General Information
Held in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the 13th Annual Western Canadian Healthcare Summit is a forum that allows Western Canadian healthcare officials, senior policy makers, and the private sector to meet and discuss the ways in which government transforms the quality healthcare delivery arena to produce effective and efficient solutions.
This conference brings together many of the best subject matter experts in the field to share case studies, cutting edge policy, programs, research and technologies aimed at successful collaboration within shared services and the healthcare industry. It also provides sponsoring companies the opportunity to showcase their newest products and latest innovations.
2013 Conference Themes
- Citizen Centered Services
- BC’s Services Card
- Mobility from a TeleHealth Perspective
- Big Data & Analytics
- Going Lean in Healthcare
- Change Agents from Across Western Canada
Target Audience
- Federal, provincial and regional healthcare officials
- Senior policy makers
- Intelligence and technology officials
- Academics
- Healthcare professionals
Conference Rates
Public Sector | $400.00 CAD (plus GST) |
Private Sector | $750.00 CAD (plus GST) |
Delta Grand Okanagan Resort
Speakers

Rob Ayoub
Security Strategist, Fortinet Technologies Inc.
Rob Ayoub
Rob Ayoub is a Security Strategist with Fortinet. In this role, Rob keeps abreast of the latest security challenges and works with customers in a variety of verticals to deploy security solutions in order to address the latest threats. Prior to working at Fortinet, Rob Ayoub was the Research Manager for Frost & Sullivan’s Information Security program where he helped customers understand specific solutions needed to secure their environment and meet regulatory requirement guidelines.

Bonnie Blakley
Vice President, People and Partnerships, Saskatoon Health Authority
Bonnie Blakley
Bonnie Blakley knew from an early age she wanted to serve the social fabric of families and communities in her home province of Saskatchewan. Today, as Saskatoon Health Region’s Vice President People and Partnerships, she leads teams of human resources and population health professionals to transform the care and service provided by the province’s largest employer and health-care provider. Bonnie was previously Executive Director of the Workforce Planning branch in the province’s Department of Health, where she led the development of Working Together: Saskatchewan’s Health Workforce Action Plan. The plan identified six strategic goals and more than 80 action items to guide provincial health human resource planning. Together with experience in the Department of Community Resources and Employment, Bonnie’s contributions included performance reporting, accountability initiatives and aboriginal health policies. In 2006, Bonnie was named the YWCA Regina Woman of Distinction in the Health and Wellness category, an honour she received for providing mentorship and leadership skills to women in a Public Service Commission aboriginal mentorship program. Bonnie is a mother, volunteer, leader and soccer enthusiast who brings her personal philosophy to work everyday: respect people, contribute to your community, and live your family and work lives as if they are one. Bonnie was educated at the University of Regina and has an executive certificate in Human Capital Management from Queens University. Recently Bonnie completed a Master’s of Leadership with a specialization in health at Royal Roads University where she researched and wrote about leading in lean organization.

Dr. Bruce C. Carleton
Professor and Chair, Division of Translational Therapeutics, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia
Dr. Bruce C. Carleton
Dr. Carleton’s lifelong goal is to make medication use more effective and safer for all patients, particularly children. His current focus in meeting this goal is the use of patients’ genetic information to identify who is likely to suffer serious or permanently disabling reactions to specific drugs.
A key element of Dr. Carleton’s research is the communication of results to clinicians, patients, healthcare administrators, and government officials – those who also hold responsibilities to improve patient care within our systems of healthcare delivery.
Dr. Carleton has served in several past roles in both provincial and national agencies. He worked for many years with the BC PharmaCare division on drug policy programs, culminating as Lead, Drugs and Drug Policy for the BC Ministry of Health from 2005-06. He is the longest-serving member of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health Expert Advisory Committee, having served in this capacity since the agency’s founding in 2003. Dr. Carleton was recently asked to serve the US Government as a Special Government Employee to advise the Advisory Committee for Pharmaceuticals and Clinical Pharmacology of the FDA on pediatric drug issues. He continues to advise and work with Health Canada on a number of initiatives to improve the safety of drugs for Canadians. Dr. Carleton is currently Chair of the BC Ministry of Health’s Data Stewardship Committee which advises the provincial government on health data issues and reviews data access applications for research and health planning purposes.
Dr. Carleton cares deeply for all the patients and families that he has the privilege to serve and is active in this capacity at both BC Children’s Hospital and the SunnyHill Health Centre for Children in Vancouver.

