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Ed Brown named as new CEO at Ontario Telehealth Network

Dr. Ed Brown (pictured), Executive Director of the NORTH Network in Ontario, and an ER physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Ontario Telehealth Network.

The OTN is a merger of the three major telehealth networks in Ontario: The NORTH Network; CareConnect, the Eastern Ontario Telehealth Network; and VideoCare, the Southwestern Ontario Telehealth Network.

Kathy Crone (formerly Executive Director of CareConnect) was confirmed as Vice-President, Eastern Region Operations and Clinical, Educational and Training Services; and Neil MacLean (formerly Manager of VideoCare) was confirmed as Vice-President, Western Region Operations and Corporate Development and Performance.

The remaining three positions within the executive structure – Chief Medical Officer, Chief Information Officer and Vice President Central and Northern Operations and Corporate Services – will be announced upon completion of the hiring process.

As well, the Ontario Telehealth Network announced its inaugural Board of Directors:

Robert M. Filler, M.D., F.R.C.S. (C) (Chair)
Dr. Robert Filler has distinguished himself by his reputation as an outstanding pediatric surgeon, first at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital (Boston) and more recently at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto). He served an unprecedented 18-year term as the Surgeon-in-Chief at the Hospital for Sick Children, which established an endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery in his name. The author or co-author of more than 300 medical and scientific publications, Dr. Filler is currently Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Dr. Filler is also a recipient of the Order of Ontario. In 1995, Dr. Filler initiated the Telehealth program at the Hospital for Sick Children, where he served as Director of Telehealth until 2001. A founding member of the Canadian Society of Telehealth, he served as President of that organization from 2000 to 2002.

Jean Bartkowiak
Jean Bartkowiak is President and CEO of SCO Health Service, a continuing care academic health science centre in Ottawa. Prior to joining SCO, Jean was the CEO of the Centre hospitalier des Vallées de l’Outaouais and the Hôtel-Dieu d’Arthabaska and was a former Associate Executive Director at the Hôpital Laval and the Restigouche Hospital Centre. A Past-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian College of Health Services Executives and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association des hôpitaux du Québec, Jean also serves as a surveyor for the Canadian Council of Health Services Accreditation. Jean holds a Master’s degree in Health Services Administration.

Diane Beattie
Diane Beattie is Vice President, Integrated Health Information for both London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London. In that capacity, she is responsible for strategic leadership in all aspects of health information management, information technology and strategic partnerships to support the London hospitals. A former chair of London Health Sciences Centre Board of Directors, London’s Joint Committee on hospital restructuring and the executive committee of the Robarts Research Institute, Ms. Beattie is currently on the Ontario Hospital Association’s e-Health Council and several advisory boards within the e-health sector. Ms. Beattie holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Dr. Ed Brown (Non-voting)
Dr. Ed Brown is the first Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Telehealth Network (OTN). An emergency physician who studied mathematics and engineering before embarking on his medical career, Dr. Brown combined these skills in 1998 when he founded NORTH Network. NORTH Network evolved out of Dr. Brown’s examination of how telehealth could alleviate the barriers to accessing healthcare posed by distance and a shortage of health professionals in Northern Ontario. The goal was to create a network connecting thousands of patients with healthcare providers. Dr. Brown is also a member of the Operational Space Medicine Advisory Panel of the Canadian Space Agency, Astronaut Office. Dr. Brown is a past recipient of a CANARIE I-WAY award for national leadership in the development of Canada’s information highway and was the 2003 winner of Canadian Healthcare Manager magazine’s ?Who’s Who in Healthcare Award in the Technology category.

Roger Girard (Non-voting)
Roger Girard is a healthcare information management professional with more than 35 years of experience in the industry and is currently the Chief e-Health Strategist in the e-Health Office at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). In his previous capacity as an independent consultant specializing in healthcare informatics, Roger worked extensively in Ontario with the Smart Systems for Health Agency, the MOHLTC e-Health Office, and most recently, with the Ministry’s Public Health Division. Prior to his work in Ontario, Mr. Girard worked in senior administrative capacities in healthcare organizations in Calgary and Montreal. Mr. Girard holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Concordia University.

Dr. Mark Guttman
Dr. Mark Guttman is the Director of the Centre for Movement Disorders in Markham, Ont., one of the largest Parkinson’s practices in Canada. The Centre is a National Parkinson Foundation Centre of Excellence based on its support of clinical and research efforts in Parkinson’s disease. In addition to performing research in Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, Dr. Guttman reviews grants for many funding agencies and reviews scientific publications for medical journals. A graduate of McMaster University Medical School, Dr. Guttman is an Assistant Professor in both the Division of Neurology and the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine.

