Meet The
Team
WHAT WE DO
We are a patient and caregiver Council that is patient and family centred. The Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council is fully led and run by its members comprised of patients, caregivers, and a research lead. We provide the patient and caregiver perspective through our lived experience using the health care system. A key challenge we have experienced (or are currently experiencing) is a poor transition out of hospital which results in delayed discharge. In Canada, this is referred to as Alternate Level of Care or ALC. Our goal is to improve the care journey for patients and caregivers including their experience as they leave the hospital. In our work, we integrate the patient and caregiver voice into plans and directions to positively impact and empower patients, caregivers, and care providers to improve their care journey.
Through the work of the Council, we aim to continually improve the experiences and outcomes of patients and their caregivers and advance excellence in healthcare practices. Our mission is to be a passionate advocate for better communication and collaboration between patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to promote exceptional journeys through the health care system.
WHO WE ARE
Lisa Bennett
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Lisa Bennett is an experienced primary caregiver for an elderly mother (98 years old) with dementia. She is a committed advocate and advisor on patient-and family-oriented care. She is a retired executive with over 30 years of experience in Information Technology with diverse management experience and technical exposure. She is involved in several patient and caregiver councils for the health care system, including the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Group which is leading a research study to improve delayed hospital discharge. She shares her story in "University of Toronto researchers (Sara Guilcher and Kerry Kuluski) launch in-depth evaluation of strategies to curb 'hallway medicine' in Ontario".
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Lucy Bilotta
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Lucy Bilotta is a Health Information Professional with over 30 years of experience in coding clinical information presently employed at Unity Health Toronto (St. Michael’s Hospital). As a clinical coding specialist who gathers clinical data, including the capture of Alternate Level of Care days, she is able to identify the lack of availability of services and institutions for patients who no longer need acute care in our healthcare system. Through a personal experience being the caregiver for her late mother who spent over 200 days awaiting placement in an acute care setting, she became involved in the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council. As a member of this committee, she has been able to contribute ideas from her work and personal knowledge to help improve the outcomes of ALC experiences for future patients. Watch her recently shared story, Alternate Level Of Care: A Caregiver's Experience.
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Dana Corsi
Dana is an Occupational Therapist with nearly 20 years of frontline clinical experience. Dana is driven by the ability to provide person-centered care that is founded in the latest best-practice research. Her work has evolved from direct patient care to a focus on system development of rehabilitative care at a local, regional and provincial level. As Regional Geriatric Rehab Lead with the North East Specialized Geriatric Centre (NESGC), a program of Health Sciences North, Dana provides leadership for planning, developing and putting into practice best practice rehabilitative care for older adults across all levels of healthcare. Dana holds a Master of Science in Health Care Quality from Queen’s University. Along with being a member of our Council, Dana is Chair of the Provincial Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Leading Practices Working Group, Member of the Ontario Health Provincial ALC Advisory Committee, and Chair of the Older Adults with Frailty Provincial Task Group with Rehabilitative Care Alliance.
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Bernadette Farrell
Bernadette enjoys learning and reading and tries to live by the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Singing has always been important in her world, and likes to make people smile. She uses humour to help people at difficult times. Through personal experience, Bernadette knows that a transition period in hospital can be bewildering. She is currently in a hospital setting, awaiting a permanent place to call home. Bernadette wants to help and share her knowledge of the Ontario healthcare system. She often advocates for others and joined the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council to support people that are struggling with delayed discharge.
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Kerry Kuluski (Research Lead)
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Dr. Kerry Kuluski is the inaugural Dr. Mathias Gysler Research Chair in Patient and Family-Centered Care at the Institute for Better Health at Trillium Health Partners and Associate Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Prior to that, she was a Scientist at Sinai Health System (Bridgepoint Hospital site) where she grew her program of research on patient and caregiver experience. She focuses on key care quality challenges in our health care system including care transitions using multi-methods. She works in partnership with patients and families to co-design strategies that aim to improve health care experiences. To see more about patient and family centred care visit @Dr_KerryK.
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Gordon MacGregor
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Gordon MacGregor is retired and currently a member of the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Council in Ontario, Canada. He was drawn to this work through personal experience caring for his late wife who had schizophrenia. He has served as an advisor for different hospital councils. He recently shared his story through a podcast: I was there for her": A Caregiver's Story.
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Ida McLaughlin (Chair)
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Ida McLaughlin is an experienced Leader within the philanthropy industry and private sector. She is a strong business development professional and is skilled in start-ups, nonprofit organizations, operations management, strategic planning, and team building. She has been a caregiver partner on several hospital initiatives, most recently as Chair of the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council which is leading a research study on delayed hospital discharge. She spent many years caring for her Aunt who experienced many discharge delays from hospital. Her story is shared in "Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain".
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Murray Powell
Murray Powell was born in Napanee Ontario and has lived in Toronto for many years. He has been involved in music since childhood but since 2010 became a songwriter and music composer. He sings and plays the acoustic guitar in accompaniment. His style is a fusion of Country, Folk, Blues and Rock'n Roll. You can sample Murray’s musical talents on Foot Stomping Music. Murray also has experience as a patient in the health care system and was drawn to the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council due to his own personal experience with care transitions.
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Monika Syed
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Monika Syed is a sales consultant in the optical industry after founding and working over a decade in design consulting and sales. She understands the values and importance of customer service and the trust that forms with strong relationships. Monika became the sole caregiver to her father after his second stroke, which left him waiting for several years for placement. During this time, she shared her experiences in a research group focused on co-designing strategies to address Alternate Level of Care challenges. The process involved sharing experiences, opinions, and feelings with other caregivers, patients, and practitioners, narrowing down and assessing the gaps recognized in the ALC. Monika continues to find this work rewarding and looks forward to participating and contributing to future projects of the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council in hopes to see positive changes. She shares her story in "The Making of Sinai Health Magazine: Shifting the Culture of Care".
The ALC Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council Members
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