Board of Directors
Patrick K. Horgan
Chair
Pat’s career spanned many transitions in the IT industry and within IBM – and was instrumental in leading numerous transformational efforts both in Canada and Globally over his 35 years.
In Pat’s final role he led a wide range of business operations for IBM Canada from CIO, Procurement, Supply Chain to Government Relations. As head of Innovation he led IBM Canada’s SW Lab and IBM Microelectronics Plant in Bromont, Quebec – both the largest in the country. Pat was the Chair of the IBM Canada Board.
In June 2020 Pat was announced Chair of the Board of the Southlake Regional Health Centre.
He also holds a Thompson Industrial Fellow position at Western University focusing on AI and its implications to the university. He is a member Newmarket Economic Advisory Committee.
Pat participated on many external Boards, including being 2013/14 Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; the Ontario Brain Institute; the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business and Social Science & Humanities Research Council.
Pat is an Ivey Business School graduate and holds a CPA designation.
Ansar Ahmed
Vice Chair
Ansar Ahmed, P.Eng., is a seasoned professional engineer who brings to the Board of Directors over 25 years of public and private sector experience delivering infrastructure across Canada. Prior to launching Partnership Solutions Limited, an advisory and management consulting firm, Ansar held a number of executive positions at Metrolinx (GO Transit),the Ontario Ministries of Transportation and Energy & Infrastructure as well as positions within the consulting engineering sector.
Ansar completed his undergraduate studies at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and received his P.Eng. designation through the University of Toronto School of Professional Studies.
Ansar has lived in Newmarket for the past 23 years with his wife Cheryl and their four children. Over the years, Ansar has volunteered his time to several local groups including Belinda’s Place, the Newmarket Islamic Centre, the Mayor’s Interfaith Council along with Newmarket Minor Hockey and the Newmarket Baseball Association.
Steve Hills
Treasurer
Steve Hills was appointed to the Southlake Regional Health Centre Board of Directors in 2017. Steve serves as the Chair of the Finance & Property Committee.
Steve is a partner of KPMG LLP, in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Audit Practice. He works with a broad range of clients, focused on both audit and accounting advisory services. Steve graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University and holds a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) designation.
Barbara Bellissimo
Chair, Foundation
Barbara is an experienced executive with over 30 years in the insurance and financial services industry. She held several influential senior executive roles in Canada and the USA. As Chief Agent and SVP, she led State Farm Insurance Canada from 2009 to 2015. She was was instrumental in the integration and transition into Desjardins and continued to lead the organization until 2020.
She is a graduate of Western University and a Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional. As an influential advisor in the insurance industry, she was Chair for the Institute for Catastrophic Loss (ICLR) and a past board member of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
Barbara’s expertise extends beyond the boardroom, she’s passionate about mentoring individuals and teams, helping them reach their full potential. Dedicated to the advancement of women in business, she has been a member and global board member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) and developed and led the State Farm Insurance Women’s network.
As a York Region resident, Barbara actively engages in the community. She has served on the United Way Campaign Cabinet Committee for many years and on the Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation board since 2018. She was awarded The Ontario Volunteer Service Award for her years of dedicated service to the community.
Diana Brouwer
Director
Diana Brouwer is an assurance partner with Ernst & Young LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants. Diana has spent over 25 years of her career specializing in the government and not-for-profit sector with a specific focus in both health care and education. In her career Diana has always been actively involved in initiatives outside of her day job, from involvement with her professional organizations such as CPA Canada and CPA Ontario, through to local initiatives such as her time as the chair of the Town of East Gwillimbury’s Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee (2009 to 2013) and a member of the Southlake Ladies in Philanthropy (2011 to 2016).
Diana serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee.
Diana lives in Sharon with her husband and two daughters.
Mike Downs
Director
Mike Downs is a Senior Vice President with Connor, Clark and Lunn Private Capital. He has served on the Southlake Regional Health Centre Board of Directors since 2013, and is a member of the Finance & Property and Governance & People committees. He has more than 24 years’ experience in discretionary investment management, tax and estate planning and Not-for-Profit organizations. Mike graduated from the University of Western Ontario and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Investment Management (CIM) designations.
John Dunlap
Director
John Dunlap is President of Moffat Dunlap Real Estate in King Township. John has previously served on the Board of Directors of Southlake Regional Hospital Foundation and was Chair of Southlake Foundation’s Governance Committee. John serves on numerous private and not-for-profit Boards of Directors including being a Governor of St. Andrew’s College, Past President of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Past Chairman of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Horse Show, Director of the Pebble Hill Museum and its 6,000 acre campus, Director of The Dunlap Institute at University of Toronto, Member of The York Region Police Appreciation Night Committee, and Head of The Margo Bindhardt Arts Trust. John has an MBA from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. Previously, John spent ten years working with the Boston Consulting Group in New York, Paris and Toronto. John and his family have supported Southlake for multiple generations stretching back over 50 years.