Heather Davidson
Assistant Deputy Minister, Planning and Innovation Division, Ministry of Health, Province of BC
Heather Davidson
Heather Davidson was appointed the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Planning and Innovation Division in April 2012. From March 2010 to April 2012, she served as the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Health Authorities Division. She was previously the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Housing and Social Development from October 2006 to March 2010. Before this, she was Executive Director, Housing Policy at the Office of Housing and Construction Standards, Ministry of Forests and Range, for six months. Her time at the Office of Housing and Construction Standards was preceded by 15 years at the Ministry of Health where she was Executive Director of the Strategic Policy and Research Department for three years and Executive Director of Pharmacare for a year. Heather holds a PhD in Psychology (Adult Development and Aging) from the University of Victoria. Prior to joining the BC Public Service in 1991, she worked as a psychologist providing clinical psychological services, as well as collaborating in research projects related to the provision and evaluation of medical services for the elderly.

Jim Eckler
COO, Health Shared Services BC
Jim Eckler
Jim Eckler is the COO of Health Shared Services BC (HSSBC), an innovative services business for the health authorities in British Columbia. With over 1800 employees, HSSBC provides support services in finance, human resources, IT, and supply chain management using a shared services model of outsourcing. Jim is a recognized authority across North America with visionary insights on leading outsourcing practices, supply chain, technology, and operations management. His background includes over 35 years of experience. For over 18 years Jim has held senior executive roles in operating companies including 14 years as President and CEO of SCI Group Inc., a leading logistics outsourcing services company. Prior to his executive leadership positions, Jim spent 17 years as a partner with KPMG in Canada and as a logistics management consultant with Booz Allen in the US. Jim is a graduate in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and in Management Science from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences across NorthAmerica and has lectured at York University, McGill University, University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia.

Ian Fish
Canadian Lead for Connected Healthcare Offering, Accenture & former CIO, Manitoba e-Health
Ian Fish
Ian Fish is Accenture’s Connected Health Lead for Canada. Ian is an accomplished healthcare information management and technology executive with a demonstrated track record in successfully leading cross-functional teams in both the public (hospital, regional, provincial and federal) and private sectors. Ian has over 20 years of health care experience with a progressive focus on leading business and clinical change initiatives that are underpinned by the strategic use of information technology. Ian’s leadership experience includes successfully developing the vision, business-case, governance and shared-service delivery strategy for a large provincial eHealth organization. Ian’s information technology career is grounded by senior management experience within government, regional health authority, acute-care hospital, and primary care environments. His experience also includes doing culturally appropriate, community-based health research with the Northern Medical Unit at the University of Manitoba. Ian received a Masters of Science in Community Health Sciences, and Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Economics) from University of Manitoba.

Mal Griffin
Chief Information Officer and Corporate Director, Service Innovation, Interior Health
Mal Griffin
Malcolm (Mal) Griffin was appointed to the position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Corporate Director, Service Innovation at the Interior Health Authority in December 2012. Previously, Mal was the Regional Director Laboratory Services and CIO (April 2010) and Acting Vice President, Clinical Services and CIO (April 2011 through March 2012). Mal was first appointed CIO at Interior Health in September 2005 and has held management roles in the areas of diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, biomedical engineering, information technology, information management, systems development, and application implementation and support.
Mal completed his MBA studies at the University of Fredericton in August 2014, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University and has more than 24 years’ experience in the health care industry. In 2009, Mal was named one of Computer World’s Premier 100 IT Leaders.

Bette-Jo Hughes
Associate Deputy Minister and Government Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services, Province of British Columbia
Bette-Jo Hughes
Bette-Jo has been the Chief Information Officer for the Province of British Columbia since October 2012. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) plays a leadership role in promoting and guiding the management of government information as a strategic business asset, and supporting technology infrastructure as a key enabler of business transformation. Prior to her current appointment, Bette-Jo was Assistant Deputy Minister of Service BC where she led cross government service delivery initiatives to improve services to the public across online, telephone and in-person channels, registry and statistical services.
Bette-Jo has been involved in the development of service delivery agreements with the private sector, including the negotiation of the Service BC – IBM Alternative Service Delivery Agreement for the provision of web channel and contact centre services.
Prior to joining the Government Agents Branch and Service BC, Bette-Jo worked at the provincial and community level in the field of community economic development. Before starting her career over 20 years ago with the British Columbia public service, Bette-Jo worked in the financial services industry, the federal government and non-profit organizations.
Bette-Jo has previously been the British Columbia representative on the Canadian Public Sector Service Delivery Council and past President of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Citizen Centred Service. She currently is the B.C. representative for the Public Sector Chief Information Officers’ Council.

