Melanie is President and CEO of Michael Garron Hospital (MGH). She is a talented, compassionate and dynamic health system leader with more than 20 years of progressive experience leading transformational projects benefiting patients, families and communities in Toronto and Ontario.
She came to MGH in June 2023 from the Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH), where she served as Assistant Deputy Minister of Hospitals and Capital Division. In this role, she oversaw multi-billion-dollar budgets supporting the operations and capital funding of Ontario’s hospital sector, including all 144 hospitals in the province.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Melanie was the Assistant Deputy Minister of Mental Health and Addictions at the MOH. In this role, she was responsible for the implementation of critical mental health investments supporting Ontario communities.
Prior to joining the Ontario Public Service, Melanie spent most of her career working in acute care hospitals. Most notably, she worked at St. Michael’s Hospital for over 12 years in operational and strategic roles, including strategy and corporate planning, project management and research administration.
Melanie holds a Master of Business Administration, with a specialization in Health Services Management, from McMaster University, and a PhD in Evidence-Based Strategic Decision Making from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.
She is highly regarded for her ability to develop meaningful and collaborative partnerships with colleagues and valued stakeholders across the health sector.
Dr. Carmine Simone obtained his medical degree from McMaster University in 1998 and he completed his Adult Critical Care Medicine fellowship and Thoracic Surgery Residency Program at the University of Toronto in 2004. He joined Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) in July 2004 as the Medical Director of the newly formed ICU and as a staff thoracic surgeon. Dr. Simone is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
He has held many leadership roles at MGH, including Head of the Division of Critical Care, Chief of the Department of Surgery and, most recently, Medical Director of Integrated Programs in collaboration with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. In his role of Vice President, Medical, Strategic Partnerships and Innovation, Dr. Simone provides oversight of strategic partnerships and innovation, which includes MGH leadership representation for East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), the Ontario Health Team (OHT) serving East Toronto, and the hospital’s Information Management and Technology Department.
Kevin Edmonson is the Vice President, Clinical Programs and Quality at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH). Kevin is responsible for clinical programs at the organization, as well as the Quality Improvement and Operational Excellence portfolio.
Kevin is a steadfast and seasoned leader, most recently leading MGH’s Emergency, Critical Care and Cardiology Services, and Clinical Strategy. Prior to this, he held progressive leadership roles across the hospital in Support Services, Medicine, the Nursing Resource Team, and Diagnostic Imaging. Kevin also worked as the Vice President, Community Care at WoodGreen Community Services, a large community social services provider in Toronto, where he led the expansion of supportive housing and seniors assisted living services.
Kevin played an instrumental role in MGH and East Toronto Health Partners’ (ETHP) integrated, community-based response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With Kevin as a co-lead, MGH and ETHP opened one of Canada’s first COVID-19 Assessment Centres and set new world records for the most COVID-19 vaccines administered at a single-day clinic in one location.
Kevin takes pride in helping to mentor new leaders and support people exploring healthcare management. He co-facilitates a course at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto.
Mikki Layton is Vice President of Professional Practice, Programs, Scholarship & Chief Nursing Executive at Michael Garron Hospital. In addition, she is a practicing Nurse Practitioner. She holds a clinical appointment as an Adjunct Professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto and Professor for Centennial College School of Community and Health Studies Bridging to University Nursing: TMU.
Mikki’s career spans over 35 years at MGH in various nursing and leadership roles and she serves on the board of Shared Hospital Lab.
Phillip Kotanidis has a master’s degree in Human Resource Management and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology, both from York University, as well as a Post-Graduate Human Resources Management Diploma. Having worked in Human Resources for almost 25 years, Phil has developed a focus and passion for ensuring that the full potential of all employees is nurtured and realized.
Throughout Phil’s career, he has focused on areas such as employee development, safety, engagement, labour and employee relations, wellness and mental health initiatives, as well as diversity and inclusion. Phil has been with Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) for 18 years, initially as the Manager of Human Resources, Labour and Employee Relations, then as the Director of Human Resources, Occupational Health and Safety, Organizational Development, Wellness and Volunteers Services and currently the Vice President People and Chief Human Resources Officer.
Previous to MGH, Phil worked at University Health Network (UHN) in Labour and Employee Relations. Phil also works closely with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), providing support on a number of provincial human resources matters.
Dr. Sheila Laredo received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Toronto in 1991 and specialized in endocrinology and metabolism. She holds a PhD in clinical epidemiology. She is an associate professor at the University of Toronto in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Her clinical interest is in women's reproductive health and the role of insulin resistance and obesity on reproductive health outcomes. She is an enthusiastic teacher; has mentored many trainees, physicians and leaders; and has been the recipient of several research and teaching awards.
