Meet Our Shared Leadership Team

Gord leads the expansion of the technical platform and data services at the Health Data Coalition. He brings over 20 years’ experience in software development to his leadership role and has extensive expertise in business analysis, product management, and corporate development in cities such as Montreal, Bangalore, Toronto, and Vancouver. Gord has a track record of ensuring strong returns on investment, with many past successes in managing all phases of software development. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Guelph and subsequently earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Science and Technology at Queen’s University.

Lawrence is a family doctor in Surrey. He’s passionate about patient experiences and resource stewardship. Lawrence is an IHI trained QI Coach and QI advisor. Lawrence is a father of two children and is excited about influencing the health system to become more sustainable for future generations.  Lawrence enjoys eating poke bowls, watching UFC matches, and training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Lawrence has a side gig selling Hot Wheels cars and retro video games.

Dr. Cole Stanley is a Vancouver-based family physician with nine years’ experience practicing in BC. He received his MD from the University of Toronto and completed his Family Medicine Residency at the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University. Dr. Stanley is a clinical instructor with the UBC Faculty of Medicine and a family physician with the Hope to Health Research and Innovation Clinic in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Gayle Grout is a seasoned Information Management leader with a passion to build software solutions to support our healthcare system in Canada. She has experience in IT Strategy, Software Implementation and Business Development and enjoys improving products, services, processes and supporting people development. Her ability to develop strategic plans and execute with discipline and structure creates an accountable, yet innovative, working environment for success. She applies her learnings, working to provide technical solutions for Canadian physicians to launch features that comply with regulatory requirements and enable physician workflows.

Dr. Kathleen Ross is a respected Canadian Physician leader and health policy advocate, known for her work at the intersection of clinical care, health system transformation, and technology. 

As a Family Physician with 3 decades of frontline experience, she has championed evidence-informed policy reforms to improve access, equity, and integration across Canada’s health systems. As a founder and Chair of Pathways Patient Referral Association, she had demonstrated the ability to apply practical solutions to the administrative challenges faced in frontline care and drive improvement in patient care, including knowledge translation into the consultant referral process. 

During her recent tenure as President of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Ross advanced national conversations on physician wellness, health human resources, the balance of public and private health care in Canada and the ethical deployment of artificial intelligence in care delivery. She continues to advocate for responsible innovation, promoting digital health solutions and AI tools that reduce administrative burden and enhance patient care, while ensuring patient privacy and public trust remain at the core of all technological advancement. 

Dr. Ross is an avid volunteer in her community and internationally and has received several awards for her global humanitarian work.

Dr. Olutoyese (Toye) Oyelese was born in Montreal, Canada. In June 1985, he graduated with a medical degree from the College of Medicine University of Ibadan in Nigeria. 

He completed a medical internship program at Saskatoon City Hospital in 1991. Toye practiced in Alberta from 1991 – 2009 where he worked in many different roles including longitudinal family practice, Medical Examiner (Coroner) for the Alberta Ministry of Justice, medical advisor with the Workman’s Compensation Board (in Edmonton, Alberta), medical consultant with Millard Health’s minor traumatic brain injury program and complex psychosocial pain program and as a pain medicine physician (at Canmore pain clinic). 

In 2009, he moved to Kelowna, British Columbia, where he practices family medicine at Westside Medical Associates. Oyelese has a fellowship in family medicine and is a clinical associate professor at UBC Faculty of Medicine. 

He was President of BC Family Doctors (from 2021 – 2022) and was on the board of the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) (from 2022 – 2025). He is a member of the board of the BC College of Family Physicians and is the Chief Executive Officer of Westside Medical Associates Ltd.

He is very interested in computer technology and created a “free” decision making framework and web app that helps patients prioritize and execute an action plan (www.therulesframework.com)

Dr. Angela Jennings is a family physician who completed her medical degree and residency at the University of Toronto.  She moved to British Columbia and has been practicing longitudinal family medicine in the Richmond community since 2016.  She is co-director of Coppersmith Medical Clinic and has extensive experience with several EMR systems.  She is an active member of the Richmond Division of Family Practice.  

Dr. Jennings has initiated numerous Quality Improvement projects and has utilized HDC Discover to optimize delivery of care.  She has also assisted other physicians with their own Quality Improvement initiatives and is passionate about improving patient care and practice efficiency through the use of technology and data sharing. 

Dr. Karen E. Forgie started her professional career as an outpost nurse, midwife and nursing administrator in Newfoundland and Labrador before deciding on medicine. She received her MD from Memorial University of Newfoundland and completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of British Columbia.  The Sunshine Coast is considered home after 32 years of practicing full service longitudinal Family Medicine supplemented with locums in Canada’s north. 

Her passions are rural health care, teaching medical learners, working with physician lead and supported organizations, inspiring the provision of the best care for all peoples, and protecting patient and physician data privacy. 

Dr. Janet Fisher was raised in Agassiz and has spent most of her life and career in the smaller communities of BC.  She graduated with her MD from UBC in 2001 and completed the Chilliwack Family Medicine Residency Program in 2003.  She has lived and worked the past 20 years in Rossland/Trail and has enjoyed working in ER, Hospitalist, Long Term Care, Longitudinal Primary Care, teaching, and administration.  Dr. Fisher has been very involved with her regional Division of Family Practice and has enjoyed learning to work with an inter-professional team in her Primary Care Network.   Her interest in utilizing data to improve patient care dates back to the days of PITO when physicians were first trying to coordinate EMRs in the region.   Translating population level data to change at the clinic and individual patient level is an area her clinic is starting to explore more deeply.

