Controlling Health Care Costs - Wisely: Key People

Speaker Biographies

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Gregory P. Marchildon, PhD
Ontario Research Chair in Health Policy and System Design and Professor, Institute of Health, Policy and Evaluation, University of Toronto
Associate Editor of the Health Reform Observer and originating member of the Pan-Canadian Health Reform Analysis Network (PHRAN)

Dr. Marchildon is Ontario Research Chair in Health Policy and System Design and Professor at the Institute of Health, Policy and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, with a cross-appointment at the School of Public Policy and Governance. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a member of the editorial board of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and an originating member of the Pan-Canadian Health Reform Analysis Network (PHRAN). After obtaining his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he taught for five years at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. He served as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (1994-96) and Deputy Minister to the Premier and Cabinet Secretary (1996-2000) in the provincial government of Saskatchewan. In 2001-02, he was the Executive Director of a federal Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (the Romanow Commission). When he returned to academic life in 2003, he was appointed a Canada Research Chair in Public Policy and Economic History (Tier 1) and was one of the founders of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy with campuses at the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan.

Dr. Marchildon is the author of numerous journal articles on comparative health policy and the history of medicare in Canada. His books include two editions of Health Systems in Transition: Canada co-published by the WHO Regional Office for Europe on behalf of the European Observatory and the University of Toronto Press.

Dr. Richard Saltman, PhD
Professor of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University
Co-founder, European Observatory on Health Systems

Dr. Saltman is Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He serves as a Visiting Professor in the Braun School of Public Health of Hadassah Medical School at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. From 1991 to 1994, he was Director of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory. Previously, he was Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts, School of Public Health (1985-1991), and Research Associate in Political Science at Harvard School of Public Health (1980-1985). He holds a doctorate in political science from Stanford University. His research focuses on the behaviour of European healthcare systems, particularly in the Nordic Region.

Dr. Saltman has published 14 books and over 100 articles on a wide variety of health policy topics, particularly on the structure and behavior of European healthcare systems. In 1987 (with Casten von Otter) and again in 1999 (with Josep Figueras), his work won the European Health Management Association's annual prize for best publication in health policy and management in Europe.

Speakers

Dr. Francois P. Belanger, MD, FRCPC
Vice President, Quality and Chief Medical Officer, Alberta Health Services

Dr. Belanger is the Acting Vice President, Quality and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Alberta Health Services (AHS) and member of the executive leadership team. His current role is to help oversee the integration and coordination of a complex health delivery model for the province through eight accountability functions: Quality & Healthcare Improvement, Medical Affairs, CancerControl Alberta, Clinical Informatics and Clinical Information Systems, Health Information Management, Infection Prevention and Control, Strategic Clinical Networks, Provincial Clinical Services, and maintaining effective partnerships with academic institutions and other physician led organizations.

A key mandate of the Quality and CMO position is to maintain a strong emphasis on the importance of quality and patient safety, engagement, leadership development, and relationships between the medical staff and the healthcare system.

Prior to assuming this interim role, Dr. Belanger was the Vice President and Medical Director, Central and Southern Alberta and the Medical Director, Calgary Zone. He has also held several medical leadership positions in AHS and the former Calgary Health Region. These include Senior Vice-President and Zone Medical Director for the Calgary Zone (AHS); Acting Executive Vice-President and Chief Medical Officer of AHS; and the Calgary Health Region/University of Calgary interim and deputy department head of Pediatrics. He continues to practice as a Pediatric Emergency Physician at the Alberta Children's Hospital and South Health Campus in Calgary.

Originally from Ottawa, Dr. Belanger obtained his medical degree from the University of Ottawa. His post-graduate work in pediatrics was done at the University of Alberta and McGill University. He completed his fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at McGill University. Dr. Belanger continues to be active in resident education, maintaining his status as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Belanger has assumed active roles in national organizations. He was the President of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) from 2002 to 2004 and chaired the Specialty Committee, Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada from 2006 to 2012.

