There are some incredible innovators and leaders among Ontario’s healthcare community who have advanced the use of telemedicine in the province. We wanted to take a moment to give them some well-deserved recognition.
The Champions of Telemedicine Award was established to celebrate the outstanding contributions of these leaders within each of the 14 Ontario LHINs, and a leader within Ontario’s aboriginal community. OTN’s front-line staff and community partners nominated individuals for this award, and then Champions were selected based on their achievements in the following areas:
- Demonstrates leadership among peers and inspires the adoption of telemedicine in their practice, hospital, program or community to help make it a mainstream solution for care delivery
- Reinforces quality care to positively impact patients
- Shares OTN’s enthusiasm, and vision for, the transformation of Ontario’s healthcare system
- Works to identify new ideas and/or innovative solutions that increase quality care
Congratulations to the following Telemedicine Champions:
Matthew Anderson
Matthew Anderson is President and CEO of William Osler Health System, one of Canada’s largest community hospital systems, serving 1.3 million people living in the Etobicoke/ Brampton region, a fast-growing and culturally diverse region. Prior to his role at Osler, Mr. Anderson was CEO of the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network and Senior Vice-President of Performance and Technology at University Health Network. He has been a strong advocate of telemedicine and has supported its adoption not only within Osler but in the Central West LHIN and the province.
Julie Blain
Julie Blain works as a Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist specializing in the care of patients with bone metastases at the Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) in Hamilton, Ont., and the Walker Family Cancer Centre (WFCC) in St. Catharines. Ms. Blain began her career in radiation therapy in 1991, has a BSc in Life Sciences from McMaster University and is currently completing her MSc at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K. Ms. Blain has worked hard to implement telemedicine at both JCC and WFCC and, together with involved physicians, has developed telemedicine programs and clinical protocols.
Dr. Raj Bhatla
Dr. Raj Bhatla is Psychiatrist-in-Chief and Chief of Staff of The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Bhatla is a Vice-Chairperson at the Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario and a member of the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health. He has been instrumental and provided the leadership for the development of The Royal’s extensive telemedicine program.
Dr. Ranjith Chandrasena
Dr. Ranjith Chandrasena is Chief of Medical Staff and Chief of Psychiatry at the Chatham- Kent Health Alliance. He graduated from medicine in 1972 and was a lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at Peradeniya Medical School at the University of Sri Lanka for three years prior to training at the Maudsley Institute of Psychiatry in London, U.K. Dr. Chandrasena has a passion for using and developing health-care technology and, since 2000, has been championing OTN’s videoconferencing services and the use of electronic medical records in Chatham.
Trina Diner
Trina Diner is the Manager of Palliative Care and Telemedicine at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. She has over two decades of experience in the technology arena and has extensive background in computer programming, project management and communications. Since earning her master’s degree from the University of Waterloo and working in the palliative field, she has become interested in how technology can be used to break down barriers for patients and support patients in their homes.
Dr. Marcel Doré
Dr. Marcel Doré is a Hospitalist at the Guelph General Hospital and Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University’s Department of Family Medicine. He is an active participant in helping to improve the delivery of care to patients in hospital and has done so by adopting room-based telemedicine. He also improves care delivery through his leadership at the Canadian Society of Hospital Medicine, through teaching with the Waterloo Regional Campus of McMaster Univeristy’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and through Quality Improvement initiatives in the Department of Hospital Medicine at Guelph General Hospital.
Dr. Ruth Dubin
Dr. Ruth Dubin has practised family medicine in Kingston since 1987 and now focuses her attention on chronic pain and elder care at a local nursing home. She also teaches clinicians and learners about best practices in pain management. Dr. Dubin chairs the Chronic Pain Program Committee and co-chairs Project ECHO Ontario. She also delivers group-based self-management and mindfulness training to people living with chronic pain, using telemedicine to reach distant communities. Helping people to live meaningful lives despite their pain is her professional passion.
Dr. Guido Filler
Dr. Guido Filler is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Western Ontario and Chief of the Department of Paediatrics at Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre. He is a paediatric nephrologist and has a PhD in clinical pharmacology with a special interest in renal failure and renal transplantation. He is a prolific researcher with over 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals. His administrative assistant, Jody Andody, coordinates his Telehealth practice across the province, including telehealth clinics in Windsor.
Dr. Rose Geist
Dr. Rose Geist is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Program Chief and Medical Director of the Mental Health Program at Trillium Health Partners and Director of the newly formed Medical Psychiatry Alliance (a partnership between Trillium Health Partners and the University of Toronto), The Hospital for Sick Children and CAMH. The goal of the Alliance is to transfor health-service delivery for patients who suffer from co-occurring medical and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Geist has supported new initiatives developed to improve access to mental-health care through telemedicine.
Dr. Alan Lossing
Dr. Alan Lossing is Chief of Vascular Surgery at Southlake Regional Hospital, Medical Director of Telemedicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He has witnessed the acceleration of telemedicine from hospital-based systems to “in-office” videoconferencing that uses personal computers, and he has personally promoted the use of telemedicine for patient access to academic centres for consultations. He is also excited by, and interested in, telemedicine’s role in combining academic rounds with community hospitals for discussion of complex cases.
Chief Donny Morris
Chief Donny Morris is Chief of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), and a Director of the Board of the Independent First Nations Alliance (IFNA), which is located in Sioux Lookout, Ont. He is also Co-Chair of the Chiefs Committee on Health (CCOH) for the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority and a strong advocate for KO (Keewaytinook Okimakanak) Telemedicine. He has helped provide direction on the clinical use of telemedicine, encouraging its use to improve his community’s access to quality care.
Louise Paquette
Louise Paquette is the North East LHIN’s longest-serving CEO and a member of the province’s Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council. Before joining the LHIN in 2010, Ms. Paquette worked as Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Administrative Officer of Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and worked as Director General of the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor), where she encouraged investments in telecommunications. In her role as CEO, she has spearheaded the use of telemedicine in the region and was a key player in the development of OTN in the North.
Dr. Tony Pignatiello
Dr. Tony Pignatiello is Associate Psychiatristin- Chief and Medical Director of the TeleLink Mental Health Program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He is a Child/Adolescent Psychiatrist who has been focusing on advancing the use of videoconferencing and other technologies to deliver child psychiatric services to many sectors in Ontario and Nunavut. Dr. Pignatiello and the TeleLink team have contributed to research, knowledge translation and professional development in this area, and he has received teaching, community and professional awards for his work.
Dr. Bryn Pressnail
Dr. Bryn Pressnail joined the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in Barrie in 1984 as the its first medical oncologist. He has held a number of administrative positions, including President and Vice-President of Medical Staff, Chair of the Research Ethics Board and Chief of the Department of Medicine. He is currently the Clinical Director for the Cancer Program at RVH. Dr. Pressnail has taken a lead encouraging the adoption of telemedicine at the RVH Cancer Centre and is a strong advocate for getting his patients the quality care they deserve.
Dr. Daniel Ricciuto
Dr. Daniel Ricciuto is an Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases Specialist at Lakeridge Health, as well as Physician Lead for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention and Control, and Chair of Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee. He has also been involved in the development of antimicrobial stewardship programs on the regional and provincial levels and has ongoing research interests in Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship. Over the years, he has seamlessly integrated telemedicine into his practice, enabling patients to conveniently see him for follow-up appointments post-discharge.
