The dedication, commitment and enthusiasm of our people – from our front office staff to the healthcare workers, and from the management team to our advisory board – is truly one of the greatest strengths of Closing the Gap Healthcare.
We choose to treat our clients, our customers and each other with dignity and respect and strive to work together at every level as a team with the singular purpose of providing the best possible healthcare to the communities and people we serve.
Connie Clerici
As Executive Chair of the Board, Connie helps lead Closing the Gap’s overall strategic direction. Working collaboratively with CTG’s Senior Leadership Team and external health system leaders, Connie forges a compelling vision and mission, determines the organization’s long-term goals and positions CTG and its staff for growth.
Experience
Connie has led Closing the Gap and its team of passionate health care providers for over 27 years. Beginning her career as a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Health Science in Nursing, Connie has continued to prioritize life-long learning as she routinely participates in leadership and business training programs at Ivey, Rotman, Shulich, McMaster and York Universities.
In addition to her role as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, Connie also sits as a board member or advisor at the Ivey Business School, Ivey’s Pierre Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, Salus Global Corporation, Women of Influence, and Trans Research Labs. Connie’s contributions to healthcare, entrepreneurship and the business community have been acknowledged through numerous awards, including the 2012 Mississauga Board of Trade Business Award of Excellence and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
In 2018 Connie was appointed to sit on the Ontario Premier’s Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine along with 10 other visionary health system leaders.
Passion
Connie’s passion is to help those most in need in society, and to accept full accountability for doing so. She requires that ethics and compassion accompany sound business practices to ensure that CTG consistently provides healthcare services of an exceptionally high quality. Connie actively embraces change, while making a concerted effort to build and support a high-quality, publicly-funded healthcare system that is sustainable for Canadians.
Leighton McDonald
Leighton exemplifies Closing the Gap’s vision, mission and core values by leading overall operations and ensuring the organization’s strategic objectives are achieved. By creating a productive and positive workplace, Leighton strategically leads the organization to attract the best talent, and help it achieve its long-term goals and purpose.
Experience
Leighton is a physician and accomplished business leader with experience in the fields of health systems management, clinical risk management, corporate and occupational health, wellness and health insurance. He has a strong track record in the healthcare industry achieved through a combination of clinical qualifications and experience, business acumen, health systems expertise and an ability to develop motivated, high performing teams.
Prior to joining CTG in 2016, Leighton was Chief Operating Officer at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. He moved to Canada in 2013 after a distinguished 30-year career within South Africa’s health care system. Leighton’s work in South Africa included serving as CEO of Bankmed Health Insurance, one of South Africa’s largest and most respected employer based not-for-profit insurance plans. Other leadership roles included Vice-President of Medical Affairs at Metropolitan Health Group. During his seven-year tenure at the organization, Leighton developed and managed a holistic HIV Risk Management Department, now delivering services to over of two million individuals in Southern Africa.
Passion
Leighton is a firm believer in the value of managing population health through illness prevention and has a special interest in promoting health system sustainability through the provision of high quality, evidence-based healthcare services to those requiring healthcare intervention.
Lindsey Crawford
Experience
Passion
Dan Black
From managing business initiatives to advising the President and CEO, Dan oversees all of Closing the Gap’s corporate legal matters, including general counsel and HR advice. As an essential member of CTG’s Senior Leadership Team, Dan is responsible for all functions related to contracts, compliance, research, health IT policy, and employment issues.
Experience
Dan has been providing employment and labour law advice to both private and public sector healthcare and other employers for over 20 years. Before rejoining CTG in 2014, he practiced as a Partner at one Canadian national law firm and as Counsel at another.
He has worked with CTG for a total of approximately 17 of those years, including one year as Director of Human Resources and Legal Affairs and three years as Vice President, Legal and Business Development.
Passion
Dan has a passion for service, health policy, and improving the lives of those in need.
Klodiana Djawadi
Responsible for the financial leadership of Closing the Gap, Klodiana oversees the integrity of financial systems, financial reporting and the system of internal controls. Klodiana’s team works in partnership with operations to enhance decision making and ensure both short and long-term goals are met. Klodiana along with the Senior Leadership Team provides strategic direction to CTG’s human resources team.
Experience
Klodiana is a dynamic finance and operations professional and has over 10 years of proven success in leading various functions of finance, forecasting and budgeting activities, building effective teams and establishing business partnerships. Klodiana completed a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and my Masters of Business Administration from Wilfred Laurier University..
Passion
Klodiana enjoys being part of the Closing the Gap team and is dedicated to improving the lives of others.
