a mother of two young children, and is fluently
bilingual.
Le 1er avril 2015, Sarah Downey est devenue présidente-directrice générale de l’Hôpital Michael Garron
(anciennement connu sous le nom d’Hôpital général de Toronto Est), un important hôpital
d’enseignement communautaire de l’extrémité est de Toronto. Son expérience des soins de santé couvre
deux décennies d’engagement professionnel dans des centres universitaires des sciences de la santé et
dans des organisations multi-institutionnelles complexes à Toronto et à Ottawa.
Avant d’occuper ce poste, elle a travaillé au Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale à titre de
première vice-présidente des programmes cliniques et elle a occupé des postes de cadre supérieure à
l’hôpital Princess Margaret du Réseau universitaire de santé.
Mme Downey est titulaire d’un baccalauréat en science (biologie), de l’Université du Nouveau-Brunswick
et d’une maîtrise en administration de la santé de l’Université d’Ottawa. Elle porte le titre de Certified
Health Executive du Collège canadien des leaders en santé. Elle a prononcé de nombreuses allocutions
lors de congrès sur les soins de santé et elle agit comme mentor auprès de plusieurs dans le domaine.
Sarah Downey est fière d’habiter dans l’est de Toronto. Elle la mère de deux jeunes enfants et elle est
parfaitement bilingue.
François Drolet
Director, Business Development
Roche Diagnostics
After 4 years leading Roche Diagnostics’ Canadian Sales Team and close to 2 more years as the Director
of Business Development, François Drolet has been recently appointed to the new role of Director,
Public Affairs. In his new role, François is responsible for all initiatives around health policy, market
access, reimbursement, government relations as well as stakeholder engagement.
Prior to joining Roche Diagnostics, François spent over 20 years with Covidien (now part of Medtronic) in
various Sales and Marketing positions and serving his last 8 years with the company as the Canadian
Vice-President of Sales & Marketing.
Always in keeping with a patient centric approach, his 27 years spent within the healthcare industry and
more specifically in the Operating Room, ICU, Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Anesthesiology,
Nursing in general, and now Laboratory Medicine have provided him with great insight into our
healthcare ecosystem and prepared him for his new role with Roche Diagnostics.

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François earned a bachelor’s degree in Commerce and Administration from Laval University in Quebec
City and he is a member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders while acting as a Roche
representative in many industry forums.
François is fluently bilingual.
Après 4 années passes à la tête de l’équipe de ventes canadienne de Roche Diagnostics et un peu moins
de 2 à titre de Directeur du développement des affaires, François Drolet occupe depuis le début 2016, le
rôle de Directeur, Affaires publiques. Dans son nouveau rôle, François est responsable des initiatives en
matière de politiques de santé, d’accès au marché et de remboursement, des relations
gouvernementales ainsi que des différents partenariats de l’entreprise auprès des nombreux organismes
gravitant autour des systèmes de santé canadiens.
Avant de joindre Roche Diagnostics, François a passé plus de 20 ans au sein de Covidien, cumulant
plusieurs postes de ventes et marketing dont celui de Vice-président, Ventes et Marketing canadien au
cours de ses 8 dernières années avec l’organisation.
Ayant toujours en tête une approche centrée sur le patient, ses 27 années d’expérience au sein de
l’industrie des soins de santé, plus particulièrement dans les secteurs du bloc opératoire, des soins
intensifs, de l’imagerie médicale, de la médecine nucléaire, de l’anesthésie, des soins infirmiers en
général et maintenant de la médecine de laboratoire, lui ont procuré une large compréhension de
l’écosystème entourant les soins de santé au Canada et l’ont bien préparé pour ce nouveau rôle au sein
de Roche Diagnostics.
François est détenteur d’un baccalauréat en administration des affaires de l’Université Laval à Québec, il
est membre du Collège Canadien des Leaders en Santé et est le représentant de Roche auprès de
nombreux regroupements de l’industrie.
Dr. Chris Eagle
Past President and CEO
Alberta Health Services
Dr. Chris Eagle is a retired Professor at the University of Calgary (maintaining an adjunct appointment in
the Department of Community Health Sciences), and holds adjunct appointments at the Universities of
Alberta and Victoria. He is an acknowledged leader in the field of health care administration.
Dr. Eagle twice graduated from the University of Calgary (BScHons 1973, MD 1977) and holds an MBA
from the University of Western Ontario. He specialized in cardiac anesthesiology. In 1991, he was
appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Calgary. He has
published more than 70 articles and has made many addresses to various professional societies, many in
the area of health care quality and safety. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Canada (1981), Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiologists (1982), and Fellow of the
Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthesia (1995).
Dr. Eagle has had a long career in health care administration. Most recently, he was President and Chief
Executive Officer of Alberta Health Services, an organization with a C$13Bn operating budget and
100,000 employees. He has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Calgary Health
Region, Executive VP and Chief Clinical Officer, VP and CIO of the Calgary Health Region, Associate Chief
Medical Officer, Executive Director of the Foothills Hospital (Calgary), and Head of the Department of