In her spare time Dr. Fisher loves mountain biking and hiking with her adventure dog Bella, doing Pilates with the somewhat sadistic local instructor, and hanging out with friends and family.  She also loves listening to good podcasts on topics she knows little about.  And she may, or may not, have a weakness Fluevogs…

Dr. Daisy Dulay is a cardiologist with a strong commitment to healthcare well-being and quality improvement. She founded the Physician Wellness Group through the South Island Medical Association to support the mental and physical health of her colleagues.

Dr. Dulay has participated as a Doctors of BC physician representative in psychological and physical safety working groups, collaborating with the local health authority and the BC Ministry of Health. She also served as the Medical Director for Patient Safety and Quality at Island Health, where she focused on initiatives to enhance patient care.

Currently, she co-leads the Spreading Quality Improvement initiative for Doctors of BC, a project that aims to expand successful local healthcare improvements across the province. Dr. Dulay is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

A lifelong learner, Dr. Dulay continues to broaden her expertise beyond cardiology, blending data-driven approaches with practical, compassionate care. Her contributions to communication and leadership were recognized by the South Island Medical Staff Association.

Chris is a visionary leader and the CEO of Carveira Group Consulting, renowned for his strategic expertise in spearheading innovative digital transformations within healthcare. With a background in Health Information Science and extensive experience as a certified project manager, Chris has successfully delivered numerous (50+) IT system implementations, enhancing healthcare accessibility and efficiency. Chris has spent the majority of his career in the healthcare sector working with both public and private organizations and has built significant expertise on the implementation of Electronic Medical Records, Hospital Information Systems, and other digital health technologies. Chris is an active member in his local health innovation community and has a strong interest in identifying and validating how emerging digital health solutions can be successfully integrated into our current healthcare system. Chris is currently President and Board Chair of Digital Health Canada, an organization focused on connecting, inspiring, and empowering the digital health professionals creating the future of health in Canada. He has also worked as a mentor, advisor, and investor within many health start-up, scale-up and established businesses and organizations and is known as a community builder dedicated to advancing the health innovation ecosystem through commercialization efforts.

Dr. Samuel Abraham received his PhD in Genetics from the University of British Columbia.  He joined Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals as a Senior Scientist in 1996, and later became Project Leader for the Transplant Program, as well as Division Leader for Cell and Molecular Biology.  He was with the BC Cancer Agency from 2000 to 2015, serving in a variety of positions, including concurrent appointments as VP Strategic Relationships beginning 2007, Executive Lead, Business and Intellectual Property Development for PHSA beginning in 2010 and Interim VP Research beginning in 2011. Dr. Abraham has served on the boards of the BC Cancer Foundation and the Centre for Drug Research and Development, and currently serves on the boards of Inspire Health, the Institute for Health Systems Transformation and Sustainability, GlycoNet and Vancouver Prostate Centre/PC-TRiADD. During his time with BCCA/PHSA Dr Abraham led the development of a strong intellectual property portfolio, driven by the mandate to improve outcomes for cancer patients in BC and beyond.

Dr. Herb Chang completed his M.D. at UBC in 1988 and started his full-service family practice in 1993 in Coquitlam. He continues to pursue his passion for mentorship as a Clinical Assistant Professor with the UBC Medical School and preceptor for medical students and residents. After completing the Leadership and Management Development Program at SFU in 2014, Herb embraced many leadership roles, including Treasurer for the Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice, member of the FNW Division Primary Care Network physician advisory committee, and Treasurer of the provincial Pathways Patient Referral Association.

Dr. Chang has cultivated his experience blending IT and health care as a member of the Fraser Health Authority IT committee for many years and as a member of the BC Provincial Digital Health Initiative, Portfolio 2 Leadership Team. As an avid proponent of the OSCAR EMR, he has given multiple presentations and peer support sessions throughout the province with the Practice Support Program. He was an early registrant with the Health Data Coalition and a supporter of its expansion within his Division of Family Practice.

Dr. Chang looks forward to this new engaging opportunity to join the Board of the Health Data Coalition, to help physicians and clinics understand and utilize their data to implement practice improvement in a safe, secure and confidential manner to enhance patient care.

Dr. Newton is an Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Family Practice, and the Associate Vice President Health in the Office of the Vice President, Health. She moved to BC in 2001 and started practice in the UBC Family Practice Teaching Unit on the Vancouver campus in January of 2002. Since 2005, Dr. Newton has spent most of her academic career focused on interprofessional and collaborative health education across disciplines and across the educational continuum. She has a particular interest in continuing professional development for practice improvement. Since 2010 she has served in various roles including as Director of CPD for the department, BC representative on National Committee for CPD of the CFPC and on the Doctors of BC CPD Nucleus Committee. Through her work she aims to shape the workforce of tomorrow, catalyze interdisciplinary collaboration in health research, and advocate for and assist in building capacity for positive health system change. Dr. Newton has long recognized the importance of data to drive change; feedback is essential for improvement at the individual, clinic, community, and system level.

In her role as Associate Vice President Health she is currently working on the development of a new interprofessional teaching clinic on campus aimed at modelling and scaling collaborative health education within team-based primary care. She looks forward to the day when team-based care is the standard in BC and teams are well supported to provide accessible care for their communities.

Dr. Omesh Syal grew up in Dawson Creek, BC and completed both medical school and family residency at UBC. He began practice in Prince George allowing him to stay close to the north.

Dr. Syal has seen the importance of data collection, interpretation in utilizing this to implement change at the physician level, community level and provincial level. Early in his career, he was taught the importance data collection to help run his practice more efficiently to improve patient care.

Having been elected as Vice-Chair to the Prince George Division of Family Practice, as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the Nechako medical clinic, an after-hours clinic for physicians in collaboration with northern health, he has seen firsthand how data can affect change.

Dr. Syal believes the HDC will be a huge driving force to implement change. He would like to contribute and help create change within his community and province.