Deputy Chief of Staff and Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine
With the departure of Greg Rutledge, Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Emergency Medicine, we would like to announce the following leadership changes.
The Deputy Chief of Staff responsibilities will be divided into two one-year interim positions, effective July 8, 2023:
1. Dr. Rahima Nenshi will be Interim Senior Medical Director and Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee. In this role, Dr. Nenshi will work with the Chief of Staff and MAC to provide oversight of medical quality of care, and professional staff issues including appointments, reappointments and privileges, in alignment with the hospital by laws, rules and regulations and policies. She will continue to serve as the co-chair of the Common Credentials Committee. She will be accountable to the Joint Board of Governors through the Chief of Staff and be a non-voting member of the Board.
Dr. Nenshi is an Associate Professor of Surgery at McMaster University in the Division of General Surgery. She completed her medical degree at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. She then went on to complete a Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics in 2009, her General Surgery Residency in 2011, a Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship in 2012, as well as a Surgical Oncology Fellowship in 2014 at the University of Toronto. Dr. Nenshi’s clinical area of interest is in minimally invasive surgery and acute care surgery. She is involved in local and national research in the fields of acute care surgery and peri-operative surgery, acting as co-primary investigator on trials in acute care surgery, remote monitoring and virtual post-operative patient care.
She has been the director of Acute Care Surgery service at St. Joe’s since 2016. Dr. Nenshi is also the inaugural director of postgraduate education at St. Joe’s, the academic lead for the division of perioperative medicine, co-chair of the city-wide Credentials committee, and current president of the Medical Staff Association.
2. Dr. Zain Chagla will be Interim Senior Medical Director, Clinical Operations. In this role, Dr. Chagla will partner with physician leaders, clinical vice presidents and senior directors to support and advance clinical operations, including access and flow, clinical services planning, and performance improvement. He will also co-chair the Acute Strategy Transformation Table and Hospital Operations Committee and serve on the Clinical Services Executive. He will be accountable to St. Joe’s President through the VP Medical and Academic Affairs.
Dr. Chagla is an Associate Professor at McMaster University. He completed his BSc and MD from Queen’s University, and earned his MSc and Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He completed Internal Medicine at Western University, and an Infectious Diseases fellowship at McMaster University. He joined St. Joe’s and McMaster in 2014, as an Infectious Disease and General Internal Medicine consultant. Dr. Chagla is Head of Service for Infectious Diseases and Co-Medical Director of Infection Control at St. Joes, and Past President of the Medical Staff Association. Dr. Chagla’s work at St. Joes has been in general infectious diseases, with collaborative clinics with transplantation, respirology, as well the medical lead for the COVID-19 treatment clinic.
Both interim senior medical directors will work in collaboration with the Chief of Staff and VP Academic and Medical Affairs to support various projects, such as physician human resources planning, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), engagement and well-being, professionalism, performance development, clinical services planning, population health and integrated care.
Dr. Erich Hanel named Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine at St. Joe’s
Dr. Erich Hanel has been appointed to the role of Interim Chief, Emergency Medicine, effective July 8, 2023.
Dr. Hanel is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at McMaster University. He completed his medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Family Medicine residency at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Emergency Medicine at McMaster. He joined St. Joe’s in 2012 as an Emergency Medicine Physician and has contributed to the hospital’s innovative teaching environment with a strong commitment to excellent patient care, receiving numerous clinical teaching and scholarship awards. He has served as Family Medicine Emergency Medicine and Enhanced Skills Residency since 2019. He is also an EMS Medical Director with the Centre for Paramedic Education and Research.
In the role of Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Hanel will supervise standards of medical care, partner with the Director and Manager to oversee clinical operations of the Emergency Department, and will be responsible for physician staffing, recruitment and retention as well as for supporting education and research. He will also join St. Joe’s Medical Advisory Committee and Physician Leadership Team.
Dr. Hanel will serve in the interim role until the search for Chief of Emergency Medicine is completed.
Please join us in welcoming and congratulating Drs. Hanel, Nenshi and Chagla on their new roles.
We would like to sincerely thank Dr. Greg Rutledge for his continued leadership and dedication to caring for our patients and community. Under his leadership, St. Joe’s excelled as a provincial leader in Virtual Emergency Department/Urgent Care for adults and he had a significant impact at the regional level throughout the pandemic in his role as Regional Lead, Emergency Medicine in Ontario Health.