Chris

Dr. Simpson Chris

Position(s)

HSPRI Associate Faculty

ICES Affiliate Scientist

Currently, he is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Executive at Ontario Health – the provincial agency overseeing Ontario’s health care system. He is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine, an ICES Affiliate Scientist, and a member of the Queen’s School of Policy Studies Health Policy Council.

He served as the first president of the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society – the national association of heart rhythm specialists and allied health professionals. Over the years he has served on numerous editorial boards and advisory committees, and has chaired or been a member of several national consensus conferences and guidelines statements, including the CCS Consensus Conference on Medical Fitness to Drive and Fly, of which he was co-chair. He is a co-editor of the CMA Driver’s Guide.

He served as the 2014-2015 President of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), during which he championed seniors’ care and helped to guide the profession on the issues of medical aid in dying (MAID) and medical marijuana. In 2015, Dr. Simpson was elected to fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and served as CAHS President in 2020-2021.

Research Interests

Dr. Simpson’s primary non-clinical professional interest is health policy – particularly access to care, seniors’ care, wait times and medical fitness to drive. He served as the chair of the Wait Time Alliance (WTA) – a federation of 17 medical specialty societies and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) – and is a past chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s (CCS) Standing Committee on Health Policy and Advocacy. He has served on the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario (CorHealth) Board of Directors, is a past member of the CCS executive and a former governor of the American College of Cardiology. He served as the Canadian representative at the World Medical Association. He currently serves as chair of Ontario Health’s Quality Standards Committee.

Team

Research Interests