HealthCareCAN

Leslee is the driving force behind the People Powered Health movement ignited by Accreditation Canada and the newly created Health Standards Organization (HSO). After her appointment as CEO in 2016, she led a 12-month global consultation and business design process, and now Leslee and her team are unleashing the power and potential of people around the world who share their passion for achieving quality health services for all.

Armed with 25 years of senior executive and corporate director experience that spans multiple geographies and sectors including heath care, medical technology, government and retail, Leslee is a leader who makes things happen. Her clinical roots as a Registered Nurse continue to influence her relentless pursuit of quality and safety in health care, and Leslee has become internationally recognized for her work on partnering with patients to improve outcomes.

Having successfully led many organizations and systems through tough periods of change, including the high-profile turnaround of a major teaching hospital where she was CEO, Leslee is frequently asked to speak, write, and serve on influential boards and panels. She has been Board Chair of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, Chair of Council of Academic Hospitals Ontario, Assistant Professor at Queen’s University and a member of Ontario Health Innovation Council to name a few.

Case studies and articles have been written about her leadership and Leslee has received numerous awards and honors including being named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Today, she is an active volunteer on the Daughters for Life Foundation Board which is dedicated to the belief that if you educate a girl you can change the world.

All of this makes Leslee the right leader at the right time for HSO and AC – two organizations on the move building global health care standards and innovative assessment programs so that people in their own jurisdictions can save and improve lives.

Bill Tholl currently serves as a senior policy advisor, executive consultant, author and thought leader in health policy and leadership development.

Until his retirement, in July 2017 he served as the Founding President and CEO of HealthCareCAN: the national voice of Canada’s health care organizations and hospitals. Prior to his appointment in March 2014, Bill was Founding Executive Director of the Canadian Health Leadership Network (2009-2014); Executive-In-Residence at Royal Roads University (2008-2012); CEO and Secretary-General, Canadian Medical Association (2001-2008); and CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (1995-2001). His early career was with Health and Welfare Canada, serving in several senior roles advising Deputy Ministers and Ministers (1978-1995).

Bill is a sought-after speaker, with the Globe and Mail has described him as “Medicare’s Mr. Fix-it” and CHLNet calling him a “leader of leaders” on the Canadian health scene.

Bill has written on many topics, most recently as co-author of two books with Dr. Graham Dickson on health leadership: Bringing Leadership to Life in Health: Putting LEADS to Work (2nd Ed. In press, Springer) and Bringing Leadership to Life in Health: LEADS in a Caring Environment (Dickson and Tholl: Springer, 2014). He’s also authored or co-authored a series of articles and monographs, including Pathway to Professionalizing Health Leadership in Canada: The Two Faces of Janus (Dickson, Van Aerde and Tholl Healthcare Forum-In press); Taking a value network from concept to reality: Canadian Health Leadership Network (Tholl, Healthcare Forum 2014); and Twenty Tips for Surviving and Prospering in the Association World (Tholl, Weber, and Robertson. Monograph. Canadian Society of Association Executives 2010).

He is the recipient of numerous national awards, including most recently being appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (2019). Bill is a Certified Corporate Director (ICD.D 2009) and currently serves as a trustee on several for-profit and not-for-profit Boards, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and Royal College International.

Bill has a graduate degree in health economics (University of Manitoba 1979) and has held several academic appointments. He currently teaches in the Fellowship in Health Systems Improvement Program with the University of Alberta.

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Bill and his wife, Paula, live in Ottawa and have three children and five grandchildren

Shirlee Sharkey is the past President and CEO of SE Health, a not-for-profit social enterprise bringing excellence and innovation to home care, seniors’ lifestyle and family caregiving to forever impact how people live and age at home. Under Ms. Sharkey’s leadership, prior to her retirement, the organization enjoyed exponential growth and expansion, and facilitated transformative solutions in areas such as Indigenous health, end of life care, and caregiver wellness and support.

Shirlee’s commitment to community advancement is evident in her leadership and involvement on many boards, ranging from health to education. She is the current Chair of Excellence Canada and a member of the Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation Committee of the Baycrest Board. In January 2014, Shirlee was appointed to chair the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee, a standing committee for Health Quality Ontario. She also serves on the Ontario Health Innovation Council. She is a past chair of George Brown College in Toronto and a former president of the Canadian Home Care Association. In 2007, the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care appointed Shirlee as an expert advisor on staffing and care standards for long-term care homes in the province.

Academically, Shirlee is cross-appointed to the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation as an adjunct professor. She has appeared on a number of media panels and is widely published on home and community-based health care, health transformation, social innovation and breakthrough leadership. In 2017, she was presented with an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Her insights and belief in unleashing people’s potential and creativity have generated achievements and accolades from across Canada and beyond. In 2012, Shirlee received the Diamond Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth II, and accepted the Order of Excellence from Excellence Canada in organizational innovation, quality and wellness.

Shirlee was honoured with the Innovation Award for Healthcare Leadership from the Canadian College of Health Leaders in 2010. Additionally, she has received the University of Toronto’s 2008 Graduate Leadership Award, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Women’s Executive Network in 2007; Award of Excellence in Nursing Leadership, Ontario Hospital Association in 2005.

What began as a desire to help those in need 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 (CPSI). Recognizing the tremendous opportunity to achieve safer, higher quality, more efficient, coordinated and patient-partnered healthcare, in February 2020 under Chris’ leadership, CPSI pursued an amalgamation with the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement that created a single quality and safety organization with an expanded capacity to improve healthcare for everyone in Canada, known as Healthcare Excellence Canada. Previously to her leadership role at CPSI, Chris served for eight years as president and CEO of Capital Health in Nova Scotia.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount Saint Vincent University and a master’s in health services administration from Dalhousie University. She is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders and holds a Fellowship in Management for Executive Nurses from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In 2003, she received the Award for Excellence and Innovation from the Canadian College of Health Leaders and in 2007, received an Award of Excellence from the Halifax Progress Club. She was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the Public-Sector Category three years in a row, from 2007-2009, and in 2010 was inducted into the Hall of Fame. She was named one of the Top 50 CEO’s in Atlantic Canada four times and in 2013 was inducted into the Top 50 CEOs Hall of Fame. In 2013, Chris received an honorary Doctorate in Civil Law from St. Mary’s University.

Prior to retiring, Chris held significant governance roles including Co-Chair of the Canadian Health Leadership Network (CHLNet), Board member of Colleges & Institutes of Canada, and Simulation Canada. In the past, her governance legacy and system level leadership have also included President of the Canadian Association for Health Services & Policy Research (CAHSPR) Board, member for the federal advisory panel on healthcare innovation (Naylor), Co-Chair of HealthCareCAN, chair of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Governing Council.

Dr. Reznick is a Professor in Department of Surgery and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University and Chief Executive Officer of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization.

Dr. Reznick was the founding Director of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Centre for Research in Education at University Health Network, now known as the Wilson Centre.

He developed a research program in the assessment of technical competence for surgeons and ran a fellowship program in surgical education, and was instrumental in developing a performance based examination, which is now used for medical licensure in Canada.

As Vice President of Education at UHN he advanced multiple educational initiatives and partnerships. As Chair of Surgery at University of Toronto he helped advanced a successful pilot program in competency-based medical education in Orthopaedic Surgery, and now as dean at Queen’s, he has championed conversion of 29 specialty medicine residency programs to CMBE.

Dr. Reznick’s career has combined a clinical interest in colorectal surgery with 30 years of dedication to the advancement of medical education.

He has received a number of awards, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Medal in Surgery and the James H. Graham Award of Merit.