Lydia Hwitsum
Chairperson, Board of Directors, First Nations Health Authority
Lydia Hwitsum
Lydia Hwitsum serves as Chairperson on the Board of Directors for the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). The First Nations Health Authority Board of Directors is the corporate governance arm of the BC First Nations health governing structure. Their role in the negotiation and implementation of the transfer of regional operations of First Nations Inuit Health Branch – BC Region to the First Nations Health Authority will change the way health care is designed, administered and delivered to BC First Nations. Lydia graduated from University of Victoria’s Law School; she has a Certificate in the Administration of Aboriginal Government, a Diploma in Public Sector Management, and training in Conflict Resolution. Lydia has held a number of prominent leadership positions, including Chief of Cowichan Tribes, Task Group member of the First Nations Summit, BC Region elected representative on the Assembly of First Nations National Women’s Council, and former Chair of the First Nations Health Council. She also has served on a number of Boards, including at the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, the Land Title and Survey Authority, and the Tele’ethw Aboriginal Capital Corporation.

Lindsay Kislock
Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Sector IM/IT, Ministry of Health, Province of BC
Lindsay Kislock
Lindsay Kislock joined the Ministry of Health as the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Health Sector Information Management and Information Technology in July 2011. Lindsay provides leadership in the governance and strategic management of the health sector’s information and technology portfolios. Lindsay is also responsible for the operation of the Vital Statistics Agency, HealthLink British Columbia.
Prior to this appointment, Lindsay held ADM positions with the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue.
Lindsay holds a Masters degree from the Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Lakehead University.

David Levine
President & CEO, DL Consulting; former CEO, Montreal Health Region
David Levine
David Levine is presently President and CEO of DL Consulting, a management consulting group, primarily in health care, looking at strategic management issues of institutions and health care systems both in the public and private sector. David Levine left the Montreal Health and Social Service Agency in April 2012 after ten years as President and CEO. The Agency is responsible for health and social services on the island of Montreal. With a 1.9 million population and a 6.3 billion operating budget this, other than Alberta, is the largest health region in Canada. There are 8 university teaching hospitals, 4 psychiatric hospitals, 12 health and social service networks, and 19 other specialty institutions under the Agency’s jurisdiction. Previous to the Agency in 2002 Mr. Levine was junior minister of health for the province of Quebec. From 1998 to 2001 Mr. Levine held the position of President and CEO of the Ottawa Hospital responsible for merging 5 hospitals into the Ottawa Hospital as a result of the recommendation of the restructuring commission in Ontario. In 1997-98 Mr. Levine was the Delegate General in New York for the Quebec Government. He was also President and CEO of Notre-Dame hospital, Quebec’s largest teaching hospital at the time, from 1992 until 1997. From 1982-1992 he was president and CEO of the Verdun General hospital, a community teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Montreal. Mr. Levine has held the post of associate vice-president prevention at the commission of occupational health and safety as well as economic adviser to the minister of state for economic development from 1977 to 1980. He was CEO of the Local Community Health Center in downtown Montreal from 1975 to 1977. Mr. Levine has a bachelors degree in civil engineering form McGill University 1970,a Masters of Philosophy in Bio Medical engineering from Imperial College, London, England 1972, and a masters in Health Administration from the University of Montreal 1975. Mr. Levine has been President of the Association of Teaching Hospitals of Canada, President of the Association of CEO’s of Quebec, a board member of the Ontario Hospital Association, the Quebec Hospital Association, and the Canadian Institute of Health Information. Mr. Levine is currently Adjunct Professor in the department of Family Medicine at McGill University and Clinical Professor in the Department of Health Administration at the University of Montreal. He is presently giving a course in public administration at the University of Moncton. He has recently been named Chairman of the board of The Group for Personalized Health Care of Quebec, a non profit organization where the minister of economic development of Quebec, the minister of health and social services in Quebec and major private sector companies in the pharmaceutical and information service industry are partners. Mr. Levine has been recently named to the board of Neomed, a Bio -Tech company that is a public private partnership for the development and testing of new molecules in health care. Mr. Levine has been recently named to the board of The Personalized Medicine Partnership for Cancer, a public private partnership for the development of diagnostic testing tools using personalized medicine. Recent clients are Medtronic of Canada, TELUS, Ministry of Health Government of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Research on Public Policy and Public Administration.

