Appointment of Christina Bartha as Senior Executive Director, Student Mental Health Systems, Policy and Strategy

From: Sandy Welsh, Vice-Provost, Students
Date: July 26, 2022
Re: Appointment of Christina Bartha as Senior Executive Director, Student Mental Health Systems, Policy and Strategy

The University of Toronto is delighted to announce that Christina Bartha has been appointed inaugural Senior Executive Director, Student Mental Health Systems, Policy and Strategy, beginning August 22, 2022.

Chris will work closely with the campus mental health service providers, mental health experts and the broader university community to guide the ongoing implementation of the recommendations made by the Task Force on Student Mental Health. In this role, Chris will also provide strategic oversight and vision in support of the University’s efforts to enhance services for students needing mental health support. She will promote mental health and wellness across the University and deepen the University’s commitment to developing a culture of caring. Serving as a principal liaison to institutional health teams, student life portfolios, and divisional wellness offices, Chris will provide guidance to develop and instill best practices and changes for student mental health within a tri-campus mandate.

Chris comes to the University of Toronto from SickKids where she was the Executive Director of the Brain and Mental Health Program. In this role, Chris oversaw a multi-site portfolio that included the hospital inpatient/ambulatory services of Adolescent Medicine, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Telepsychiatry, the Departments of Social Work, Psychology, and the Garry Hurvitz Centre for Community Mental Health (GHCCMH) and the Garry Hurvitz Centre for Brain and Mental Health (GHCBMH), a virtual research/academic hub of over 2000 members. Prior to her position at SickKids, for 14 years Chris served as Executive Director of a range of mental health programs at CAMH including those for specialized underserved populations and those focused on children, youth and emerging adults.

Chris is an accomplished senior health care leader who had led and inspired transformation across diverse teams, programs, and systems in community-based services and dynamic academic health science environments. She has been recognized for strategic leadership of innovative and complex change initiatives including program redesign, operational and quality improvement, partnerships and system collaborations, and team and leadership development. Chris also has extensive experience with the design and delivery of high quality, patient, and family centered services across the lifespan, integrated with virtual care, research, education and system building. She is a collaborative leader who values the voices and input of diverse stakeholders and the opportunity to work with institutional and cross sectoral partners.

Highlights of Chris’s many impressive accomplishments include leading the SickKids hospital integration of the former Hincks Dellcrest Centre, co-leading the first enterprise wide SickKids Mental Health Strategy, leading the process to secure Ministry approval for SickKids to provide acute care services to patients with the most complex mental health needs, and leading the SickKids’ pandemic response to address both the significant increase in eating disorders, as well as the service continuity strategy at the community mental health sites in Toronto.

Chris has a Master of Social Work, Diploma in Research Methods (UofT 1986), and Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts (Western 1985). She completed the Advanced Health Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management in 2014.

Please join the University in welcoming Chris into this new role and to the University of Toronto. We are thrilled to have her on board as we establish this new office and further expand our institutional support for student mental health at the University.