Emergency Medicine: Dr. Howard Ovens - Chief Medical Strategy Officer, Sinai Health System, and Medical Advisor, Sinai Health Foundation
Dr. Howard Ovens has agreed to accept the dual roles of Chief Medical Strategy Officer for Sinai Health System and Medical Advisor for Sinai Health Foundation.
As Chief Medical Strategy Officer, Dr. Ovens will have a system-wide leadership role in operational effectiveness, quality, safety and patient flow, and will provide professional guidance and mentorship for our Centres of Excellence. Dr. Ovens’ mandate also includes expanding upon the work I was tasked with as the previous Chief Medical Strategy Officer.
Dr. Ovens also takes on a new role as Medical Advisor within Sinai Health Foundation. In this role, Dr. Ovens will provide strategic advice to our clinicians, researchers and foundation team in the crucial task of developing donor support for the priorities of Sinai Health System.
Dr. Ovens is immensely respected within the healthcare system, serving as the Ontario Provincial Expert Lead in emergency medicine and as Toronto Central Local Health Integration Lead for emergency medicine. He has also received a Council Award from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Howard is an inspiring teacher, mentor and colleague. As a physician, he is the embodiment of compassionate and thoughtful care for every patient who walks through our emergency department.
Dr. Ovens has been a valued leader in our organization for more than thirty years. He has provided outstanding leadership to our Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre since 1987, and when the division became a department in 2015 he became our inaugural Chief of Emergency Medicine. Howard also has a deep understanding of our hospital beyond the walls of the emergency department based on his superb leadership of our Urgent and Critical Care Centre of Excellence since 2011.
Dr. Ovens assumes his new positions effective April 1, as he steps down from his current hospital leadership roles. Dr. Ovens will continue to be based at Mount Sinai Hospital with an office on the fourth floor; he will also continue to practice in our emergency department. We hope that you will take the time to speak with him to learn more about his new roles and important mandate.
As Howard steps down as Chief of Emergency Medicine, I am pleased to announce that Dr. David Dushenski has agreed to step in as Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine. A formal search will start later this year.
Dave is eminently qualified for this role. He has been a member of our emergency medicine group since 1997 and has been the Deputy Director since 2012. Dr. Dushenski has led the quality and safety programs of the department. He is a respected clinician and teacher and has won multiple teaching awards. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Dushenski as he takes on this important responsibility.