Jeff Mackey
Director, Western Canada – Lean Practice, Fujitsu
Jeff Mackey
Mr. Mackey is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 14 years of industry experience. His expertise has been utilized by a number of fortune 500 companies where he has held senior management roles. In addition to the private sector, Mr. Mackey has lead large Public Private Partnership projects as they relate to Continuous Improvement Programs across multiple industries including sitting on the steering committee that developed the HACCP standards for Canada. He has designed, managed and implemented successful complete Corporate Quality, Continuous Improvement, Supply Chain and GMP systems for multiple organizations. Mr. Mackey is currently the lead strategic consultant for the Province of British Columbia’s Lean Program Deployment where he is actively advising on the design and implementation of their target operating model, change management and portfolio management programs. Overseeing a team of expert consultants managing a portfolio of over 60 unique projects across 20 organizations the program is yielding significant cost and efficiency savings for the province.

Perry Martin
Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
Perry Martin
Perry Martin has spent two decades directly involved in the development and implementation of health policy in Canada as a consultant to health businesses and as a senior government official. During his 14 years in government, Perry served as Chief of Staff to three different health ministers and a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Health for Saskatchewan. He also worked as a Chief of Staff for a Canadian government Cabinet Minister as well as with provincial governments in Ontario and Saskatchewan. During his time in government, Perry oversaw significant health care transformations – to home care, long term care and acute care — and policies that resulted in improved outcomes for patients and families. As a Strategic Advisor, Perry crafted government relations strategies and provided ongoing communications advice to the CEOs and Boards of organizations such as Royal Ottawa Hospital, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Hospital, Niagara Health System, Coalition for Action on Tobacco, and Cancer Care Ontario. Perry also served a three year term on the board of Cancer Care Ontario. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences in Ontario and co-chaired a Pan Canadian Working Group on Generic Drug pricing. From 2006 to 2007 Perry Martin was Chief of Staff to the Minister of National Revenue and Western Economic Diversification. From 2007 to 2009 he was Chief of Staff to the Minister of Health for Saskatchewan and from 2009 to March 2012 he was the Senior Government Relations Advisor, at the Toronto office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, an international law firm. Currently Perry serves as Senior Advisor [equivalent to an Assistant Deputy Minister] for the Ministry of Health in Saskatchewan.

Chris Mazurkewich
President and CEO, Interior Health Authority
Chris Mazurkewich
Chris Mazurkewich was appointed as President and CEO of Interior Health (IH) in October 2015.
Chris rejoined IH after spending four years at Alberta Health Services, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the provincial agency. In this role, he worked in close partnership with the Chief Medical Officer overseeing the clinical operations of the Alberta health service delivery system, including about 100 hospitals, community and residential care programs, and support services. Prior to his move to Alberta Health Services, he was the Chief Operating Officer, Strategic & Corporate Services, for Interior Health from its inception in 2002 until 2009.
Through his previous leadership roles, Chris has had the opportunity to manage most elements of the health system, engage with a broad range of stakeholders, and participate extensively in provincial committees. In partnership with clinical colleagues, he has always been committed to understanding the needs of patients, clients, and residents; and ensuring quality services are available to meet those needs.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Saskatchewan, a Master of Administration (Health) from Central Michigan University, and a Chartered Accountant designation.

