Choosing Wisely®: Key People

Speaker Biographies

Keynote Speaker

Louis Hugo Francescutti, MD, PhD, MPH, FRCPC, FACPM, CCFP, FRCP(Ire), FRCP(Edin), ICD-D, CCPE
President, Canadian Medical Association, 2013-14

Dr. Louis Francescutti received his combined Doctor of Philosophy (Immunology) in 1985 and Doctor of Medicine in 1987 from the University of Alberta. In 1994, he completed further studies in injury control while working toward a Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Francescutti currently works as an emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, and as a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, where in 1998 he received the Outstanding Teaching Award, and in 2002 a Clinical Teacher of the Year Award. He was selected by his physician colleagues as one of Alberta's Top 100 Physicians of the Century; awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal (2005); and received the Champion for Children Award and a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Northeast Edmonton Rotary Club in 2007. In 2011, he was selected by Alberta Venture as one of Alberta's 50 most influential people, and was appointed as the first Honorary Colonel of 1 Field Ambulance Edmonton. In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal. Over the past 25 years, he has spearheaded various public safety awareness initiatives and campaigns. He developed an award-winning multimedia injury prevention program for teenagers called HEROES, and created an emergency medical response electronic medical record. He has published research on topics including emergency medicine, health promotion and sport injury.

Speakers

Tom Feasby, MD, FRCPC
Professor, University of Calgary

Dr. Tom Feasby was Dean of Medicine at the University of Calgary from 2007 to 2012. He received his MD degree from the University of Manitoba and trained in Neurology at the University of Western Ontario, with further training at the Institute of Neurology in London, UK, RAND Corporation, and UCLA. He was Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary and the Calgary Health Region from 1992-2002. He was Vice-President of Academic Affairs at Capital Health in Edmonton and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta from 2003-07. Dr. Feasby currently serves on the Board of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the Strategic Advisory Board of the Institute for Public Health and the Board of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. His past research focused on diseases of peripheral nerves and he made major contributions to the understanding and treatment of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. His current research focuses on quality, appropriateness and overuse of medical interventions. His work has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has published over 100 scientific papers as well as op-ed articles in leading Canadian newspapers. On November 1, 2013 he was awarded an honourary Doctor of Science degree by Western University.

Bill Hnydyk, MD
Assistant Executive Director, Alberta Medical Association

Dr. Bill Hnydyk has been the Alberta Medical Association's Assistant Executive Director of Professional Affairs since 2004 and an AMA member since 1975. Currently, Dr. Hnydyk serves on the Board of Directors, Representative Forum, Health Issues Council, Nominating Committee, Physician and Family Support Program Advisory Committee, AMA/Workers' Compensation Board Advisory Committee, the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta Physician Health Monitoring Committee, and the Canadian Physician Health Institute Steering Committee. In 2010-11 he was an instrumental member of the Joint AMA/Alberta Health Services Medical Staff Bylaws Committee, tasked with drafting and finalizing the provincial medical staff bylaws and rules.

Dr. Hnydyk received his medical degree from the University of Alberta in 1974, followed by a rotating internship at the Misericordia Hospital. He was a family physician in Vegreville, Alberta, and served for five years as chief of staff at St. Joseph's General Hospital. He was regional medical director and regional palliative care medical director with Lakeland Regional Health Authority. As part of AMA's senior management team, Dr. Hnydyk works to strengthen the professional affairs activities of the AMA, providing advice, input and guidance on services that support members in their professional roles and responsibilities.

Honourable Fred Horne
Minister of Health

The Honourable Fred Horne is in his second term as MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford, and has been Minister of Health since October 2011. He has served as a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Public Health & Safety, Treasury Board, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister Health and Wellness, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports, Chair of the Standing Committee on Health, and Deputy Chair of the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities. Prior to his election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Mr. Horne worked as a health policy consultant for over 25 years. He holds an MBA from Royal Roads University and post-graduate certification in Dispute Resolution from York University.

Richard Lewanczuk, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FACP
Professor, University of Alberta; Senior Medical Director, Alberta Health Services

Dr. Richard Lewanczuk obtained his MD degree from the University of Alberta in 1983, and completed an Internal Medicine specialization, a combined Endocrinology Fellowship/PhD in Medical Sciences, and post-doctoral studies in Montreal, Detroit and New York. In 1994 he returned to the University of Alberta to head the Hypertension Clinic and teach in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, of which he was Director from 1998-2006. Dr. Lewanczuk helped establish the Regional Diabetes Program in the Edmonton area beginning in 1999, and was Medical Director for Chronic Disease Management in the Capital Health region. He is currently a Professor of Medicine at the University of Alberta and Senior Medical Director for Primary and Community Care for Alberta Health Services. In this portfolio he oversees delivery of primary care, chronic disease management, seniors health and addiction and mental health services for the province.

Jon Meddings, MD, FRCP
Dean of Medicine, University of Calgary

Dr. Jon Meddings has a long and accomplished history with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He began his first term as Dean of the faculty in July 2012 having served as Vice Dean since 2009, and previously as Interim Vice-President (Research) of the University of Calgary (2010), head of the Division of Gastroenterology, and as a professor in the Department of Medicine. He also served as Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta from 2004 to 2009. He has been honoured with several awards and distinctions for his research innovations in celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and bowel permeability. He is dedicated to excellence in research and education, and improving patient care in Calgary and beyond.

Cathy Pryce, RN, MN
Senior Lead for the Addiction and Mental Health and Emergency Strategic Clinical Networks

Catherine is the Senior Lead for the Addiction and Mental Health and Emergency Strategic Clinical Networks for Alberta Health Services. She has worked in health care for over 35 years, primarily in Public Health and Addiction and Mental Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and a Master of Nursing from the University of Calgary. She is registered with the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta.

Catherine holds adjunct appointments with both the Faculty of Nursing and the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. At Alberta Health Services, she is responsible for providing vision and leadership in the areas of addiction and mental health and emergency care to support a provincial health system that is undertaking transformational change, large-scale integration, continuous improvement and innovation to deliver on its commitment to excellence and enhanced performance.

Sam Shortt, MD, PhD
Director, Knowledge Transfer & Practice Policy, Canadian Medical Association

Sam Shortt is Director for Quality Initiatives at the Canadian Medical Association. A family physician, he was Director of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at Queen's University (1997-2007) and a Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and the Department of Family Medicine. He received his MD from the University of Western Ontario and completed residency training at the University of Ottawa. He also holds a PhD in history and a Master's in Public Administration. He is the author of numerous papers on medicine, history, and health policy, as well as the monograph, The Doctor Dilemma: Public Policy and the Changing Role of Physicians under Ontario Medicare (1999) and two recent volumes edited with colleagues, Implementing Primary Care Reform, Barriers and Facilitators (2004) and Health Services Restructuring in Canada, New Evidence, New Directions (2006). He is currently Vice-Chair of Choosing Wisely Canada.