Executive Leadership Team

Dr. Vijay Seethapathy is the chief medical officer at BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS) as part of the dyad leadership team with chief operating officer Jennifer Duff. 

He provides strategic and operational oversight for medical services across BCMHSUS programs and services including the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, θəqiʔ ɫəwʔənəq leləm’ (Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction), Heartwood Centre for Women, Correctional Health Services, forensic regional clinics, and provincial specialized mental health and substance use programs. He is also a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, where he oversees the psychiatry residents’ addictions program.

Vijay is one of very few psychiatrists in BC who specialize in treating patients with a combination of complex mental health and substance use disorders, known in the mental health community as concurrent disorders. He has a special interest in clinical systems redesign.

Vijay has bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery from India, and an executive master’s degree in business administration from Keele University in the UK. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK, and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.

Assistant: Rajika Prabhakar, rajika.prabhakar@phsa.ca

Jennifer Duff is the chief operating officer at BCMHSUS.

Jennifer holds an executive MBA and an Americas MBA for Executives certificate from Simon Fraser University, as well as a master’s degree in health administration and a bachelor’s degree in nursing, both from the University of British Columbia. She also currently serves as adjunct professor in UBC’s School of Population and Public Health.

Jennifer has more than 20 years of experience in progressively senior health care leadership roles spanning clinical, operational, regional and provincial/ministerial levels. These include roles in mental health and/or substance use at Providence Health Care, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Ministry of Health.

Notable projects including the development of the ‘Hub’ and Vancouver Police Foundation Transitional Care Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital; the opening of the Granville Youth Clinic and the multiple joint efforts to open new addiction treatment spaces regionally; assertive community teams; and new acute hospital-based services such as the St. Paul’s Hospital Acute Behavioral & Stabilization Unit. She also led the planning for the implementation of the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions’ injectable opioid agonist treatment (iOAT) program across BC health authorities.

Assistant: Franca Pitassi, franca.pitassi@phsa.ca 

Blaine Bray is the provincial executive director for Forensic Psychiatric Services. He leads Forensic Psychiatric Services in its mission to balance service to the courts with ensuring public safety, in addition to providing excellent care for clients who receive treatment at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and/or the regional clinics. 

Blaine is also leading improvements and the development of enhanced quality metrics and outcome measures, in partnership with the respective medical leadership and teams across forensic services provincially.

Blaine has worked exclusively in mental health and substance use for more than 30 years. He is a registered psychiatric nurse and has a master of arts degree in leadership from Royal Roads University.

Early in his career, Blaine spent nine years working clinically as a registered psychiatric nurse at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, followed by more clinical work in the Vancouver Jail. Most recently, Blaine worked with Providence Health Care, where he was the program director of acute and tertiary mental health/inner city youth-Foundry Vancouver Granville.

Assistant: Cesar Iglesias Contreras, cesar.iglesiascontreras@phsa.ca

Justine provides inter-professional practice leadership at BCMHSUS, strengthening the focus on evidence-based practice and improving models of care, clinical practice standards and collaboration across practice and operations.

A registered psychiatric nurse for over 25 years, Justine worked in the field of complex mental health and substance use in both the UK and the Channel Islands before moving to BC in 2009. During her time with BCMHSUS, Justine has held a number of leadership positions, including program director, adult mental health and substance use services and senior director, inter-professional practice.

In addition to her registered psychiatric nursing credentials, Justine has earned an honours bachelor degree in forensic mental health care from the University of Sheffield, a post graduate diploma in addiction from the University of Leeds, and a master of science in nursing leadership from Oxford Brookes University.

Assistant: Laura Accili, laura.accili@phsa.ca 

Kathryn Embacher is the executive director responsible for adult mental health and substance use (AMHSU) at BCMHSUS. This includes θəqiʔ ɫəwʔənəq leləm’ (Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction), Heartwood Centre for Women, Provincial Assessment Centre, and Provincial Specialized Substance Use Treatment Program for Adults.

Kathryn is a registered nurse and chartered professional in human resources, with a master's degree in human resource management from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University. Kathryn has 20 years of direct care and leadership experience in acute and tertiary mental health and substance use services.

Kathryn is dedicated to high quality, patient-centred, and innovative mental health and substance use care. She has significant experience leading her clinical teams through change and transformation with the successful roll-out of electronic health records and model-of-care redesigns to best meet changing patient needs. Kathryn was a leader in the development of the Joseph and Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre during her time as patient services manager for acute psychiatry at Vancouver General Hospital, and she led the operational planning for the BCMHSUS Red Fish Healing Centre that opened October 12, 2021. 

Kathryn has dedicated her career to the development of accessible, innovative, patient-centred programs that meet the needs of complex clients with concurrent mental health and substance use challenges.

Assistant: Franca Pitassi, franca.pitassi@phsa.ca

Rebecca Hahn is the executive director of patient and staff experience and measurement for BCMHSUS, where she is responsible for patient experience and community engagement, and strategic information management including analytics and reporting. She also supports the BC Mental Health Foundation and a number of other special projects in BCMHSUS.

