Month: March 2022

Chair of the Board, Joe Parker, welcomes three new board members to expand the expertise and skills on the Home and Community Care Support Services Board of Directors. ​

TORONTO, March 9, 2022 – Home and Community Care Support Services is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to the Board of Directors: John Beardwood, Kate Fyfe and Shanti Gidwani. Their combined expertise further enhances oversight of our organizations and the continued provision of high-quality home care services.

“It is my great pleasure to welcome John, Kate and Shanti to our remarkable team of industry leaders,” says Joe Parker, Chair of the Board of Directors for Home and Community Care Support Services. “The skillsets and collective experiences that these three highly accomplished individuals bring to our diverse team helps us provide strong governance and a stable foundation for the delivery of our mandate. Our board will continue to ensure the people of Ontario receive exceptional care – wherever they call home.”

“Our government is committed to building a better, connected health care system centred on the needs of patients,” says Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Across the province, home and community care plays a critical role in ensuring Ontarians remain safe and healthy in their homes, and our government continues to take thoughtful, gradual steps to modernize home and community care to allow for the seamless coordination of services across Ontario. I am pleased to welcome John, Kate and Shanti to this exciting journey.”

Home and Community Care Support Services organizations are responsible for home care delivery, long-term care home placement and facilitating access to community services. Operating under one CEO and one Board of Directors to ensure continuity of services across the province, the organizations have a focused mandate to improve the delivery of home care as part of the government’s plan to build an integrated, connected health care system centred on the needs of patients through Ontario Health Teams.

QUICK FACTS

• Home and Community Care Support Services organizations have a focused mandate to deliver home care, long-term care home placement, as well as help connect people with community services and primary care. 
• Each year, 8,600 staff serve or support more than 674,000 patients of all ages. 
• Every day, Home and Community Care Support Services provides: 22,000 nursing visits; 3,000 therapy visits; and 85,000 hours of personal support care.
• Find your local Home and Community Care Support Services here. To refer yourself or someone you know for care, call 310-2222 (English) or 310-2272 (French), no area code is needed.  
• To read more about our Board of Directors, click here.  

BOARD MEMBER BIOS

John Beardwood is a senior partner at Fasken and the Past Chair of the firm’s Technology practice group. He was the Co-Founder of both the Outsourcing practice group and the Privacy and Access to Information practice group. His practice is focused on technology, outsourcing and procurement, and privacy law matters.

John works closely with clients in advising on and negotiating various technology-related transactions, including outsourcing/procurement, licensing, development, implementation, distribution, technology transfer, strategic alliance and e-commerce-related transactions. John has worked with a variety of industries, including health care, financial/insurance institutions and the public sector. John often advises clients on privacy law and access to information matters, and has been developing and implementing privacy compliance programs for more than 20 years.

John holds an Honours BA in History and Political Science from McMaster University, an MA in Political Science from McMaster and completed his Law Degree at the University of Toronto.

Kate Fyfe is the President & CEO of Timmins and District Hospital. With over 25 years of senior executive experience, Kate brings a wealth of experience in acute care, mental health and health system settings.

Throughout her career, Kate has worked collaboratively with system partners to improve accountability, performance, access to care and quality outcomes. While focusing on improving access to quality care, Kate has also led a variety of transformational projects related to care delivery and the implementation of broad structural changes to our health system.

An active member in her community, Kate has provided leadership and guidance on the COVID-19 Municipal Emergency Response Team, and currently sits on the Board of Timmins Academic Family Health Team. A true Northerner, Kate continues to focus her energy on building stronger, equitable and healthier local communities and improving population health outcomes across our health system.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa, is a Certified Professional Accountant / Chartered Accountant and has completed the Rotman Advanced Health Leadership Program.

Shanti Gidwani is a health care business leader with a diverse international clinical background and more than 25 years’ experience. She is passionate about breaking down the complexities of health care environments and supporting the necessary but complicated cultural shifts.

In 2021, Shanti joined Gartner Consulting as an Associate Partner where she is responsible for health care consulting opportunities and business development. Prior to Gartner, she was the National Director of Healthcare at Cisco Canada, responsible for the transformation of how health care is delivered across Canada and improving patient outcomes and experiences through technology.

Prior to Cisco, she was a health care consultant for the World Health Organization (European Region and International) before beginning her own health care consulting practice in Canada. Throughout her career, Shanti has worked with a variety of organizations, including First Nations communities, post-secondary institutions, regional health authorities and the provincial government of British Columbia in Canada. 

Shanti holds an honours Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology and Zoology (French minor) from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Thompson Rivers University and Master of Health Administration and Master of Science in Nursing degrees from the University of British Columbia. She also has Certified Health Executive status with the Canadian College of Health Leaders and previously held a nursing license with the British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals. 

MEDIA CONTACT

Adele Small,
Manager, Media Relations
Adele.Small@hccontario.ca

ABOUT HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE SUPPORT SERVICES

On Home and Community Care Support Services’ origin: On April 1, 2021, Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) began operating under a new business name, Home and Community Care Support Services, to reflect a focused mandate to deliver home care, long-term care placement services, and referrals to community services. On this same day, previous responsibilities for local health system funding and management was transferred to Ontario Health. A cross-appointed Board and CEO for the 14 agencies was introduced on July 1, 2021 as part of the government’s plan to modernize home and community care as part of an integrated health care system providing coordinated care for patients.