Joseph Mendez
Vice President, Innovation, Information Management Services & Chief Information Officer
Joseph Mendez
Joseph Mendez is a member of the FNHA Senior Executive Team. Over the past 23 years Mr. Mendez has been in a number of senior executive health-related roles. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Healthtech Management Consultants. In this capacity, Joseph led and supported a number of high profile eHealth, IM/IT and Shared Services initiatives in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Prior to Healthtech Consultants, Joseph was the Vice President / CIO for IM/IT services with Northern Health. After having successfully established Northern Health IM/IT services and implemented one of Northern Health largest most complex organization-wide projects – Health Link North, Joseph was seconded to the Provincial Health Services Authority to serve as the IM/IT Executive Lead. In this role, Joseph led the establishment of the Health Shared Services BC – Information Technology Services. Along with his passion for IM/IT and developing new organizations, Joseph has helped develop and implement a number of Provincial eHealth initiatives, many of which are now in use, effectively supporting improved health access and quality care. Mr. Mendez is married with two children. He has a great passion for classic French cuisine cooking, traveling and golfing. Joseph has Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Health Administration.

Dr. Sarah Muttitt
Senior Provincial Director – Clinical Information Systems, Alberta Health Services
Dr. Sarah Muttitt
Dr. Sarah Muttitt brings more than twenty five years experience in the healthcare industry with a clinical background in pediatrics and neonatology and private/public sector experience in the development and implementation of innovative healthcare technologies. Dr. Muttitt provided leadership for telehealth initiatives across Canada and served as Vice-President, Innovation and Adoption at Canada Health Infoway. Dr. Muttitt joined Singapore’s Ministry of Health in December 2007. As Chief Information Officer, she was responsible for the delivery of the national electronic health record and alignment of health IT initiatives to address emerging health care challenges and priorities. Since returning to Canada, Dr. Muttitt has provided consulting services to support the delivery of Alberta’s Health System IT plan and in February 2013, joined Alberta Health Services to lead the province-wide CIS deployment.

Giles Newman
Partner, KPMG Advisory - Founder, Babybear International
Giles Newman
Giles is an experienced international public sector financial and operational advisor. He has recently set up his own Innovation and Cultural Change consultancy company, babybear international, having been a partner in KPMG in Canada where he has advised provincial government in British Columbia and a number of public sector organizations across Western Canada. He previously headed the national healthcare (public and private sector) practice for Grant Thornton in the UK and was a former board director in the public sector in the UK. Giles specializes in efficiency, performance management and structural reform, with an emphasis on creative problem solving and innovation in tough fiscal environments. Since arriving in Canada he has acted as a strategic adviser to the BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and the provincial Jobs and Investment Board and advised the Select Standing Committee on Healthcare in BC. He has worked with the BC Ministry of Health and with various other public sector and not for profit organizations. He is currently developing advisory offerings based on creative problem solving techniques for banks, universities and municipalities. Giles is committed to innovation, creating new thinking and strategies to solve and advance business problems. He has recently developed INNOV8, an innovative change model that is generating interest across the public and private sectors. INNOV8 is designed to assist clients work through organizational problems and concentrates on promoting cultural as well as specific change.

Barbara Pitts
Senior Vice President, Priorities and Performance, Alberta Health Services
Barbara Pitts
Barbara Pitts is the Senior Vice President of Priorities and Performance, with responsibility for strategic planning, priority setting, organizational accountability, performance, and reporting. In addition, Barbara will work collaboratively with Alberta Health, to coordinate activities and ensure they are aligned with government policy. This will involve creating joint multi-year strategic plans, facilitating ministerial requests regarding input on policies, regulations, and legislation, and coordinating across multiple ministries to meet the more complex or specialized needs of patients and residents of Alberta. Prior to joining Alberta Health Services, Ms. Pitts served as an Associate Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto. She was the National Health Services Practice leader, providing leadership and expertise on health system transformation, with a proven record of developing strategy that translates into action across the organization. She has advised health service leaders from ministries, health networks, to hospital administrators, in the design and implementation of integrated health systems and service delivery models. She has led numerous projects focused on the development and implementation of strategy with numerous Boards of Directors and senior leaders, as well as those focused on improvement of quality and operational performance. Previously, Barbara was a partner and the Chief Operating Officer of Stage-Gate Inc. a new product and innovation company that supported the design and implementation of innovation strategy, new product process and portfolio management. In addition, Barbara held a faculty position at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Organizational Behaviour and Business Strategy. She holds a BA, a BEd and an MBA.