Rebecca has held various senior leadership positions at Vancouver Coastal Health, PHSA and the University Health Network in Toronto. Prior to her current role, she was the chief transformation officer for the CST implementation at PHSA, Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care. She has a unique combination of IT, clinical, and project management knowledge and more than 20 years experience in progressive leadership roles leading system change initiatives.

She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo.

Assistant: Allanah Bayliss, allanah.bayliss@phsa.ca

Dr. Rakesh Lamba is the person in charge, Forensic Psychiatric Services, at BCMHSUS. He is responsible for providing senior medical leadership and operational oversight to medical services in Forensic Psychiatric Services. 

Rakesh has almost 25 years’ experience providing assessment and treatment services in a variety of community and custodial settings. He completed his bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery in India and his psychiatry training at Dalhousie University before becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. 

Since completing further training in forensic psychiatry at Queens University, Rakesh has been actively involved in post-graduate training in forensic psychiatry. He is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia.  

Assistant: Carly Bath, carly.bath@phsa.ca

Dr. Nickie Mathew is the medical director for complex mental health and substance use services with BCMHSUS. His portfolio includes θəqiʔ ɫəwʔənəq leləm’ (the Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction), and the Heartwood Centre for Women.

A psychiatry fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Nickie completed an addiction psychiatry fellowship at Yale University and a forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of British Columbia. He is board certified in addiction psychiatry, addiction medicine and forensic psychiatry. He is also a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia and has won awards for teaching and research.

Nickie endeavours to bring evidence-based, cutting-edge treatments to the concurrent disorder population in BC. He is a strong advocate for health care improvements for this often-marginalized population through his clinical and committee work.

Assistant: Monique van Oord, monique.vanoord@phsa.ca

Dr. Annabel Mead provides medical leadership to the Lower Mainland Correctional Health Services sites.

Annabel has been practising addiction medicine for over 20 years, with expertise in women’s health, concurrent psychiatric disorders and pain management. Originally trained in Australia, she has lived and worked in Vancouver, Canada for over 20 years, providing care to patients in many community, inpatient and outpatient treatment settings. Annabel is a fellow of the Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine, a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine and clinical assistant professor, University of British Columbia, Canada.

Annabel consults on the addiction medicine consult service at St Paul’s Hospital, and is the senior medical director for the BC Provincial Perinatal Substance Use program. She is an established teacher, mentor and educator. She is past director of the BCCSU Addiction Medicine Fellowship training program, speaks widely at conferences and continues as an education committee member of the International Society of Addiction Medicine.

Assistant: Thara Nair, thara.nair@phsa.ca

Rose is responsible for providing leadership and support to BCMHSUS in our work to eradicate Indigenous-specific racism, advance cultural safety and support a collective commitment to reconciliation. She leads a team of Indigenous health leaders to expand Indigenous thought leadership and focused, impactful Indigenous-specific anti-racism work. 

With Sťuxtéwsemc (Secwépemc) and mixed white settler ancestry, Rose is informed by Secwépemc ways of knowing and being and holds a bachelor of nursing from Thompson Rivers University and a master's degree in nursing with a focus on Indigenous nursing leadership and research. Rose brings 15 years of health care experience, with eight years of progressive Indigenous leadership experience working with health systems, First Nations, Métis and urban Indigenous organizations.

Assistant: Rohayda Tolentino, rohayda.tolentino@phsa.ca

Kim Korf-Uzan is the senior director, digital innovation and capital planning. Kim’s portfolio includes all virtual and digital health initiatives, special projects, capital planning and capital projects, as well as clinical informatics.

Kim has been working in the field of mental health and substance use since 2010. Through her background in public health, Kim brings a collaborative, system-level lens to her work, and enjoys engaging in projects that enable large-scale, meaningful, and innovative change across the system of care. Kim started with BCMHSUS in March 2016 in the position of manager, provincial programs and health literacy. She provided leadership as project director for the Correctional Health Services (CHS) transition in October 2017. During her time with BCMHSUS, Kim has held responsibility for a number of other initiatives, including the Crisis Line Enhancement Project, the CHS PHN project, the CHS Pharmacy Review, and the implementation of the first five correctional health services community transition teams, among others.

Kim is passionate about driving excellence in health care and ensuring that service delivery is culturally safe, inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the needs of the communities and populations we serve. Some of Kim’s core competencies include project management, clinical program development, strategic planning, communication and engagement, and operational leadership.

Assistant: Julia Mikl, julia.mikl@phsa.ca

Aazadeh Madani is the senior director, medical administration and project management office at BCMHSUS. She provides strategic and operational oversight for these two portfolios, which includes working closely with medical and operational leadership, medical staff, and key PHSA partners, including PHSA medical affairs, physician compensation, and other ministries and regional health authorities.

She has extensive project management, research, and leadership experience through her work at BCMHSUS, BC Children's Hospital, BC Cancer and the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (now Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes). She has led and supported a wide range of projects both large and small, in areas of strategic planning, provincial mental health and substance use literacy and knowledge exchange, patient experience and engagement, and mental health system improvement.

Aazadeh has a BA in criminology from Carleton University, an MA in sociology from Simon Fraser University, and 15 years experience in diverse settings within the BC health care system.

Assistant: Rajika Prabhakar, rajika.prabhakar@phsa.ca