In her role as Vice President, Academics and Chief of Staff at MGH, Dr. Laredo leads the hospital’s vision to continue to grow research and education excellence. This includes MGH’s role in education with the University of Toronto in addition to being an anchor partner of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health. She also oversees the continued development and implementation of the hospital’s research mandate.
Dr. Laredo has used her background to advocate for effective evidence-based interventions for children and adults with developmental disabilities on a provincial and national level. She advocates and participates in the creation of public policy that provides appropriate evidence-based services and support. She is teaching medical trainees about public health policy advocacy and has supervised social justice initiatives annually with these students. She created and chaired a multi-hospital committee that developed a domestic violence training manual that has been used province-wide in Ontario.
As a former clinical lead at Women’s College Hospital (WCH), Dr. Laredo implemented lean process change initiatives that improved clinical documentation, improved effectiveness and reduced wait times. She was Chief of Staff at WCH from 2013 to 2019, focusing on physician engagement and improvement, and quality initiatives that improve patient safety and care. She was also responsible for a refresh of the hospital medical bylaws. Dr. Laredo worked for two years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), leading the Medical Advisory and Quality Management Teams. In this role, she successfully designed and implemented a province-wide hospital quality improvement partnership program, which is now being used at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) to support physician wellness.
Using a strengths-based and collaborative approach, Dr. Laredo has undertaken change management in several of her roles, including co-leading leadership teams to improve cross-departmental collaboration, enabling her teams at CPSO; and as Chair of the Board at Kids Brain Health Network, a national Networks of Centres of Excellence, promoting a focus on evidence-based impact.
In Sandra Chiu’s role, she is responsible for Finance, Decision Support and Supply Chain. Sandra joined Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) in 2018, as Deputy CFO. She is a collaborative leader with an extensive background in finance and analytics.
Prior to joining MGH, Sandra was Senior Director of Finance at Sinai Health System for 4 years, where she led major projects including the merger of Mount Sinai Hospital and Bridgepoint Hospital, the financing strategy to secure a multi-million debenture issuance for a major redevelopment project, multi-million land and building acquisition transactions, and co-chaired the Sustainability & Operational Efficiency Committee. Before joining the hospital sector, Sandra held a senior role at KPMG LLP, specializing in hospital and public sector. Sandra is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Accountant (CA). She is currently the Board Director and Treasurer for New Circles Community Services.
Tony Khouri is Vice President, Facilities, Planning, Redevelopment and Support Services at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH). He is a licensed member with Professional Engineers Ontario, and holds Master's and PhD degrees along with health service management and administration and LEAN Six Sigma Black Belt certifications.
Tony has more than 27 years of hospital strategic, operational and capital planning leadership experience. He previously served as Vice President of Facilities, Capital Planning, Development and Operations at some of Canada’s leading community, academic, teaching and research, acute, complex continuing care, rehab, long-term and mental health hospitals.
He was a capital planner with Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP), Infrastructure Ontario (IO), and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's capital planning branch procurement. He has extensive redevelopment expertise with a track record of successful project delivery of a total of $4 billion. These projects involved organizations such as St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital and Sinai Health System, and Michael Garron Hospital)
Tony also has corporate and clinical support services direct-line management experience, including with quality management, Medical Device Reprocessing Department (MDRD), facilities operations, security, biomedical engineering, food services, housekeeping, leases and retails. He leads by example and models shared leadership within an organization.
Tony also demonstrates the ability to lead profound organization-wide, value-based change. He has spoken locally and internationally on complex capital project planning and implementation using evident-based design and patient-centred care.
Mitze Mourinho, FAHP, is President of Michael Garron Hospital Foundation. An accomplished fundraising executive with over 25 years of experience in healthcare fundraising, Mitze is a strategic leader with a strong record of success in building long-term relationships with donors and volunteers.
Mitze joined our team in 2015. That year, she helped secure a record-setting gift from Berna and Myron Garron in honour of their late son Michael Garron. Their $50-million contribution was the largest donation ever made to a Canadian community hospital at the time. Three years later, Mitze championed the Heart of the East Campaign to raise $100 million for the hospital’s historic redevelopment and its most pressing needs. The campaign closed in 2023 at $26 million above goal, culminating in the opening of the eight-storey Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre.
Mitze became a Fellow of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy in 2013, when only 20 Canadians held this professional designation, recognizing dedication, continual advancement and demonstrated commitment to ethical standards of professional practice in healthcare resource development. She has served as an Ex Officio member of the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation Board since 2015.
