St. Michael's Hospital

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About Us

Executive Biographies

Robert Howard
President and Chief Executive Officer

Robert J. Howard is the President and CEO of St. Michael’s Hospital. Dr. Howard brings expert medical knowledge and highly regarded leadership qualities to his new role of President and CEO. He has played a number of key roles at St. Michael’s Hospital - as a clinician, a researcher and a member of the executive leadership team.  Dr. Howard joined the Hospital as staff cardiologist in 1982 and was appointed Director of the University of Toronto training program in Cardiology in 1989.  In 1998, Dr. Howard was named the Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer.  In 2002, Dr. Howard was appointed Executive Vice-President, Programs and Education to acknowledge the growing importance of the education and academic partnerships portfolio at the Hospital.  Through his thoughtful guidance, St. Michael’s Hospital’s Fitzgerald Academy has become the first choice for University of Toronto medical students.

St. Michael's Hospital is a growing global player in research, innovative care and education. Dr. Howard leads St. Michael’s Hospital in bringing health sciences research and medical education together in a unique clinical setting to bring advances in health care directly to patients’ bedsides faster than ever before.  In 2010, St. Michael’s Hospital will officially open the doors of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute which is comprised of the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Centre in Healthcare Education.

Dr. Howard has an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the University of Toronto, a medical degree from McMaster University and an executive MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business.  An associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Howard serves on the Boards of HealthForceOntario and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Academy.

In keeping with St. Michael's role as a teaching hospital, Dr. Howard continues to teach echocardiography to residents and fellows of the University of Toronto and until recently practiced clinical cardiology one day a week.

 

Alayne Metrick
President of St. Michael's Hospital Foundation

Alayne has headed the Foundation since 1995. Previously, she was president of Centenary Hospital Foundation for nine years. During her tenure, net revenues at St. Michael’s Hospital have grown from $5.5M to $38M. Alayne has also completed three campaigns, all exceeding goal. The Foundation had a fundraising first in North America in 1998 when 100% of St. Michael's physicians contributed to the campaign. In 2002, Alayne and the Foundation achieved another first, as the only organization to obtain 100% participation from the Hospital’s doctors for a second time.

In 2002, Alayne received her fellows designation (FAHP) from the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy and is one of only 14 in Canada who hold this designation. She has received many awards over the years acknowledging her expertise and dedication, including the prestigious Community of Service Award from St. Michael’s Hospital and, in 2005, the Association for Fundraising Professional’s Fundraiser of the Year Award. She is also a current member of the Campaign Cabinet, a former member of the Greater Toronto Chapter of AFP and former member of Association of Healthcare Philanthropy Regional Cabinet.

 

Ella Ferris
Executive Vice President of Programs & Chief Nursing Executive

Ella Ferris has been with St. Michael's Hospital since 1972. A Registered Nurse with an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, she has served in many different areas, notably as Program Director for both the Diabetes Comprehensive Care Program and the Heart and Vascular Program, and as Program Director for the SARS Unit during Toronto’s crisis year of 2003.

Currently, Ella is Executive Vice President, Programs, and Chief Nursing Executive overseeing the program areas of trauma neurosurgery; mobility; heart and vascular; quality and risk management; nursing and health disciplines professional practice; and clinical informatics.

 

John King
Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer

John King has over 25 years of health care experience. He was Senior Vice President of the Alberta Healthcare Association and Senior Operating Officer of several Alberta hospitals under the umbrella of the Calgary Regional Health Authority before moving to Ontario to become Assistant Deputy Minister of Programs in the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. He controlled the largest unit budget in the Province, $14 billion.

Appointed in 2002 as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at St. Michael's Hospital, John oversees finance, planning, information systems, human resources, legal services, corporate performance, medical imaging, labs, pharmacy, and supply chain and support services functions.

John is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and received his Masters in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa.  He is a Certified Health Executive and is an executive member of the Canadian College of Health Services Executives Board of Directors.

John is an avid supporter of international exchange programs with physicians, administrators and politicians from Canada and Scandinavian countries.

 

Dr. Douglas Sinclair
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

After a 22-year hiatus in Nova Scotia, Dr. Doug Sinclair rejoined St. Michael’s where his medical career first began. Following his graduation from the Faculty of Medicine in 1980, Doug completed his clerkship in Toronto, became chief resident of Emergency Medicine at U of T and an attending staff emergency physician at St. Michael’s. Doug has spent the last two decades in Halifax in a number of progressive leadership and academic roles, including founding Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, Vice President of Medical Services at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre (QEII) and most recently, Associate Dean of Continuing Education in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University.

Doug returned to St. Michael’s to become executive vice president and chief medical officer in January 2010. “St. Michael’s is a place that has the opportunity to really close that gap that frustrates most academic clinicians in moving research discoveries to patient care,” he says. “I am very impressed by the commitment and focus of the staff at St. Michael’s – their enthusiasm for their work is palpable.”

 

Dr. Patricia Houston
Vice President, Education

Patricia Houston is the Vice-President, Education and Anesthetist-in-chief.  Dr. Houston joined St. Michael’s Hospital in 1997 and became Anesthetist-in-chief in 2000. She was appointed Vice President, Education, in January 2009.  Dr. Houston has served as Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee.  In this role she introduced a program for ongoing quality improvement and performance review of all physicians in the institution.  She has helped to align the hospital physician privilege categories with the University of Toronto Clinical Faculty Policy.

Dr. Houston is a Professor and Vice-Chair Education in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Toronto. She previously chaired the National Examining Committee in Anesthesia and currently chairs the national Continuing Education and Professional Development Committee.

Prior to joining St. Michael’s Hospital, Dr. Houston was the Medical Director of the Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the Toronto Western Hospital.  She holds an M.D. and Masters in Education from the University of Toronto and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Dr. Houston’s appointment fulfils a specific direction in the Hospital’s new strategic plan. She was very involved in both the creation of the education strategic plan in 2007 and this direction in the Hospital’s 2009-2012 strategic plan.

 

 

Dr. Arthur S. Slutsky
Vice President, Research

Arthur Slutsky holds degrees in engineering science and industrial engineering at the University of Toronto and in medicine from McMaster University. After completing a pulmonary fellowship at Harvard Medical School he stayed on as an assistant professor. In 1984 he returned to the University of Toronto and four years later became a professor of medicine, surgery, and biomedical engineering. From 1989 to 2000 he was Division Director, respiratory medicine. Arthur is currently Director of the interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine at UofT as well as Vice President, Research, St. Michael's. His major interest is translational research in the context of the intensive care unit with a focus on mechanical ventilation.

Dr. Slutsky has published over 350 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and editorials, and his honours include membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the William Goldie Prize for Research, the Sandoz Senior Investigator Award, election to the Fleischner Society for Thoracic Imaging and Diagnosis, and the Recognition for Scientific Accomplishments Award of the American Thoracic Society. He is an advisor to the Food and Drug Administration on Biomedical Research, and recently completed two terms as chair of an FDA Advisory Panel (respiratory and anesthesiology devices).