Executive Team

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier academic health sciences centers focused on aging, seniors care and brain function. Dr. Reichman is also Professor of Psychiatry on the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Reichman received a B.S. with honours from Trinity College in 1979 and an M.D. degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Medicine in 1984. He completed residency training in general adult psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Neuropsychiatric Institute and fellowship training in neurobehavior at the UCLA Reed Neurological Research Institute. His academic interests have included Alzheimer’s drug development and testing, behavioural changes in dementia, and the character and quality of dementia and mental health services delivered in congregate geriatric care settings.

Dr. Reichman is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation and is President-elect of the International Psychogeriatric Association. He has advised several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery.

Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.

Among honors received, Dr. Reichman is named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He served as the Senior Health columnist of the Star Ledger, New Jersey’s highest circulation newspaper and has been quoted by all of the major media outlets in the United States and Canada. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Bronze Telly award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.

Brian Mackie is Baycrest's Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Brian joined Baycrest in 2011. He has over 20 years’ experience in the Ontario health system, including 12 years at The Hospital for Sick Children and 10 years in the Rehab / CCC / Residential sector. He trained as a Chartered Accountant with the Price Waterhouse.

Brian is a past chair of the provincial committee for Health System Funding Reform in the Rehab / CCC sector and of the CAHO Innovation Adoption Task Force. He currently participates on a number of financial and innovation-related initiatives at the Ministry, Local Health Integration Network, and system levels. He is also Board Treasurer of Accessible Media Inc., a not-for-profit organization that provides world-leading media and accessible television services to the vision-impaired.

Margot DaCosta is the Executive Director of Hospital Services & Pharmacy, and Chief Nursing Executive. She started at Baycrest in 2014 as the Director of Complex Care, Rehabilitation and Specialized Geriatrics. 
 
Ms. DaCosta is a healthcare leader with 30 years of hospital management experience in progressively responsible roles spanning various clinical areas, primarily in the acute care sector. Prior to coming to Baycrest her most recent positions were at Peterborough Regional Health Centre where she was the Program Director, Regional Renal, Metabolic & Cancer Care Programs, and Rouge Valley Health System where she was the Program Director, Medicine & Patient Flow.
 
Ms. DaCosta holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western University, and a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Allison Sekuler is the Vice-President, Research, and the Sandra A. Rotman Chair at Baycrest Health Sciences. Dr. Sekuler joins Baycrest after a long and distinguished career as a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, where she was the first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2001-2011). She is also the Chair of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada‘s (NSERC) Scholarships & Fellowships group along with being a member of NSERC’s Committee for Discovery Research.

The recipient of numerous awards for research, teaching and leadership, Dr. Sekuler has a notable record of scientific achievements in aging and vision science, cognitive neuroscience, learning and neural plasticity, and neuroimaging and neurotechnology, as well as vast experience in senior academic and research leadership roles.

Dr. David Conn is the Vice-President of Education and inaugural Director of the Centre for Education & Knowledge Exchange at Baycrest. He is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. He is founding Co-Chair of the Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health and Chair of the Coalition’s National Guidelines Project.

He completed his Medical Degree at Trinity College, Dublin, and his training in psychiatry was carried out at the University of Toronto. He subsequently completed a Fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He joined the Department of Psychiatry at Baycrest in 1983 and served as Department Chief from 1992 to 2010. He also served as Vice President of Medical Services at Baycrest from 2007 to 2010. He was the Medical Director of the Mood and Related Disorders Clinic from 2004 to 2012. He also has a keen interest in telemedicine and is Medical Director of Telehealth Services at Baycrest.

His academic interests include nursing home psychiatry, telepsychiatry, guideline development and knowledge translation. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications and is the co-editor of three textbooks including "Practical Psychiatry in the Long-Term Care Home: A Handbook for Staff”. He received the 2005 Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry Award for Outstanding Contributions to Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada and a Distinguished Service Award (Congress Host Country) from the International Psychogeriatric Association in 2009. He has also received the Ivan Silver Award for Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education and the Henry Durost Award for Excellence in Creative Professional Activity from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. In 2010 he was co-recipient of the CIHR Institute of Aging Betty Havens Award for Knowledge Translation in Aging.

He is a Past President of the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry and is currently a Board member of the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA). He co-chairs the IPA Shared Interest Forum on Mental Health Services in LongTerm Care Homes.

Dr. Gary Naglie completed his medical school training at McGill University, specialty training in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Toronto, and graduate training in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University. He is a full Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and he holds the George, Margaret and Gary Hunt Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine.

Dr. Naglie is the Vice President of Medical Services, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Medicine at Baycrest Health Sciences and is a scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute and at the University Health Network-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. His research has focused on outcomes evaluation and quality of life in cognitively impaired and medically complex older adults. His current major research interests are driving issues in older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment, and innovative models of care for frail, complex older adults.

Josh Cooper is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Baycrest Foundation.

His 23 years of senior and executive management experience are coupled with a diverse entrepreneurial background in private business, not-for-profit, the charitable sector, public policy and electoral politics.

Formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Jewish National Fund of Canada (JNF), he successfully modernized and rebranded the century old institution and achieved record level fundraising. Prior to that role he was the Founding Executive Director of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC).

He has developed successful start-ups in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors with the establishment of Par Golf Camps in 1993, the first junior golf summer camp in Canada and the largest provider of golf instruction of its kind. Josh successfully expanded the organization into adult golf camps and residential facility/resort management in Muskoka, Ontario. In 2002 Profit Magazine recognized Par Golf Camps as one of the “Fastest Growing Companies in Canada.”

A longtime volunteer with community organizations, Josh is also a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the B’nai Birth/Betar Tagar-Ze’ev Jabotinsky National Award for Campus Activism.

Ron Riesenbach, BSc, MSc, MBA, P.Eng, CPHIMS-CA

Ron is VP Innovation and CTO of Baycrest Health Sciences – a global leader in aging and brain health innovation.

Ron is responsible for driving innovation at Baycrest including the development of new information systems, tools and digital services for clients, clinicians, researchers and educators. Ron was a founder and the inaugural leader of the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) based at Baycrest. This $124M 5-year investment by the Governments of Ontario and Canada, community donors and industry partners is a sentinel initiative levering an unpresented level of funding to foster innovation across an international network of seniors care organizations and health system organizations. Ron is currently supporting numerous innovation initiatives at Baycrest including Baycrest @ Home, a transformational initiative that will bring Baycrest services directly to older adults living in the community.

Prior to joining Baycrest, Ron worked in executive leadership positions with the Ontario Telemedicine Network - one of the world’s largest and most successful telemedicine networks. The OTN now supports over 600,000 videoconference-based clinical consults as well as provides healthcare professionals with store-forward and telehomecare services. As founding CIO of OTN, Ron was central to the design, development, deployment and evolution of the technology and services which now underpin OTN’s operations. AT OTN, Ron also took on the role of VP of Emerging Business forging new business opportunities to help modernize healthcare systems in the Middle East, Europe and Australia.

Ron is active in the Global eHealth community, making numerous presentations to government and industry associations world-wide and advising on technical strategy. He sits on several advisory boards and was also the co-chair of the telemedicine technology special Interest group of COACH – Canada’s Health Informatics Association.

Ron is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario. He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Toronto. Ron was also among the inaugural group of Canadian health system executives to complete the requirements for the CPHIMS-CA certification.

Ron is an avid jogger, amateur photographer, wilderness canoe tripper, husband and father to three brilliant sons.

Joni Kent is Baycrest’s Executive Vice President Corporate Services and Chief Human Resources Officer. Joni has responsibility for Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness, Occupational Health and Safety, Volunteer Services, Legal Services, Strategy, Stakeholder Relations, Redevelopment, Support Services and Food Services.

Prior to joining Baycrest in 2006, Joni was Vice President, Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa for six years. Prior to this, Joni was at University Health Network as the Director, Employee Relations and with the Greater Niagara General Hospital as Director, Human Resources.

Joni previously practiced law in Toronto for five years with Mathews, Dinsdale and Clark.

Joni grew up in Montreal, graduated from McGill University in Industrial Relations in 1987 and graduated from The University of Western Ontario in Law in 1990. Joni is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada

Rheta Fanizza is Baycrest’s Executive Vice President, Residential and Community Programs. In this role, Rheta is responsible for overseeing the operations and growth of Baycrest’s residential and community-based initiatives. Formerly, Rheta was the Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President of Innovation at Saint Elizabeth, a national health care provider and Canada’s largest social enterprise. Rheta was responsible for accelerating Saint Elizabeth’s national growth strategy within new and emerging business lines including integrated care solutions, partnerships and virtual technologies.

Rheta has more than 20 years of senior executive experience within the acute care, long term care and community health sectors. Rheta has consulted for the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and led a number of consulting projects in the area of care transitions and alternate level of care. She holds a B.Com and MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. She has served on multiple boards and Provincial committees, and is also an accreditation surveyor with Accreditation Canada.

Rheta’s passion for innovation and people-powered health care fuels her relentless pursuit of creative solutions to complex challenges.

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/rheta-fanizza-60bb638
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rhetafanizza 

Scott Ovenden is the Vice President of Clinical Programs and Corporate Performance with responsibilities for Hospital Services, Ambulatory Care, Client Relations, Quality and Risk. Scott has 20 years of healthcare experience working in a variety of clinical and leadership roles. Prior to joining Baycrest he worked at Rouge Valley Health System as the Director of Strategic Planning and Performance. In addition to working in acute care hospitals, Scott has worked as a management consultant at KPMG and has supported provincial process improvement projects. These professional experiences have allowed him to work with a wide variety of stakeholders across Ontario.

Scott started his healthcare career as a physiotherapist in a number of clinical environments including; acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, complex continuing care and outpatient services. Scott has been a Trustee at Grandview Children’s Centre for the last five years and is currently serving the Board as the Vice-Chair.