the royal announces new president and ceo, new chief of staff
cara vaccarino takes over as head of the city’s largest mental health and research facility.
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cara vaccarino is the royal's new president and ceo.
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nearly a year after its previous president and ceo left without much explanation, the royal mental health centre has appointed a new, permanent, president and ceo, along with a new chief of staff and psychiatrist-in-chief. cara vaccarino takes over as head of the city’s largest mental health and research facility. she replaces pierre noel, the former president of the pembroke regional hospital, who has been interim president and ceo since the departure of former head joanne bezzubetz last december.
vaccarino, who has a clinical background as a social worker, has worked in the fields of mental health and substance abuse for 25 years, including leading large teams in both the public and private sectors in canada and the u.s., according to information released by the royal. most recently, she served as chief operating officer of ehn-canada, overseeing in-patient and out-patient mental health and substance use health treatment facilities across canada. she previously was director of mental health at trillium health partners as well as director of medical affairs and special projects at the centre for addictions and mental health in toronto.
“i am excited to help improve access and care across our community, to support research, and to nurture relationships with our system partners as we continually strive to do better for our clients and their families,” said vaccarino in a statement. she takes on the new role on jan. 1.
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the royal also announced the appointment of a new chief of staff and psychiatrist-in-chief, dr. sandra northcott, who takes over from dr. gail beck, who took on those roles on an interim basis.
northcott has been a psychiatrist for more than 23 years and has held medical and academic leadership positions since 2015. most recently, she was chair of london’s st. joseph’s health centre medical advisory committee and associate dean of learner experience at the schulich school of medicine and dentistry where she led initiatives to improve access to mental health supports for medical and dental students. she was physician lead for the implementation of zero suicide at st. joseph’s, which was the first in canada and recognized as ground-breaking. she takes on the new role next june.
selection committees included client and family representatives as well as representatives from the royal’s leadership team, medical and research staff and foundation. it was led by the board of trustees.
on dec. 14 2022, the departure of former president and ceo bezzubetz was announced internally with no public statement. both the royal and bezzubetz later said the departure was voluntary but neither offered an explanation. before her departure, bezzubetz had led the development of a five-year strategic plan for the royal. the report is confidential because the interviews it was based on were done with a guarantee of confidentiality, the royal has said.
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