From the Burgundy Chairs

In this episode, we called Physician Assistant and former journalist, Maureen Taylor, to discuss the lessons learned from the 2003 SARS outbreak and how Canada is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic 17 years later. Maureen Taylor is a Physician Assistant specializing in infectious diseases at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto. She has worked at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as a Physician Assistant in Emergency Medicine, and was named Physician Assistant of the Year by the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants in 2016. Prior to this, Maureen was an award-winning broadcast journalist for 25 years, including seven years as the health reporter for the CBC.

Veronica Said, a Consultant at Santis Health, sits down with Dr. Sarah Jarmain and Adrienne Spafford to discuss Roadmap to Wellness, the Ontario Government's recently announced mental health and addictions strategy. In this episode, we discuss the current state of addictions and mental health care in Ontario, what the strategy gets right, where the strategy could improve and how the sector is responding. Dr. Sarah Jarmain, MD, FRCPC is the Site Chief Mental Health Care, Chair Medical Advisory Committee and Director Medical Quality at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Western University. Adrienne Spafford is the Chief Executive Officer of Addictions and Mental Health Ontario (AMHO). Prior to joining AMHO, Adrienne held senior roles in both government and membership associations.