Yiannis Soumalias
Yiannis currently oversees Closing the Gap’s sales, marketing, project management and corporate health departments. Yiannis is responsible for seeking out new business opportunities, conducting market research and feasibility studies, creating corporate communications plans and executing strategic marketing plans.
Experience
Yiannis joined CTG with an extensive background in sales, marketing and customer relationship management and has demonstrated an ability to find unique solutions to problems within our health system. Yiannis has a bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from Ivey at Western University.
Passion
Yiannis Soumalias is a change leader who is focused on building a sustainable healthcare system across Canada.
Sarath Pillai
As the point person for Closing the Gap’s IT functions, Sarath leads IT initiatives across all CTG sites in Ontario and Nova Scotia. With a focus on innovation, Sarath implements integrated technology solutions to increase functionality and improve quality of care.
Experience
Sarath is a senior executive with over 16 years of Information Technology experience mainly in healthcare and retail. He has held executive roles at pt Health, OHTN and Hear for Life. Recently, he was the Director of I.T. at Canadian Professional Sales Association, a member based organization to support and advance sales professionals.
Sarath holds an MBA from Queen’s University and M.S in Computer Science from Robert Gordon University, UK along with a bunch of technical certifications.
Passion
Sarath is passionate about using his vast IT knowledge to support the implementation of innovative E-health solutions.
Nafisa Madhani
Experience
Passion
Jennifer Rodgers
Jennifer works closely with internal and external stakeholders to ensure Closing the Gap is well-positioned to deliver a high-quality client care experience. She leads improvement initiatives, oversees the ongoing evaluation of new and innovative programs, monitors quality and client safety internal and external trends and conducts annual reviews. Jennifer is also the CTG Privacy Officer. She fosters an environment of teamwork, collaboration and continuous improvement.
Experience
Jennifer brings a professional clinical background in social work and many years of leadership experience to Closing the Gap. Jennifer’s career path began as a social worker (MSW) in mental health services in the acute care sector. Previous leadership roles have focused on quality, risk management, performance measurement and patient safety, having recently spent almost four years working on provincial and national patient safety projects with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.
She completed a Masters in Health Sciences through the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto in 2001 which ignited the formal leadership path of her career. Jennifer has her Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation.
Passion
Jennifer has a keen interest in the quality and safety of CTG’s dedicated staff, workplaces and valued clients. Beyond the walls of CTG, Jennifer believes passionately in the power of volunteerism in building strong communities.
Experience
Passion
Jo-Anne Desroches
Jo-Anne works across the organization ensuring excellence in care delivery, both in community and clinic settings. Working with staff at all levels, her responsibilities include engaging with staff, clients/families and partners while working on various quality improvement projects.
Experience
A graduate of the University of Toronto, Jo-Anne is a physiotherapist with extensive experience in community care. She has been with Closing the Gap for over 12 years as a front-line therapist, professional practice leader, supervisor, manager and now director with the organization.
Passion
Jo-Anne’s focus is supporting clients as experts in their own healthcare, and as leaders of their own teams, all while promoting best practice and mentoring our fantastic frontline health providers.
David Heaton
David plans, directs and monitors the services provided by regional offices across Ontario. Working closely with staff at all levels of the organization, David oversees Closing the Gap’s physiotherapy clinics, mentors front-line management staff, develops new business initiatives, builds working relationships with health system leaders and supports CTG’s organizational strategy by tracking quality indicators.
Experience
Joining Closing the Gap in 2011, David has paired a professional background in Physiotherapy with academic and experiential training in business administration, managerial accounting and project management. His career path began as a community care physiotherapist and took him throughout the health sector in progressive management and strategic leadership roles.
Passion
Client Services benefits from David’s roots in Community Care and his caring and compassionate leadership.
Angela Brunet
Experience
Passion
Dr. Samir K. Sinha
Dr. Sinha’s breadth of international training and expertise in health policy and the delivery of services related to the care of the elderly have made him a highly regarded expert in the care of older adults. He has consulted and advised hospitals and health authorities in Britain, Canada, the United States and China on the implementation and administration of unique, integrated and innovative models of geriatric care that reduce disease burden, improve access and capacity and ultimately promote health.
Dan Carbin
At Santis, Dan provides strategic advice to boards and executives in the Canadian health care sector. His clients include Fortune 500 companies, leading national and provincial health care associations, broader public sector organizations, and a range of health charities. Dan is also director and past chair of the board at St. Jude Community Homes, a supportive housing provider for individuals living with mental health challenges. Dan has an MSc. (Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BA (Hons.) from McGill University.
