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Leadership Team

Dr. Everton Gooden

President and CEO

Dr. Everton Gooden is photographed from the waist up in front of a white and beige background. He smiles at the camera and has his arms crossed. He has dark-tone skin. He wears a watch and glasses. He also wears a black suit with a white collared shirt and a silver tie.

Dr. Everton Gooden began his tenure as President and CEO of North York General Hospital (NYGH) on December 1, 2023.

Everton has held a variety of progressive leadership roles, including serving as Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee, President of the Medical Staff Association, Division Chief of Head and Neck Surgery, Governor of the North York General Hospital Foundation Board of Governors and Chair of its Governance and Inclusion Committee. Everton is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Mitch Birken

Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Mitch Birken is photographed from the shoulders up in front of a grey background. He smiles at the camera. He has light-tone skin and short brown hair. He wears a black suit with a blue collared shirt.

Mitch Birken rejoined North York General Hospital in July 2019 as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer.  Mitch began his career at North York General Hospital where he spent over a decade in progressive leadership roles in Human Resources, Strategy, and Support Services.  Prior to returning, Mitch was the Director, Human Resources and Occupational Health and Safety Services at Quinte Health Care, and most recently as Senior Director, Human Resources Consulting at Unity Health Toronto. Mitch’s work experiences have largely been in community hospitals, as well as in rural health, urban health, and long-term care environments.

Rudy Dahdal, B.Sc., MHSc, CHE

Vice President, Planning, Redevelopment and Clinical Support

Rudy Dahdal is photographed from the shoulders up in front of a grey background. He smiles at the camera. He has light-tone skin and short brown hair. He wears a brown suit with a brown collared shirt.

Rudy Dahdal joined North York General Hospital in October 2017 as Vice President, Planning, Redevelopment and Support Services. Prior to this, Rudy spent over two decades at the University Health Network in progressive leadership roles, most recently as Senior Director, Planning, Redevelopment & Support Services, where he developed extensive experience in capital planning and operations, strategic and space planning, project delivery, facilities and support services delivery, as well as procurement and contract negotiations.

Janine Hopkins

Chief Communications Officer & Executive Lead (NYGH), North York Toronto Health Partners

Janine Hopkins is photographed from the shoulders up in front of a grey background. She looks at the camera. He has light-tone skin and shoulder length curly hair. She wears a light brown checkered suit, with a brown blouse and brown rimmed glasses.

Janine Hopkins joined North York General in September 2020, with over 20 years of experience in health care leadership, communications, public affairs and strategy.

Applying an extensive understanding of the health system and public policy, Janine has a record of guiding organizations through change, building partnerships and facilitating integration across the health care continuum, and public and patient engagement.

Dr. Lloyd Smith

Interim Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs

Seanna Millar

President and CEO, North York General Foundation

Seanna Millar is photographed from the waist up in front of a blurred hallways background. She smiles at the camera. He has light-tone skin and brown hair that’s below the shoulders. She wears a black suit with a dark purple blouse and a long silver necklace.

Seanna Millar joined North York General Foundation as President and CEO in May 2023. Prior to joining NYGF, Seanna worked for 20 years in progressively senior positions at SickKids Foundation, culminating in the role of Senior Vice President, which she held since 2017. Earlier, Seanna held positions in fundraising and community relations with Sunnybrook Foundation and Foresters. At SickKids, Seanna served on the Senior Management Team of the Foundation and was part of the leadership team that planned and delivered a $1.5B campaign, the largest hospital fundraising campaign in Canada’s history. In this work, Seanna partnered closely with hospital leadership, clinicians, nurses, and staff. Seanna’s role also saw her working closely with volunteers at the executive and grassroots levels.

Dr. Phil Shin

Chief Medical Information Officer, Chair, Medical Advisory Committee, Critical Care and Internal Medicine

Phil Shin is photographed from the shoulders up in front of a grey background. He smiles at the camera. He has light-tone skin. He has short black hair. He wears a light grey suit with a white collared shirt and a dark blue tie.

Dr. Phil Shin has been an Active staff physician at NYGH since 2006 after completing his medical training in Internal Medicine and Critical Care at the University of Toronto. He recently finished a ten-year term as NYGH Chief of Medicine in 2022 and will be completing his term as Medical Director of Critical Care in June 2023. He performed both roles concurrently for nine years, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January 2022, he has served as the NYGH Chief Medical Information Officer, leading Digital Health initiatives on both the local and provincial levels.

Linda Jussaume

Interim Vice President, Clinical Services, Quality and Long Term Care, Chief Nursing Executive

Linda Jussaume joined NYGH on December 12, 2023.

Before returning to NYGH , Linda led the Surgical Program with distinction for over 12 years.

Prior to her role at North York General Hospital, Linda worked at University Health Network as Clinical Manager of Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit and Rouge Valley Healthcare System as Director of Surgery, Cancer Care and Cardiology. In addition, Linda has had experience in Program and Hospital mergers and expansions and has consulted provincially, nationally and internationally.

Duska Kennedy

Vice President, Strategy, Digital Health and CDO

Duska Kennedy is photographed from the shoulders up in front of a beige background. She smiles at the camera. He has light-tone skin and shoulder length blonde hair. She wears a black suit with a light pink blouse.

Duska Kennedy joined North York General Hospital in June 2020. Duska is a national health system leader and is focused on spearheading innovative digital technology solutions that transform the way we work and provide a connected care experience to the communities she serves.

She is deeply passionate about exploring innovative ways to transform the patient and provider experience. She has a strong background in healthcare strategy and operations management with over 20 years of health care information management and information technology (IM/IT) experience. Before joining NYGH, Duska held several senior leadership roles at the University Health Network. She has developed significant expertise in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and team building. She also brings detailed experience analyzing strategic options, recommending strategies for implementing change and acting as a catalyst to help put these strategies into action.

Peter Wegener

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Peter Wegener is photographer from the shoulders up outside in front of green foliage. He smiles at the camera. He has light-tone skin. He has short white hair. He wears a dark checkered suit with a white collared shirt and glasses.

Peter Wegener has over 30 years experience at the Executive Management level in the Ontario Hospital system. During this time he has provided leadership in many areas including finance, logistics and procurement, decision support, human resources, medical records, information management, diagnostic services and information, communications, automation technologies (ICAT).  In addition, he has led many hospital redevelopment and regionalization projects including regionalization of IT services, laboratory services, pharmacy services, warehouse solutions and centralization of financial functions.