Dr. Kenneth G. Hardy
Dr. Kenneth Hardy is a Professor of Marketing at the Richard Ivey School of Business in London. Throughout his tenure with Ivey, Dr. Hardy has made substantial changes to its programs (including his 1995 creation of an executive development program for senior hospital executives) and initiated links to leading American business schools. In 1997, Dr. Hardy led a team that reviewed the impact of the Health Service Restructuring Commission’s impact on 12 hospitals across Ontario. Dr. Hardy’s research interests include strategic market planning, management of sales promotions, management of distribution chains and management of the complexities of fast-growing entrepreneurial firms. He is the lead author of five books and has published articles in the Harvard Business Review and the Journal of Marketing among others. Dr. Hardy currently publishes research articles and develops teaching materials on specific themes in strategic market planning for entrepreneurial firms and has consulted for a wide variety of private sector firms.

Dr. Robert (Bob) Lester
Dr. Robert (Bob) Lester is Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Executive at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. A Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Lester was a Medical Director for NORTH Network, where he has completed more than 2,000 dermatological consultations via telemedicine. A former surveyor for the Canadian Council of Health Services Accreditation, Dr. Lester has also served on the Board of the Toronto District Health Council and is on the inaugural Board of Ontario Air Ambulance.

Ray Marshall
Ray Marshall has been President and CEO of Brockville General Hospital since 2001. Prior to joining Brockville General, Mr. Marshall held various senior administrative positions in the healthcare system in British Columbia, including Vice President of the Fraser Valley Health Region, Executive Director of the Fraser Canyon Hospital and Fraser Hope Lodge and Assistant Executive Director of Vernon Jubilee Hospital. Mr. Marshall holds a Masters Degree in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. In 2003, Mr. Marshall was appointed Chair of the Steering and Regional Advisory Committees for CareConnect, where he provided expert leadership and support to the Network and its partners.

Lynn Nagle, RN, PhD
Dr. Lynn Nagle is the Principal at Nagle & Associates Inc., where she provides consulting on issues and initiatives related to nursing and health informatics. With more than 25 years of healthcare experience, Dr. Nagle has worked in a wide variety of settings and roles. Her work as a clinician, educator, researcher, and administrator has provided her with a broad-based perspective of healthcare delivery and information needs. Prior to starting her consulting company, Dr. Nagle was the Senior Vice President for Technology and Knowledge Management at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. In 2005, she was recognized for her leadership in informatics, receiving the Most Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Rochester. Dr. Nagle was also the inaugural recipient of the COACH award for Leadership in 2005.

Camille Orridge
Camille Orridge is the Executive Director of the Toronto Community Care Access Centre. A leader in ensuring the progress and growth of E-Health in the province and in the development of a Code of Ethics for Care in the Community, Ms. Orridge is Co-Chair of the provincial Continuing Care E-Health Council and is leading Toronto-based organizations in working on creating a blueprint for the Electronic Health Record. A recognized and respected senior executive with comprehensive experience in the healthcare and community sectors, Ms. Orridge holds a Masters Degree in Health Administration from the University of Toronto and is a long-standing member of the Canadian College of Health Service Executives.

Jerome Quenneville
Jerome Quenneville joined the Sault Area Hospital as President and CEO in 2004. A committed advocate for the implementation of progressive information communication technology, Mr. Quenneville chairs the Ontario Northern e-Health (ONe-Health) committee, whose members are healthcare providers across Northern Ontario committed to implementing a comprehensive ICT plan for the area. A chartered accountant by profession, Mr. Quenneville has several years of experience in the manufacturing, consulting and auditing fields. Mr. Quenneville also has a Certified Healthcare Executive designation with both the Canadian College of Health Service Executives and the American College of Health Care Executives.

William Thibert
William Thibert joined the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital as President and CEO in 2003. Mr. Thibert has more than twenty-five years of senior hospital administrative experience, primarily in a rural healthcare setting. A member of VideoCare’s Regional Steering Committee, Mr. Thibert also serves as a member of the Ontario Hospital Association’s Provincial Health Human Resources Strategic Advisory Committee. Mr. Thibert has a Masters of Health Science degree from the University of Toronto and is a Certified Health Executive (CHE) with the Canadian College of Health Service Executives.