nearly a year after its previous president and ceo left without much explanation, the royal mental health centre has appointed a new, permanent, president and ceo, along with a new chief of staff and psychiatrist-in-chief.
cara vaccarino takes over as head of the city’s largest mental health and research facility. she replaces pierre noel, the former president of the pembroke regional hospital, who has been interim president and ceo since the departure of former head joanne bezzubetz last december.
vaccarino, who has a clinical background as a social worker, has worked in the fields of mental health and substance abuse for 25 years, including leading large teams in both the public and private sectors in canada and the u.s., according to information released by the royal. most recently, she served as chief operating officer of ehn-canada, overseeing in-patient and out-patient mental health and substance use health treatment facilities across canada. she previously was director of mental health at trillium health partners as well as director of medical affairs and special projects at the centre for addictions and mental health in toronto.
“i am excited to help improve access and care across our community, to support research, and to nurture relationships with our system partners as we continually strive to do better for our clients and their families,” said vaccarino in a statement. she takes on the new role on jan. 1.