Avanthi Goddard
Director
In a career of over 35 years of experience in the health care industry Avanthi Goddard worked across the hospital sector in leadership and consultant roles in areas of Performance Management, Risk Management, Accreditation specialist and Governance leadership. During her health care career Avanthi also operated an independent consulting practice that included specialization in mergers and acquisitions. Avanthi served as an Accreditation surveyor with Accreditation Canada and is presently Accreditation surveyor with CARF International.
Avanthi has served on Boards for over 25 years including serving as Board Chair for the Community Home Assistance to Seniors (CHATS), for the York Region Children’s Aide Society and for the Ontario Association of Children’s Aide Societies. Presently Avanthi is a Board member of the Blue Mountain Village Association, an Executive member of the Ontario Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors and more recently appointed on the Board of Southlake Regional Health Centre.
Avanthi holds a Honours degree in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, a diploma in Adult Training & Development from the University of Toronto, and is a graduate of the Director Education Program from Rotman School of Management. She achieved her designation as a professional director with the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Marilee Harris
Director
Marilee has championed the cost-effective growth of a variety of businesses within telecommunications, energy, security, retail, educational and communications segments.
Marilee’s skills involve strategic planning, brand strategy, marketing and new product development.
During her career she has held a number of executive positions for national and global organizations including Vice President Marketing TYCO Security International, Vice President, International Marketing & Strategic Planning, Direct Energy, Vice President, Marketing & Field Support, C1 Telecommunications, Vice President, Marketing, Coles Book Stores/Chapters, Executive Director, Marketing, Hallmark Cards, as well as Director Communications, CBC Radio.
With a strong commitment to the educational sector, Marilee has held the positions of Chair, Board of Governors, Seneca College, and affiliations with the Executive Committee of the Association of the Ontario College Board Chairs.
Her community involvement includes 8 years of membership in the Town of Aurora Economic Development Advisory Committee and was appointed in 2018 as Vice Chair of the newly appointed Economic Development Board. She is currently a member of both the Quality and Finance & Property Committees of Southlake Regional Hospital. In March of 2020 she was asked to join the Mayor of the town of Aurora’s Covid Business Recovery Task Force. She is listed as one of the top 300 Canadian women in business in the Women in The Lead 2001 and 2003 Ivey School of Business Directory.
Stacie Stanton
Director
Stacie Stanton was appointed to the Hospital Board in 2013. She has sat on numerous Boards in various positions including past-Chair of The Country Day School Board and is presently serving on the Southlake Foundation Board and the King City Cemetery Board. She has engaged in Board leadership, strategy development and volunteer fundraising for non-profit organizations for more than 20 years. Since 2010, she has been the Editor of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph, North America’s oldest continuously running newspaper. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) degree from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Derek Watchorn
Director
Derek Watchorn has a legal and business background. He was for many years a partner of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg in Toronto. Following this, he held senior executive positions with Canary Wharf plc. and TrizecHahn plc. located in London, England. Thereafter, for five years, he was the President and CEO of Revera Inc, a retirement and nursing home business based in Mississauga.
Currently, Derek is a director of two publicly traded companies listed on the TSX, a member of the Management Committee responsible for the development of the Buttonville airport in Markham, a member of the Advisory Committee for Graywood Developments Limited, a Toronto based real estate developer and the Chair of Polo For Heart, an annual charitable event held in Aurora.
Richard Wilson
Director
Richard Wilson has previously held senior operational roles in international organizations involved in mining services, building products and textiles, and Magna International, Exteriors.
Suzanne Wolfe
Director
Suzanne Wolfe is the Vice President of Organizational Development at Danaher Corporation headquartered in Washington D.C. Suzanne has held several positions in the Danaher organization over the last 30 years. In her role as Vice President of Human Resources & Communications for the SCIEX business, she facilitated the transfer of the manufacturing facility from Concord, Ontario to Singapore. Suzanne led the acquisition and integration of three businesses in the US, the acquisition of two carve-outs from sister companies in the US and India, the divestiture of a business in the US and the closure of a product line globally. She successfully led the ISO 2000 certification for the quality management system (QMS). Under her leadership, SCIEX was ranked number 22 in the Globe and Mail’s Top 100 companies (2002) to work for due to a performance-based culture and a progressive and supportive work environment.
In her current role since 2015, Suzanne has led the design, implementation and management of a global selection and development assessment framework and a global coaching model and internal certification process. She is currently managing a change enablement framework to ensure that change initiative targets are met and sustained.
Suzanne holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Adult Education from the University of Toronto. She is trained as an executive coach and is a certified change practitioner.
Non-Director Members
Sam Aly
Non-Director Member
Sam is currently with the York Region Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). He is an accomplished finance and administration leader with over 20 years of progressive experience in accounting, finance, and human resource management. Sam brings expertise in Business, Marketing, Communications, Human Resources, Education, Social Services Health and Policy. Prior to CMHA, he was Director of Finance at the Canadian Red Cross Society and preceding, he was Director of Corporate Services at Brant County Health Unit.