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Anesthesia. He has also worked as Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education at the Faculty of
Medicine, University of Calgary. He has is past-Chair of the Specialty Committee of Anesthesia, former
Chief Examiner in Anesthesia, and past-Examiner in Anesthesia for the Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons.
Sherry Kennedy
Chief Operating Officer
Southeast LIHN
Sherry Kennedy is the Chief Operating Officer for the Southeast LIHN. has been with the SE LHIN since
January, 2006 as one of the inaugural employees. Being in on the ground level of LHINs has provided
her with the opportunity to inform and influence the development of the LHIN model in Ontario. Sherry
has participated in the design of the accountability agreements for all health service providers at the
provincial level and has led the development of health care provider planning submission processes and
tools. She has also been a keen contributor to the development and evolution of new funding models
and the revision of government policies and procedures to enable LHINs to better deliver on their
integrated health system design mandate.
Sherry is a Chartered Accountant with twenty years’ experience in health care. She has extensive
hospital experience in both northern and southern Ontario including community, tertiary care and
multi-site hospitals. Sherry has also worked as an independent healthcare consultant. Her projects
ranged from analysis of hospital business integration opportunities, development of a tool to support
business case analysis of alternatives to hospitalization of alternate level of care patients and
negotiation of hospital accountability agreements. Sherry has participated in numerous provincial
committees and initiatives with the Joint Policy and Planning Council, the Ontario Hospital Association
and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for Ontario. Prior to beginning her career in health care,
Sherry practiced with KPMG Chartered Accountants. In addition to her CA designation, Sherry holds an
Honours Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.
Feisal Keshavjee
CEO
KWC Consulting
Feisal Keshavjee started his career in health administration in Calgary in the early nineties with
progressive leadership positions at the Foothills and Calgary General Hospitals. After being directly
involved in numerous regionalization-related projects in Calgary, such as decommissioning the Calgary
General Hospital, he joined Ernst & Young's health consulting practice in New Zealand for several years
where he was involved in a number of strategic transformation initiatives in New Zealand, Australia and
Malaysia.
Soon after returning to Canada, Feisal held positions with the Calgary Health Region and the medical
school in the areas of commercialization and business development. Feisal then became the General
Manager (West) for GE Healthcare, a $17B business of the General Electric Company - a position he held
from January 2007 to 2011. From 2011 to 2014, Feisal was CEO of RCA Diagnostics, a multi-clinic imaging
business operating in 5 provinces with almost 500 staff. He is currently involved in a health IT
interoperability start-up venture. Feisal holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary, a
Master of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa, a CPA, CMA accounting designation and
a Certified Health Executive designation from the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL).
Feisal has served as Director for Alberta on the CCHL board since 2014.

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Andrew Neuner
Chief Executive Officer
Health Quality Council of Alberta
Andrew Neuner is the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Quality Council of Alberta, a non-profit
organization with a legislated mandate to promote and improve patient safety and health service quality
on a province-wide basis.
Andrew is an accomplished and visionary executive with more than 30 years of healthcare leadership
experience. Prior to joining the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) in September 2014 as Chief
Executive Officer, Andrew was Vice President, Community Integration with Interior Health in British
Columbia, one of the largest health regions in Canada.
In addition to his focus on quality and safety improvement, Andrew is dedicated to developing
meaningful relationships with stakeholders and communities in Alberta. In his role at Interior Health, he
led the integration of all health services across multiple communities, implemented region-wide
community engagement strategies, and developed new leadership philosophies.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Health Services Administration from the Canadian School of Management
and University of King’s College, a Master of Business Administration from the Canadian School of
Management and Hawthorne University, and a Master of Arts in Leadership & Training from Royal
Roads University.
Chris Power
CEO
Canadian Patient Safety Institute
What began as a desire to help those in need 30 years ago has evolved into a mission to improve the
quality of healthcare for all Canadians. Chris Power's journey in healthcare began at the bedside as a
front-line nurse. Since then, she has grown into one of the preeminent healthcare executives in Canada.
Her experiences, her success, and her values have led her to the position of CEO of the Canadian Patient
Safety Institute.
Previously, Chris served for eight years as president and CEO of Capital Health, Nova Scotia, with an
annual operating budget of approximately $900 million, and 12,000 staff. Under Chris’s leadership
Capital Health achieved Accreditation with Exemplary Status in 2014 with recognition for 10 Leading
Practices.
Chris holds significant governance roles including Chair of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer,
member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Governing Council, and Board Member of the
Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research. She is past Co-Chair of HealthCareCAN.
Most recently Chris participated as a member of the federal advisory panel on healthcare innovation
and through this role has gained even greater insight into the many pan-Canadian organizations that will
be beneficial in forming partnerships, leveraging expertise and advancing the goals of CPSI.
Bruce Swan
Professional Certified Coach
Bruce brings over thirty years of progressive Healthcare Leadership experience working at various levels
of leadership in Community Health Organizations, Hospitals and Regional Health Authorities. His
professional expertise is in health system integration and most recently his experience is working with