Board of directors

Susan Armstrong joined the OMAI Board of Directors in September 2020.

Prior to this, Armstrong was the president and CEO of CDSPI, an organization that offers insurance and investment products, services, and advice to the Canadian dental community. She served as the senior vice-president at Swiss Reinsurance Company Canada, where she led the finance, information technology and compliance functions. Her previous roles also include senior vice-president and chief financial officer at CIBC Insurance, and vice-president and chief financial officer at Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company.

She brings a wealth of corporate director experience in the insurance and health-care sectors. She is currently vice-chair of the board of Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO) and previously served as chair of the Audit and Conduct Review Committee of Securian Canada. Armstrong also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of CAMH.

Past roles include serving as chair of the board of Michael Garron Hospital and serving on the boards of West Park Healthcare Centre, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, The George Hull Centre for Children and Families and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.

Armstrong has a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Toronto. She is a fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Rob Ritchie brings more than 35 years of experience in the insurance, pension and financial services industry to the OMAI Board. In 2022, he retired as the CEO of Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan. Prior to that role, Ritchie held various roles in the insurance industry, including executive vice-president of wealth management at Great-West Life Canada, chief investment officer at Canada Life U.K. and president of London Capital Management Ltd. He has served on a number of boards and is currently a trustee of the Merrymount Foundation and a member of the board of directors of Equitable Life. Ritchie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Gordon Graham joined the OMAI Board in September 2020, bringing more than 20 years of financial sector and board experience with him. Graham is the CEO of asrTrust, an employee life and health trust providing benefits for auto sector retirees. In the past, he held leadership positions at AccertaClaim Servicorp Inc. and e-route Inc. as president and CEO. He was the vice-president of market regulation and provincial affairs at Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association.

Graham is the board chair at Stelco Retiree Health Care. He has also served on other boards, including Hospice Toronto and Advocis Canada. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and politics and an  MBA, both from Queen’s University. Graham has a law degree (LLB) from University of Windsor and is called to the Ontario Bar. He also holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Dr. Audrey Karlinsky is a founding partner of the Bellair Family Practice as well as an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Karlinsky has served on the OMA Board in various capacities including as the OMA director representing District 11, vice-chair of the OMA Finance and Audit Committee, member of the OMA Strategy and Transformation Committee, member of the Board of Governors of the Ontario Medical Foundation and member of the OMA Advantages Retirement Program Investment Committee. Dr. Karlinsky is also part-time staff with the Mount Sinai Family Practice and courtesy staff with Women’s College Hospital. Dr. Karlinsky is the current vice-chair of the OMA Board of Directors.

Dr. Sanjay Acharya is the medical director of the Chronic Vent Ward at St. Vincent’s Hospital, a retired provincial coroner and chair of the AFP governance committee. He currently practises in Ottawa at the Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) and Bruyere Continuing Care. He was the president of the medical staff at QCH for 10 years and was also the chief of staff. He served on the hospital board and is also a past president of the OMA Ottawa Branch Society. Dr. Acharya has served as vice-chair of OMA council for several years and was elected chair in 2018. He was a Canadian Armed Forces medical officer who served as a primary care physician in Petawawa and overseas as an anesthesiologist. He graduated from the Memorial University of Newfoundland before completing his postgraduate training in anaesthesia at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Acharya holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Dr. Alissia Valentinis is a family physician at Taddle Creek Family Health Team (FHT), one of the first community-based FHTs, which was awarded Family Health Team of the year. Dr. Valentinis is also the senior medical director at TELUS Health MyCare and a lecturer in the department of family medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Valentinis brings over 18 years of clinical experience along with an entrepreneurial spirit, which led her to create the startup MDHomeCall, a house-call service that focused on caring for homebound patients. She has served many years on the boards of both MDHomeCall and the Taddle Creek Family Health Team, where she was an executive board member and sat on the governance and recruitment committees.

Dr. Akanksha Kulshreshtha is a resident physician in the obstetrics and gynecology program at the University of Toronto. She completed her undergraduate education in the health sciences program at McMaster University and her medical school training at the University of Toronto. She will be pursuing a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Toronto in 2023.

Prior to her journey in medicine, Dr. Kulshreshtha obtained her MBA from McMaster University and pursued her CA/CPA designation as a senior associate in the audit and assurance group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was also elected vice-president of finance for the University of Toronto Medical Society.

Dr. Kulshreshtha is passionate about women’s health advocacy. During the pandemic, she worked with the South Asian COVID Task Force and the South Asian Health Network to provide culturally appropriate and comprehensive messaging on COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy. Dr. Kulshreshtha aims to reduce health-related disparities and strengthen and empower women in the South Asian community.