Sam is a Certified General Accountant (CGA), has a Master of Business Administration, Major in Finance and Information Technology Management, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Administration, Major in Accounting. He also has a Masters Certificate in Risk Management and Business Performance.
Sam has served as Board member on the Financial Advisory Committee for the City of Owen Sound and Strategic Planning Advisory Committee for the Marine & Rail Museum.
Sam Aly currently serve on Kinark Child and Family Services’ Board of Directors.
Mary Ann McConkey
Non-Director Member
Mary Ann McConkey retired from the University of Toronto after a thirty-plus year career in Human Resources and Labour Relations, holding the position of Director of Labour Relations for the final ten years of her tenure at UofT.
Mary Ann earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Toronto, specializing in psychology, as well a post-graduate certificate in Human Resources Management from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto, and has taught Human Resources courses at the Community College and University levels. Mary Ann lives in Aurora in a ‘multi-generational’ household with her daughter and granddaughter.
Southlake Staff Members
Arden Krystal
President & CEO
Secretary of the Board
Arden Krystal joined Southlake Regional Health Centre as President and Chief Executive Officer in October 2017. Since 2008, Arden held senior executive roles in two of Canada’s largest health regions: The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) and the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in British Columbia.
Arden was responsible for leading thousands of staff and physicians to improve and sustain quality of care and overseeing financial stewardship of budgets totaling more than $1-billion.
Dr. Steven Beatty
Chief of Staff
Dr. Steven Beatty joined Southlake in 1987 as a full-time Plastic Surgeon in the Department of Surgery. Since then, he has held a number of administrative positions including:Chief of Surgery, memberof the Medical Staff Executive, Physician Leader for the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Program, Head of the Division of Plastic Surgery, and in 2011 was appointed Physician Leader for the Surgical Program. Dr. Beatty is also an active member of the Medical Advisory Committee.
Elizabeth Ferguson
Vice President, Clinical Transformation, Patient Experience and Chief Nursing Executive
Chief Nursing Executive
Liz is a nurse executive with expertise in strategic change initiatives in acute care hospitals and a passion for patient and family centred care. Prior to joining Southlake, Liz was the Vice-President, Patient Programs, Flow and Chief Nursing Executive at Royal Victoria Health Centre and Vice-President Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Executive at Sault Area Hospital. Liz also served as Director, Clinical Programs, Centre for Brain and Mental Health at SickKids where she also started her nursing career as a pediatric intensive care nurse.
Liz is a Registered Nurse who holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and Master of Science in Nursing from D’Youville College. She has completed the Advanced Healthcare Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Liz has recently chaired regional clinical steering committees in multi-site projects for the implementation of Meditech Expanse in both Northern Ontario and Central North and served as a key influencer in the Provincial Epilepsy Strategy in 2016. Liz is a visionary, value-based leader and advocate for the design and delivery of an innovative, quality-driven health care system.
Medical Staff Association
Dr. John Randle
President, Medical Staff Association
Dr. John Randle joined Southlake Regional Health Centre in 2001 as a full time Orthopaedic Surgeon in the Department of Surgery. He was the Division Head of Orthopaedic Surgery for six years before becoming the Vice President of the Medical Staff Association in 2008. He has been the President of the Medical Staff Assocation since July 2012 and a member of the Hospital Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Committee since 2008.
Dr. Randle attended medical school at the University of Toronto, where he completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery in 1998. He has subspecialty fellowship training through the Arthroscopy Associate of North America in shoulder reconstruction surgery specializing in arthroscopic procedures. In addition, he performed a post doctoral fellowship and was on active staff at the University of Calgary prior to joining Southlake.
Dr. Edward Chan
Vice-President, Medical Staff Association
Dr. Edward Chan joined the Southlake Department of Emergency Medicine as a Courtesy Staff member in 2008 and then joined the Active Staff in 2010. Dr. Chan has been the Vice President of the Medical Staff Association since July 2012 and is currently the Physician Leader of the Emergency Program.
He completed his medical degree at the University of Ottawa and Family Medicine Residency at the University of Toronto. He holds a certification in Emergency Medicine through the Canadian College of Family Physicians. Dr. Chan has held positions in Kirkland Lake, Orillia Soldier’s Memorial and Royal Victoria Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Health Centre.
Calendar
Policies
2021 Meeting Summaries
2020 Meeting Summaries
As with many hospitals dealing with the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, our Board opted to suspend open board meetings, effective March 2020, until in-person attendance can resume. There were no Board meetings in October and December 2020.
2019 Meeting Summaries
2018 Meeting Summaries
2017 Meeting Summaries
2016 Meeting Summaries
2015 Meeting Summaries