Dr. Belanger is a patient-focused senior health executive who is recognized for his commitment in building quality and safety cultures, and realizing whole system performance and transformation. He is a collaborator-builder noted for his “bottom up” approach, and developing strong ties with clinicians, academic medicine, and other community stakeholders for meeting patient needs, and accomplishing high level organizational goals. He is an enthusiastic strategic and operational medical leader who moves teams towards implementing creative solutions and attaining greater system functioning and patient outcomes.

Dr. Belanger lives in the Foothills close to Calgary, Alberta. He is an avid cyclist and likes to travel and spend time with his family.

Mr. Martin Chamberlain, Q.C.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry Operations and Financial and Corporate Services, Alberta Health

Mr. Chamberlain attended the University of Alberta where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1982 and a degree in law in 1985. After graduation, he spent a number of years in private practice including a stint as a land developer and as a sessional instructor at NAIT.

Mr. Chamberlain began his career with the Provincial Government in 1999 where he continues to work today. He has worked in several departments in different positions over the last 17 years. His first position was with the Environmental Law Team at Alberta Justice where he became the Team Leader in 2002. In 2003, Mr. Chamberlain moved to Alberta Health and Wellness as the Leader of the Health Law Team. In 2009, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of the Corporate Support Division.

In 2012, Mr. Chamberlain moved to the Department of Energy as the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Resource Policy Development Division. In February 2015 he moved to Alberta Health where he now serves as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Ministry Operations and Financial and Corporate Services.

Ms. Deb Runnalls, RSW
Director of Housing, The Mustard Seed
Co-Chair on the Patient First Strategy, Alberta Health Services

Ms. Runnalls is a registered social worker, the Director of Housing at The Mustard Seed in Calgary, and is committed to ensuring the voices of the homeless are heard, equity in services is delivered, and barriers to housing and health care are removed for all Albertans. She has worked with the homeless for 33 years, and was Vice President at the Calgary Homeless Foundation and Director of the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter. Her passion for caring for others began when she and her husband had a group home with 6 young offenders living with their family in their home. She is the mother of 4 children, grandmother of 5 granddaughters, mother to 23 foster sons, and grandmother to their 18 grandchildren.

Ms. Runnalls presents annually to the Psychiatry, Psychology, Nursing, Social Work, and First Year Residents at the University of Calgary and the Social Work graduates at Mount Royal University on understanding homelessness, identifying abuse, and how to best hear and engage patients and clients. She has been an advisor on the Mount Royal University Social Work Advisory Committee for 5 years, supporting the development of curriculum, accreditation, and application for approval of a Bachelor of Social Work program. Ms. Runnalls’ work in developing a “Client as a Volunteer” program was recognized as a Best Practice, and was implemented in various volunteer programs.

Ms. Runnalls has been an advocate for vulnerable populations, and has spoken both nationally and internationally on this topic. She has presented twice in Washington at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, speaking on the Canadian response to homelessness and Calgary’s 10 year plan, and has presented in both Washington and New York on behalf of the patient voice and patient advocacy within Alberta Health Services. She has also presented at the Shades of Grey and the Grey Matters conferences, and spoke at the Society of Adolescent Medicine in Toronto on youth and homelessness and the impact on health. Ms. Runnalls was involved with the University of Calgary in bringing the Dalai Lama to Calgary, and was honoured to speak with him at a breakfast conference.

Ms. Runnalls has been a member of the Provincial Patient and Family Advisory Committee with Alberta Health Services since its inception six years ago, and sits as the Co-Chair on the Patient First Strategy Committee for Alberta Health Services. She was also a Board Member of the Youth Justice Council, and of the Open Arms Patient Advocacy Society.

Dr. D. Lorne Tyrrell, OC, AOE, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRSC, FCAHS
Chair, Institute of Health Economics
Professor and Director, Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology, University of Alberta

The former Dean of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta, Dr. Tyrrell is the Board Chair of the Institute of Health Economics and Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology at the University of Alberta. He is also Chair of the Gairdner Foundation and a member of the Research Council of the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research (CIFAR). Dr. Tyrrell is a member of the Alberta Order of Excellence, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He received the F.N.G. Starr Award from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in 2004, and the Principal Award of the Manning Foundation in 2005 for his work on the development of oral antivirals for the treatment of HBV. He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2015, he received the Killam Prize for Health Sciences from the Canadian Council for the Arts.