Speakers
Annual meeting presenters
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Michael T. Cohen, MD
President, CMPA
Dr. Michael T. Cohen is a family physician who practises medicine in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador. He graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Medical Sciences in 1977 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1979. In 1975, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis Xavier University.
Since 1980, Dr. Cohen has been on active staff at the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre, where he served as president of the medical staff and chief of staff for 10 years.
Throughout his medical career, Dr. Cohen has served on numerous governance bodies. He is a past president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (1996-1997), a founding member of the Atlantic Provinces Medical Peer Review program, and a past chair of the Canadian Medical Association’s committee on health care and promotion (2001-2005).
Dr. Cohen was first elected to CMPA Council in 2000. He has served on many of the Association’s committees, including the Executive Committee, and as the chair of the Case Review Committee and Governance Committee. Prior to his election as president, Dr. Cohen served as the CMPA’s second and first vice-president.
Dr. Cohen is a strong advocate for protecting physician integrity and safe medical care.
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Lisa Calder, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Chief Executive Officer, CMPA
Dr. Calder completed her Medical Degree at the University of Western Ontario. She has a Master of Science in epidemiology from the University of Ottawa, where she also completed her Royal College Emergency Medicine residency and an emergency medicine research fellowship.
She then pursued her passion for patient safety by completing two additional fellowships: the Patient Safety Fellowship in Emergency Medicine from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation, and the American Hospital Association’s Fellowship in Patient Safety Leadership.
As a researcher, she has published close to 90 peer-reviewed publications and has been successful in securing research funding, including over 2 million dollars as principal investigator.
Dr. Calder is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Department of Emergency Medicine, and has received the University of Ottawa’s Excellence in Emergency Medicine Quality and Safety Award as well as the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians’ Teacher of the Year Award.
Dr. Calder spent more than a decade practising as an emergency physician in Ottawa before joining the CMPA in 2015 as the director of Medical Care Analytics. She was appointed CEO of the CMPA in August 2020. Her areas of focus are to be there for members, modernize the CMPA, and do so in a collaborative way.
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Jean-Hugues Brossard, MD, CSPQ, FRCPC
Incoming President, CMPA
Dr. Jean-Hugues Brossard graduated from Université de Montréal’s medical school in 1986. After a residency in internal medicine and endocrinology, he completed a fellowship in bone and mineral metabolism. Since 1994, Dr. Brossard has taught and practiced endocrinology at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) as associate professor of clinical medicine.
During his residency, Dr. Brossard was president of the Fédération des médecins residents du Québec (1987-1992). While in practice, he presided over the Association des médecins endocrinologues du Québec (1996-2005) and was involved in medical research (1993 – 2007). From 2006 to 2015, he was medical director of the metabolic medicine program at the CHUM and chief of endocrinology from 2009 to 2015. Since 2015, he has been managing partner of the Clinique d’Endocrinologie de Montréal and has progressively increased his involvement in CMPA governance.
Dr. Brossard was first elected to CMPA Council in 2002. He has served on many of the Association’s committees over the years and as chair of the extent of assistance, investment, and case review committees. Since 2020, he has served as the CMPA’s first vice-president.
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Cory Garbolinsky, CPA, CA
Executive Director, Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer, CMPA
Mr. Cory Garbolinsky is the CMPA’s Executive Director of Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer. His responsibilities encompass the Association’s finance, investment, and actuarial functions.
Mr. Garbolinsky joined the CMPA in 2012 as the Director of Finance. Prior to the CMPA, he worked as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance for International Datacasting Corporation, previously a TSX listed technology company. Mr. Garbolinsky obtained his Chartered Accounting designation in 1998 and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba in 1995.
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Darcy Johnson, BSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Council Member and Chair, Audit Committee, CMPA
Dr. Darcy Johnson provides medical care at several rural Manitoba family practices, the Stony Mountain Institution, and at the Canadian Forces Base 17 Wing. He is also on active medical staff at Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg.
A graduate of the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Johnson is a past president of Doctors Manitoba (2007-2008) and a past president of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians (2003-2004).
As a longstanding and passionate advocate for physicians, Dr. Johnson has served on many boards and committees. He currently serves on MD Financial Management’s inaugural physician advisory council. He formerly served as secretary of the section of family practice at Doctors Manitoba, as chair of the department of family practice at Concordia Hospital, and also served on the boards of the Canadian Medical Association and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).
Dr. Johnson is the recipient of the CFPC Award of Excellence (2008), was named Family Physician of the Year in 2009 by the Manitoba College of Family Physicians, and was one of CFPC’s Canada’s Family Physicians of the year in 2009.
Information Session presenters
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Kendall Ho, MD, FRCPC, FCAHS
Professor and lead—Digital Emergency Medicine Unit, UBC Faculty of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine
Dr. Kendall Ho is a practising emergency physician with over 30 years experience. He is a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine, the lead of UBC’s Digital Emergency Medicine Unit, and the medical director of the virtual physician program at HealthLink BC.
He is a member of Health Canada’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Digital Health Technologies, the CMA Virtual Care Task Force, the National Research Council Medical Devices Research Centre Advisory Board, and chair of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians Digital Emergency Medicine Committee.
Dr. Ho’s research interests include virtual care, digital health with sensors and wearables, and big data/AI in emergency medicine.
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Ewan Affleck, CM, MDCM, CCFP
Senior Medical Advisor–Health Informatics, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta
A graduate of the McGill School of Medicine and Dalhousie University where he studied history, Dr. Ewan Affleck has worked and lived in northern Canada since 1992. He is currently serving as the senior medical advisor in health informatics at the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta.