Dr. Brad Popovich
Genome British Columbia, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Brad Popovich
Brad Popovich is the Chief Scientific Officer at Genome British Columbia in Vancouver BC (2011-present). Previously, Brad was a Director 2006-2011; Chair for the Science Committee 2008-2010; and Vice Chair of the Board 2010 – 2011. Outside his present duties at Genome BC, Brad serves as Chairman, Genetic Information Management Systems, and Director, Centre for Drug Research and Development Ventures. Brad was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sirius Genomics from 2006-2009 and was the VP, Operations at Xenon Pharmaceuticals (2001- 2005). Previously, he was the founding Director to the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at Oregon Health Sciences University where he was also the Director of Graduate Education and the Executive Director, Genetic Service Laboratories at the University Hospital. Brad’s genetic training is in genetic counselling (MS, Sarah Lawrence College), biochemical genetics (MS, McGill University), molecular genetics (PhD, McGill University), and postdoctoral training / clinical fellowship (University of Wisconsin, and University of North Carolina, laboratory of Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies.)

Jennifer Rees-Jones
Senior Privacy Investigator, PIPEDA Investigations Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Jennifer Rees-Jones
Jennifer Rees-Jones is a Senior Privacy Investigator for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. In this role, she investigates complaints made pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Canada’s federal privacy statue that applies to private sector organizations. Jennifer previously worked at the Competition Bureau where, as a Competition Law Officer, she conducted investigations for the Fair Business Practices Branch, which administers and enforces the provisions of the Competition Act that deal with false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices. During her time at the Competition Bureau, Jennifer was also appointed as Special Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner of Competition. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa.

Stephen Saunders
Master Health Architect, Global Healthcare, CGI
Stephen Saunders
Stephen Saunders is the Master Health Architect within CGI’s Global Health Industry Practice, spanning 400 offices in 40 countries around the globe. He is an expert in corporate management, business development and enterprise delivery. He has provided lead architecture support and has successfully delivered more than 25 integrated enterprise solutions with budgets between 10 and 150 million dollars. Prior to joining CGI in 2006, Mr. Saunders was the Chief Architect for EDS Canada’s Health IT Practice which spanned every jurisdiction in Canada.
Mr. Saunders is currently responsible for providing CGI’s Health IT Leadership, Portfolio Development and/or Delivery Oversight in many of the world’s most significant Health IT delivery projects including several projects that place the Citizen at the Center of Care.
In the last 25 years, Mr. Saunders has fulfilled the chief architecture role for teams working on enterprise iEHR, HIE, DIS, LAB, DIR/PACS, ERP, EHR, EMR, DW, DSM, Clinical BI, Chronic Care, Collaborative Care, and Deep Clinical/Clinical Viewer/Portal projects and implementations in a number of Canadian and International health care jurisdictions.
Mr. Saunders provides leadership, coordination and training to teams of Technology Architects involved in the delivery of health care solutions ensuring that effort and investment can be leveraged from project to project.
Mr. Saunders works with senior executives and management teams at client sites and in regulatory agencies to ensure that delivered solutions conform to requirements and the locally evolving National, Provincial/State, Regional and/or Municipal Architectural Blueprints. Where issues exist, Mr. Saunders works with blueprint administrators to ensure that they are updated/adjusted as required to suit the specific needs of a client’s solution’s requirements and/or the evolution of Health IT Standards. In this way, Mr. Saunders ensures that solutions address Privacy and Security legislation and conform to industry standards and their inferred business requirements.
Mr. Saunders develops portfolio, researches and reviews new Healthcare Information Technology; he performs due diligence, conducts negotiations and finalizes teaming agreements with potential partner Solution Applications and Services.

Jay Schlosar
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Initiatives Division, Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services
Jay Schlosar
Jay Schlosar is currently the Assistant Deputy Minister in the Strategic Initiatives Division of the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services. In this role, Jay is leading the Division responsible for providing corporate web and data services to government. This Division also oversees the policy development associated with the province’s Open Government agenda, which includes: a new, citizen-focused web presence (www.gov.bc.ca), the DataBC Open Data project, the Open Information project, and citizen engagement. This Division also oversees priority policy development and corporate planning processes with respect to business and technology transformation across government, with recent work culminating in the creation of a transformation and technology strategy for the BC Public Service entitled Citizens @ the Centre: B.C. Government 2.0. Prior to joining this team, Jay served for seven years in the Office of the Premier, most recently as Deputy Chief of Staff for Issues Management and Policy Coordination in that office where he provided communications and policy support to the Premier and Cabinet. Before that, Jay served as a senior political assistant under both the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services (2001 to 2002) and the Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise (2002 to 2003). Jay’s educational background includes a Masters of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science.