Gail Donner
Gail has held a number of government and community appointments: in 2014-15 she chaired the Expert Group on Home and Community Care appointed by the Minister of Health and Long Term Care to provide advice on how to achieve the Ministry’s vision of patient-centred, integrated, accountable home and community programs and services, and from 2016-18 Gail served as External Advisor to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to help advance the home and community care agenda.
An active volunteer in her community, Gail is currently a member of the boards of AMS Healthcare and the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto. Past volunteer activities include member of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children where she chaired the Quality Committee, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Change Foundation, member of the Governance Leadership Council, Ontario Hospital Association, and a volunteer in the Toronto Out of the Cold program.
Dr. Jonathan C. Abrams
Dr. Abrams is a Family Physician doing Home Based Palliative Care through Mount Sinai Hospital’s Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care. He has a BA in Biology from Yeshiva University, and an MPH from Columbia University’s School of Public Health. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto Medical School and then did his Family Medicine Residency at the University of Western Ontario.
He then spent two years doing a fellowship on the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, before joining the Temmy Latner Centre program. He is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. In his spare time he enjoys art and design, and is an avid road cyclist, and has participated in several long distance charity cycling events.
Rheta Fanizza
Currently she is Baycrest’s Executive Vice President, Residential and Community Programs where she is responsible for overseeing the operations and growth of Baycrest’s residential and community-based initiatives. Rheta holds a B.Com and MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University.
Rheta’s passion for innovation and people-powered health care fuels her relentless pursuit of creative solutions to complex challenges.
Kevin Smith
Dr. Smith is a Professor, Institute for Medical Sciences, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Rotman School of Management and at the De Groote School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University.
Educated in Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain, Dr. Smith began his career in medical education, followed by leadership roles in university administration, academic hospitals and health systems. He is professionally certified in Corporate Governance by the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Harvard Program in Effective Governance, and completed the Wharton School CEO Program for Health Care Leadership.
Dr. Smith currently serves as Chair, Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario and was privileged to serve in many past roles including Chair, The Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Hospital Association and as a frequent advisor to governments and the private sector.
John N. Lavis, PhD
John Lavis is relied on by policymakers and stakeholders in Canada and a broad range of countries internationally to harness research evidence, citizen values and stakeholder insights to strengthen health and social systems and get the right programs, services and products to the people who need them.
He co-chairs the Global Steering Group for the World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) and chairs the Partner Executive Group for the 14-country Partners in Evidence-driven Rapid Learning in Social Systems.
Bruce Squires
Formerly, Bruce was VP, Corporate Affairs at the Canadian Medical Association and CEO at the Newfoundland & Labrador Medical Association. Currently, he is Chair of the Board of Directors of Children’s Healthcare Canada and a board member with the Ontario College of Family Physicians. Bruce holds an MBA from Dalhousie University and is a doctoral candidate at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.
Sophia Ikura
Mariana Catz
She holds a Master’s in Health Science from the University of Toronto and is an Adjunct Faculty at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. She has received multiple awards throughout her career, including the University of Toronto Health Administration Graduate Society Literary Award and the Canadian College of Health Services Executives Award for Excellence in Health Administration.
Dr. Nathan M. Stall
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was actively involved in research modelling long-term care home outbreaks and the factors associated with outbreaks occurring and the spread of COVID-19 throughout homes. He served as the Assistant Scientific Director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and a Network Science Advisor for CanCOVID. His doctoral research was supported by the University of Toronto Department of Medicine’s Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. He has been a staff geriatrician at Sinai Health since 2017, and is a clinician scientist and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Stall attends on the inpatient Geriatric Medicine Consultation Service and on the Internal Medicine Clinical Teaching Units at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Donna Cripps
Donna has also been the CEO of the Hamilton Norfolk Haldimand Brant (HNHB) LHIN where she led an organization responsible for the planning, funding and integration of the local health care system and managing and delivering home and community care to more than 1.4 million people across Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand, Brant, Burlington and Norfolk.
Donna held two key positions at Hamilton Health Sciences as President of St. Peter’s Hospital and Executive Lead Rehabilitation and Seniors’ Health. While her extensive experience in clinical practice and executive leadership has provided Donna with a thorough understanding of health care delivery from both an operational and strategic perspective, it is the people and their health care needs and stories that drive Donna to want to make our health care system better.
Donna has been actively involved in many regional and provincial initiatives, including Co Chair of the Behavioural Supports Ontario (BSO) Project Steering Committee, and of the Provincial Rehabilitative Care Alliance. Donna’s commitment to putting people first and to the ongoing pursuit of excellence in caring are her driving forces.