Dr. Affleck is the chair of the Alberta Virtual Care Coordinating Body, a member of the pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy Expert Advisory Group, and was chair of the national Task Team on Equitable Access to Virtual Care. He is the past chief medical information officer of the Northwest Territories and was co-chair of the CMA Virtual Care Taskforce.
Dr. Affleck is the executive producer and co-writer of The Unforgotten (2021), an award-winning film about inequities in health service for Indigenous people living in Canada. In 2013, he was appointed to the Order of Canada for his contribution to northern healthcare.
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Heather Ross, CM, MD, DSc, MHSc, FRCP (C), FACC
Head, Division of Cardiology, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network
Dr. Heather Ross is a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and head of the Division of Cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. She received the Order of Canada in 2020 (CM), and an Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) from Queen’s University in 2021.
Dr. Ross is the site lead for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and currently holds the Loretta A. Rogers Chair in Heart Function and the Pfizer Chair in Cardiovascular Research. She received her medical degree from the University of British Columbia, her cardiology training at Dalhousie University, and her postdoctoral fellowship in cardiac transplantation at Stanford University, California. She earned a Master of Bioethics from the University of Toronto. She has published over 370 peer-reviewed articles and won numerous awards including the inaugural CCS Women in Cardiovascular Medicine/Science Mentorship Award (2020) and the Canadian Heart Failure Society Annual Achievement Award (2019).
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Katharine Smart, MD, FRCPC
President, Canadian Medical Association
Dr. Katharine Smart is a pediatrician in Whitehorse, Yukon. Her work is centred on developing collaborative partnerships with community and government services to serve marginalized children using a model of social pediatrics.
Dr. Smart works primarily with children who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood events, and she witnesses the broad and lasting impact these events have on children and their development daily. She is passionate about improving services for marginalized children in an effort to change their life trajectory. In addition to her community-based work, Dr. Smart enjoys acute care and provides on-call services to the hospital. Before moving to the Yukon, she was a pediatric emergency medicine physician at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.
Since starting the role as president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in August 2021, Dr. Smart has cemented a reputation as a trusted, authoritative voice to advance key priorities for Canadian physicians and the medical profession. Her presidency has been underscored by some of the most difficult challenges health care workers have ever faced in Canada. She is one of Canada’s leading health care experts, respected and lauded by colleagues across the country.
As president of the CMA—the national voice of the medical profession–Dr. Smart is the 10th woman to take on this role in the association’s 154-year history. She is leading the profession at a key moment in time, as more women enter medicine than ever before and the need for health leadership is paramount.
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Nancy Whitmore, MD, FRCSC, MBA
Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Dr. Nancy Whitmore joined the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) as registrar and CEO in June 2018 and embarked on a transformational journey. With a strategic focus on the corporate vision of “Trusted Doctors Providing Great Care,” Dr. Whitmore implemented Right-Touch Regulation enabled by Lean principles across all core regulatory functions at the CPSO.
Simultaneously, the CPSO created and implemented a new, modern business infrastructure making it the first fully digital regulator in Canada.
Throughout her career, Dr. Whitmore has held numerous leadership positions. Prior to her role at CPSO she served as president and CEO of St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, where she also served as vice-president and chief of staff. Dr. Whitmore was instrumental in the implementation of substantial process improvements throughout the hospital and played a key role in making St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital an award-winning facility.
Dr. Whitmore received her medical degree from the University of Manitoba and completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at Western University. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a graduate of the MBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University. As an avid lifelong learner, Dr. Whitmore has also completed the Executive Training for Research Application (EXTRA) Program at the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, where her project work focused on Lean process redesign in healthcare and its role improving quality of care and patient safety.
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Pamela Eisener-Parsche, MD, CCFP (COE), FCFP, CCPE
Executive Director, Member Experience, CMPA
Dr. Pamela Eisener-Parsche is a family physician, with a Certificate of Added Competence in Care of the Elderly. Dr. Eisener-Parsche has held several hospital leadership roles at Bruyère Continuing Care in Ottawa, including as chief of staff.
In 2014, she moved to the College of Family Physicians of Canada where she held the position of executive director of Academic Family Medicine. She came to the CMPA in 2016, as the director of Physician Consulting Services. In 2020, she took on the executive director role of Member Experience, responsible for medico-legal services, physician support and wellness, and membership services.
Dr. Eisener-Parsche holds the designation of Certified Canadian Physician Executive and served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society of Physician Leaders for 12 years.
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Domenic A. Crolla
Partner, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
Mr. Crolla has appeared before all levels of courts and administrative tribunals including as lead counsel in a number of complex matters in both a trial and appellate capacity. He is a senior advisor to the CMPA.
Mr. Crolla is a frequent author and lecturer and the editor of Electronic Healthcare Law Review (LexisNexis). He has taught in Osgoode Hall Law School’s LL.M in health law program and was the regional director of Osgoode’s LL.M in e-business. Mr. Crolla participated in the drafting of a proposed convention on telehealth as part of the work of the Medicine and the Law Committee, International Bar Association (IBA).
He is a member of a number of professional societies where he has served in a number of capacities including as president of the County of Carleton Law Association, as chair of the Medicine and the Law Committee, IBA, and is a past director of the Advocates’ Society and Bar-Ex Communications. He was a member of the Steering Committee for the Futures Program of the Canadian Bar Association. He is a Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America.
Mr. Crolla is recognized by Chambers Canada (band 1), Benchmark Canada, the Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Leading Lawyer), and The Best Lawyers in Canada (several Lawyer of the Year recognitions). In 2021, he received the Ontario Bar Association’s Susan Hillary Davidson Award for Excellence in Health Law and is a 2021 recipient of the Medical Professional Liability Association’s Defender Award. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Crolla was a member of Gowling WLG’s Executive Committee and held the position of firm managing partner, internal. Until 2022, Domenic was lead trustee of the firm’s Board of Trustees.