Eugene Schneller
Co-director & Founder, Health Sector Supply Chain Research Consortium, Arizona State University
Eugene Schneller
Eugene Schneller, Ph.D. is Professor of Supply Chain Management and Dean’s Council of 100 Distinguished Scholar, Department of Supply Chain Management, W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He co-directs the Health Sector Supply Chain Research Consortium. His book, Strategic Management of the Health Care Supply Chain (2006) provides an assessment of the complex relationships linking hospitals, suppliers, distributors and clinicians. He is Co-Editor of the SAGE Handbook of Strategic Supply Management (2013) which brings the most recent thinking in the field to a wide audience. Current research consulting and speaking engagements focuses on trust among purchasing channel participants, repositioning of supply chain leadership, diffusion of supply chain information technology and centralization of supply chain within integrated delivery networks. He has scrutinized issues pertaining to the standardization for clinical preference items, policy pertaining to the proliferation of hip and knee implants, group purchasing organization performance. And models of distribution. He earned his Ph.D. at New York University and is a graduate of the Harvard Management Development Program. He holds an honorary physician assistant degree from Duke University in recognition of his contributions in the development of that field.

Anne-Marie Visockas
VP Financial Planning, Alberta Health Services
Anne-Marie Visockas
Anne-Marie is Vice President of Financial Planning with Alberta Health Services, and an associate faculty member with the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research. She specializes in health services research and has extensive experience using linked health administrative databases for research into chronic health conditions and service utilization, along with use of health authority data to support analytics and performance management and reporting. Anne-Marie completed a PhD in Management and Policy Sciences specializing in Health Economics at the University of Texas Health Sciences Centre and has completed a post-doctoral fellowship at CHSPR in Vancouver.

Dave Wattling
Vice-President and General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, TELUS
Dave Wattling
Dave leads the Enterprise Solutions line of business that supports health authorities, hospitals and government with solutions such as Electronic Health Records, Personal Health Records, eScheduling, eReferral and Home Health Monitoring. In this capacity, he assembles innovative, scalable solutions to meet the growing needs of clients across Canada. He is also responsible for TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. (TSSI) that provides staffing, payroll and related management applications to public sector organizations, including healthcare and education.
Dave is an IT veteran, accomplished entrepreneur and award-winning management consultant with extensive healthcare expertise. He brings over 30 years of international experience spanning software and services. Before joining TELUS, Dave was the co-founder and managing partner of a global healthcare management consultancy that employed 200 professionals. Prior to that, he built a number of successful businesses focused on healthcare.
Dave is the founding chair of ITAC-Health, the Canadian association of information and communications technology (ICT) firms actively involved in the healthcare sector. He is also the Associate Editor of Healthcare Information Management & Communications Canada. Dave currently sits on the Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation board, supporting the health of his community.
Dave holds the Certified Management Consultant, Information Systems Professional and ICD Certified Director designations. In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for his leadership in mobilizing the healthcare ICT industry and the creation of ITAC Health. He also received ITAC’s 2012 Volunteer of the Year Award and the ITAC Health Chairman’s Award of Excellence.

Ella Young
Director, Care Continuum and Actuarial Analytics, Vancouver Coastal Health
Ella Young
Ella is Director of Care Continuum and Actuarial Analytics for Vancouver Coastal Health and was recently the Director of Risk and Actuarial Analytics for the British Columbia Ministry of Health, a $16 B comprehensive public health insurer She brings proven experience implementing solutions to strategic issues with process and statistical expertise to help those directly engaged in providing health services use and execute on analytics. She has over fifteen years of relevant experience across several jurisdictions and industries including healthcare, insurance and energy She has co-published many articles in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including Health Affairs and Interfaces, has presented at many conferences, and served on many boards and committees Ella’s credentials include a B.Comm. (Hons) in Actuarial Science and Finance, an M.H.A from the University of British Columbia (UBC), and Certifications in Risk Management and as both an American and Canadian Health Executive.
*Invited Speaker
Click on the date of the agenda you would like to view. Please note the timezone listed on the agenda.
Monday, June 24, 2013
• Presentation Files Better Quality, Better Outcomes, Better Value Innovation and Change in the BC Health System
Health Delivery Across Western Canada
Healthcare leaders from across Western Canada will share their stories of challenges and visions in the search for effective and efficient healthcare delivery throughout Western Canada.

