Innovation at Scale: Building System Readiness for Next-Generation Health Technologies

Roundtable Luncheon with Margaret Melanson, Andy Smith & Eva Villalba.

C.D. Howe Institute events and webinars are open to members and their guests.

Please follow this link or contact events@cdhowe.org to register.

As health systems face growing demand and increasing complexity, innovation must move beyond pilot projects to system-wide adoption. This session will explore how next-generation health technologies and treatment approaches can safely shift appropriate care outside hospitals, expand capacity for advanced in-hospital treatments, and improve patient outcomes. Experts will discuss the policy changes and capacity-planning strategies needed to accelerate adoption of hospital-enhancing innovations and scale advanced treatments effectively across the healthcare system.

Margaret Melanson, Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Health Network

Margaret Melanson is the President and CEO of Horizon Health Network and in 2025, she was named a Top 50 CEO in Atlantic Canada by Atlantic Business Magazine for her pioneering and transformative work in people-centred care. She has held many prominent leadership roles within Horizon, including interim President and CEO, Vice President, Clinical Services and Vice President, Quality and Patient Centred Care. Previously, she was the Executive Director for the Saint John area, where she was responsible for clinical service delivery within acute care, among other responsibilities. She also has experience leading several clinical networks across all Horizon. Margaret has extensive clinical and administrative experience in the health care sector, having also previously served as Vice President of Clinical and Facility Support Services for the Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation, among other roles. She is also a Past President of Speech-Language and Audiology Canada, and the New Brunswick Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees from Dalhousie University, as well as an Executive Master of Business Administration.

Andy Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sunnybrook Hospital

Since 2017, Dr. Andy Smith has been the President and CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where he leads over 12,000 staff, physicians, researchers and learners and an annual budget of more than $1.4 billion. Prior to his current role, Dr. Smith served as Sunnybrook’s Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Executive.

With a long-established career as a surgeon and a recognized leader in the management of colorectal cancer, Dr. Smith is intensely passionate about improving healthcare. He has been involved for many years in quality improvement initiatives in Ontario and is passionately interested in healthcare leadership, innovation and the evolution of the healthcare system in Canada. Dr. Smith is on the Board of Directors for ORNGE, Public Health Ontario (PHO), HealthCareCAN, Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP) and is an active member of Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (TAHSN).

Eva Villalba, Director General, Quebec Cancer Coalition

Executive Director of the Quebec Cancer Coalition and working in the field of patient advocacy since 2008, Eva Villalba is dedicated to improving healthcare systems, particularly for people affected by cancer. Her expertise in health policy and healthcare management, coupled with an MBA and an MSc in Health Transformation, enables her to advocate and lead initiatives that place patients at the center of healthcare systems. Passionate about value creation, learning health systems, and developing strategic partnerships, she is an internationally recognized expert in value-based healthcare (VBHC) and advocates for co-construction at all levels, for and with patients.