Sharkey, Shirlee

Shirlee Sharkey President and Chief Executive Officer Saint Elizabeth

Member: Board of Directors

Shirlee Sharkey has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Saint Elizabeth since 1992. Saint Elizabeth is one of Canada’s largest social enterprises and a not-for-profit charity, employing more than 9,000 staff and delivering more than six million healthcare visits annually. Prior to joining Saint Elizabeth, she served as Director of Nursing (Surgery and Psychiatry) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She currently lectures as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Nursing and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and sits on the C.D. Howe Institute Health Policy Council, the Innovation Council at the Ivey Centre for health Innovation and Leadership, and is the past chair of the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee of Health Quality Ontario. She sits as a Director on the Boards of the Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation and the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto, and serves as Chair of Excellence Canada. She also sits on a number of advisory Boards: Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Champion’s Council, EXCITE International Advisory Board, Rotman School of Management Healthcare & Life Sciences Advisory Board, MaRS Excellence in Clinical Innovation and Technology Evaluation Management Board. Ms. Sharkey obtained her MHSc in Health Administration from the University of Toronto, and undergraduate BScN and BA at the University of Windsor. She also is an Institute-Certified Director (ICD.D) from the Directors Education Program at the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, a Certified Health Executive (C.H.E.) from the Canadian College of Health Leaders, and has furthered her education through workshops at courses at the Harvard Business School. Her dedication to her work and community service have been widely recognized, most recently with an Honour Doctor of Laws from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the Carmelita Lawlor Lectureship Award for Palliative Care from the University of Toronto, and in 2012 she received the Diamond Jubilee medal in recognition of contributions to health care.