Heather Davidson
Heather Davidson was appointed the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Planning and Innovation Division in April 2012. From March 2010 to April 2012, she served as the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Health Authorities Division. She was previously the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Housing and Social Development from October 2006 to March 2010. Before this, she was Executive Director, Housing Policy at the Office of Housing and Construction Standards, Ministry of Forests and Range, for six months. Her time at the Office of Housing and Construction Standards was preceded by 15 years at the Ministry of Health where she was Executive Director of the Strategic Policy and Research Department for three years and Executive Director of Pharmacare for a year. Heather holds a PhD in Psychology (Adult Development and Aging) from the University of Victoria. Prior to joining the BC Public Service in 1991, she worked as a psychologist providing clinical psychological services, as well as collaborating in research projects related to the provision and evaluation of medical services for the elderly.

Barbara Pitts
Barbara Pitts is the Senior Vice President of Priorities and Performance, with responsibility for strategic planning, priority setting, organizational accountability, performance, and reporting. In addition, Barbara will work collaboratively with Alberta Health, to coordinate activities and ensure they are aligned with government policy. This will involve creating joint multi-year strategic plans, facilitating ministerial requests regarding input on policies, regulations, and legislation, and coordinating across multiple ministries to meet the more complex or specialized needs of patients and residents of Alberta. Prior to joining Alberta Health Services, Ms. Pitts served as an Associate Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto. She was the National Health Services Practice leader, providing leadership and expertise on health system transformation, with a proven record of developing strategy that translates into action across the organization. She has advised health service leaders from ministries, health networks, to hospital administrators, in the design and implementation of integrated health systems and service delivery models. She has led numerous projects focused on the development and implementation of strategy with numerous Boards of Directors and senior leaders, as well as those focused on improvement of quality and operational performance. Previously, Barbara was a partner and the Chief Operating Officer of Stage-Gate Inc. a new product and innovation company that supported the design and implementation of innovation strategy, new product process and portfolio management. In addition, Barbara held a faculty position at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Organizational Behaviour and Business Strategy. She holds a BA, a BEd and an MBA.
Presentation Files Better Quality, Better Outcomes, Better Value Innovation and Change in the BC Health System
The Launch of BC's Services Card

Bette-Jo Hughes
Bette-Jo has been the Chief Information Officer for the Province of British Columbia since October 2012. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) plays a leadership role in promoting and guiding the management of government information as a strategic business asset, and supporting technology infrastructure as a key enabler of business transformation. Prior to her current appointment, Bette-Jo was Assistant Deputy Minister of Service BC where she led cross government service delivery initiatives to improve services to the public across online, telephone and in-person channels, registry and statistical services.
Bette-Jo has been involved in the development of service delivery agreements with the private sector, including the negotiation of the Service BC – IBM Alternative Service Delivery Agreement for the provision of web channel and contact centre services.
Prior to joining the Government Agents Branch and Service BC, Bette-Jo worked at the provincial and community level in the field of community economic development. Before starting her career over 20 years ago with the British Columbia public service, Bette-Jo worked in the financial services industry, the federal government and non-profit organizations.
Bette-Jo has previously been the British Columbia representative on the Canadian Public Sector Service Delivery Council and past President of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Citizen Centred Service. She currently is the B.C. representative for the Public Sector Chief Information Officers’ Council.
• Presentation Files Better than an Apple a Day
End-to-End Security for Modern Healthcare Organizations

Rob Ayoub
Rob Ayoub is a Security Strategist with Fortinet. In this role, Rob keeps abreast of the latest security challenges and works with customers in a variety of verticals to deploy security solutions in order to address the latest threats. Prior to working at Fortinet, Rob Ayoub was the Research Manager for Frost & Sullivan’s Information Security program where he helped customers understand specific solutions needed to secure their environment and meet regulatory requirement guidelines.
Presentation Files Better than an Apple a Day
The 13th Annual Western Canadian Healthcare Summit is proudly sponsored by the following companies.