WAYPOINT CENTRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE
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Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care president and CEO Carol Lambie and board chair John Barrett-Hamilton are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Nadiya Sunderji as the hospital’s new psychiatrist-in-chief.
Following an extensive search, the board approved the appointment of Dr. Sunderji at the Nov. 1, 2018 board meeting. Dr. Sunderji replaces Dr. Jeff Van Impe who resigned from the position in August to relocate closer to family. Waypoint extends sincere appreciation and thanks to Dr. Plabon Ismail, who has been serving as acting psychiatrist-in-chief during this interim period.
Dr. Sunderji earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Western Ontario, London and her residency in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto in 2008.
She comes to Waypoint from St. Michael’s Hospital where she served as the medical director, Quality, Mental Health and Addictions Service, a consulting psychiatrist with the Academic Family Health Team, a psychiatrist in the Mental Health and Addictions Service and an associate scientist at the hospital’s Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute.
Dr. Sunderji’s diverse clinical experience and academic expertise will support Waypoint’s leadership role in mental health and addictions system planning in the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN.
She has also completed a Master of Public Health, with a Certificate in Quality, Patient Safety, and Outcomes Research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a certificate from the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto where she is now a faculty member.
The appointment supports Waypoint’s focus on academic partnerships as she is also an assistant professor in the Division of Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems in the Department of Psychiatry at U of T. Dr. Sunderji led Integrated Mental Health Care Education from 2015-18, providing vision and oversight of a transformation that engaged many faculty and residents in expanding the Department’s service to primary care and community agency settings throughout Toronto.
As a result of this achievement, she was invited to provide consultation to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Council of Psychiatric Educators, and educators across the country.
Dr. Sunderji has been conducting research and quality improvement to improve the implementation of integrated collaborative mental health care in primary care settings.
As a principal investigator, she holds grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Canada, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and has partnered in research with both patients and policymakers. She coordinates the annual Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Care Conference, is co-editor of the journal Families, Systems, & Health (a journal of the American Psychological Association), and has consulted to local, provincial and national organizations regarding quality of mental health services.
She has received international and national recognition for her leadership and research in collaborative care quality improvement and education. She has lectured internationally and is the author and co-author of numerous publications focused on integrated care, leading her to be a sought after mentor.
Dr. Sunderji will commence her position and join the senior leadership team at Waypoint on Feb. 4, 2019.
About Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care:
Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care is an internationally recognized specialty mental health and addiction teaching hospital with a formal affiliation with the University of Toronto. It is also home to the Waypoint Research Institute. As the regional mental health hospital for Simcoe County, Muskoka, portions of Dufferin County, and Parry Sound, Waypoint provides inpatient and outpatient care to those with complex and severe mental illnesses, supports individuals on their journey to recovery, and advances understanding of mental illness and addiction. In addition to providing mental health and addiction care regionally, Waypoint also supports and treats patients from across the province with severe or complex mental illness who have come in contact with the justice system. Waypoint is the only hospital in Ontario with high secure forensic mental health services and the expertise to treat and care for these patients. The hospital is sponsored by the Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario and continues to embrace a vibrant more than 100-year history of providing healing, hope and exceptional care to those most needing mental health services.
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