Shirlee Sharkey is president and CEO of Saint Elizabeth Health Care (SEHC), an internationally-renowned leader in home and community care known for its social capital, strong financial performance and track record of innovation. As a diversified not-for-profit charitable health services organization, SEHC employs than more 4,000 staff and delivers 3.8 million visits annually.
With a century of experience and a powerful vision for the future, SEHC is dedicated to changing the way care is experienced in urban centres, remote communities, health care institutions, living rooms, boardrooms, and rooms on wheels – touching the lives of people throughout Canada and the world.
Ms. Sharkey also serves as CEO of Community Rehab, an interdisciplinary Canadian home health care organization that has been a leader in rehabilitation since 1985. In 2008, Community Rehab and Continuum joined the Saint Elizabeth Health Care family and continue to operate as an independent organization focused on rehab excellence, innovation and collaboration.
Shirlee’s commitment to community is illustrated through her leadership and involvement with many not-for-profit boards, ranging from health to education. She is a past chair of George Brown College in Toronto and a former president of the Canadian Home Care Association. Internationally, she is chair of the World Homecare and Hospice Organization. She is also a past president of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO). In 2007, she was appointed by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to act as an expert advisor on staffing and care standards for long-term care homes in Ontario.
Academically, Shirlee is cross-appointed to the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Medicine (Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation) as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. She has presented and published widely on issues related to nursing, home and community-based health care and the need for system change.
Shirlee believes that leadership is a responsibility that belongs to us all and when we embrace it as such, extraordinary things are possible. Her philosophy of building a collective wisdom from diverse perspectives is manifested in the awards SEHC has received, including the Canada Awards for Excellence Bronze recognition for Organizational Quality & Healthy Workplace® and being named among the 50 Best Employers in Canada.
Shirlee's vision and leadership have most recently been recognized with the University of Toronto’s Graduate Leadership Award, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, in 2008; Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Women’s Executive Network, in 2007; Award of Excellence in Nursing Leadership, Ontario Hospital Association, in 2005; a Golden Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.
