Speaker Series

Date and time

Tuesday, January 20, 2026  (12-1 p.m. ET)

Session Description: 

For the January speaker series presentation, we will feature live presentations of several of the oral abstracts that were included as part of the CQuIPS Symposium held on November 13, 2025.

Clarissa Skorupski is a PGY5 Adult Hematology resident at the University of Toronto and previous participant of the 2023 – 2024 CQuIPS certificate course. She has strong academic interests in quality improvement and promoting health equity in cancer care access and delivery. Her clinical interests are in the care of patients with myeloid disorders and she will be pursuing advanced clinical training in the Princess Margaret Leukemia/MPN Fellowship Program in 2026. 

Abstract: The care complexity and economic burdens related to cancer treatment in Canada are continuing to increase with the introduction of novel therapeutics. We present the pilot health equity survey results from the Care For All Health Equity Pilot at St. Michael’s Hospital – a mixed methods QI initiative seeking to identify and understand barriers to complete and timely systemic cancer treatment. Amongst our inner city patient population, we observed a high rate of transportation and financial toxicity related to cancer care and identified disability, employment status, and transportation stress as possible predictive factors contributing to missed oncology appointments in an exploratory analysis. 

Ramanja Pakirathan, MBA, PMP, CHE is a Quality Improvement Facilitator at Scarborough Health Network, where she leads initiatives to enhance patient safety, care quality, and system efficiency. She works closely with clinical and operational teams to apply structured improvement methodologies, support change management, and advance organizational performance. Ramanja’s professional interests include human-centered design, implementation science, and health system innovation.  

Abstract: SHN implemented equity-focused, community-engaged quality improvements—including staff education, physician case reviews, and Epic enhancements—to reduce ED Physician Initial Assessment times for high-acuity SCD patients. The initiative achieved a 78% reduction, surpassing the 15-minute target ahead of schedule. 

Dr. Tom Bodley is an intensive care physician and Quality Improvement expert at Scarborough Health Network. He has a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology, and his academic work focuses on implementation of evidence-based practices, reducing low-value care, and improving the sustainability of healthcare delivery. He is also the Co-Director of Choosing Wisely Canada’s “Using Labs Wisely” program.

Abstract: The Scarborough Health Network ICU “Wake Up and Breathe” program increased spontaneous breathing trial best practices across three hospitals, raising rates among eligible patients from 28% to 48% without increasing re-intubations. Early results show equitable increases across patient reported preferred language groups. Ongoing work focuses on sedation weaning, protocol refinement, and bedside family engagement.

Jane Ballantyne, BA, RSSW, MClSc is the Manager of the Patient Relations Department at UHN. Jane provides leadership in the department where questions, concerns, compliments and other feedback are received from patients and families for the purpose of safety and quality improvement at UHN. She is passionate about ensuring that patient voices are amplified through an accessible, equitable, fair, culturally safe and, most of all, compassionate complaint resolution process.

Tahara Bhate, MD MHSc CCFP(EM) is an Emergency Physician with University Health Network, and an Assistant Professor (Quality and Innovation) with the University of Toronto. Her academic interests are in systems improvement and patient safety. She is also involved in efforts nationally to support emergency departments and clinicians in improving the quality and safety of their care. She holds a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of British Columbia, and is a graduate of the Healthcare Improvement Fellowship with the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (C-QuiPS) at the University of Toronto

Abstract: Spotlight on the Patient Experience: Evaluating Processes for Identifying Non-Physical Patient Harm in the Emergency DepartmentThere is emerging recognition that patients experience a wide spectrum of preventable harms beyond what is normally captured in safety events. At our multi-site academic health center, we introduced the concept of ‘Non-Physical Harm’ (NPH) to capture an expanded understanding of preventable harm, including emotional or psychological harms, and operationalized a process to identify, categorize and analyze this type of harm, using the same framework for learning as in ‘traditional’ patient safety events. One year post implementation, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of our process, utilizing the Emergency Department as a pilot evaluation site.