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Executive Director – Steve Reinecke
Steve Reinecke is the Executive Director of CHAIR Canada.
Steve shares his time between his small hometown of Strathroy, Ontario, and his boat in Sarnia, Ontario. His career started as a Medical Technologist / Clinical Scientist. Following college, his Healthcare journey began by working at his small hometown hospital and later moving to a major Toronto, Hospital. Steve’s professional training is in Microbiology, Immunohematology, Chemistry, Pathology, and Hematology, and he spent time working in a Cardiac Investigation Lab in a hospital Transplant Unit. In the mid 90’s, Steve was tapped on the shoulder to move from Medicine to IT and started his IT management career. Steve worked on two large Electronic Medical Record implementations (Meditech and Cerner) in Canada at two different facilities (Toronto – Humber River and London – London Health Sciences Center).
Steve’s career in the late ’90s took him into the sales of point-of-care computing equipment, and he worked for 17 years for Ergotron, traveling to over 30 countries as one of the premier experts in Healthcare IT Point-of-care Technologies. Steve left Ergotron in 2015 as the Global AVP of Healthcare and joined Proximity Systems in Business Development – Healthcare and Long-term Care and then as a Clinical Scientist. Steve was responsible for everything Safety and Science related to Proximity’s UVC disinfection technologies. In addition to his medical credentials, Steve is a Certified Professional of Health Information Management Systems (HIMSS – CPHIMS) and is working toward his APIC CIC Certification. In 2019, Steve authored and published a peer-reviewed paper on the use of small UVC disinfection technologies in Healthcare, garnering industry accolades and international recognition.
Steve recently wrote a paper on his testing and experiences in 2021 and 2022 with COVID-19 disinfection practices. This study compares enhanced liquid disinfection practices and automated UVC light devices on high-touch surfaces in retail, transportation, and other public settings.
Board Chair – Jay Schlosar
Jay Schlosar is currently the Director of Copper & Health for Teck, based in Vancouver.
In this role, he is responsible for corporate programs promoting Teck’s social objectives, including Copper & Health program which promotes the use of antimicrobial copper in healthcare and public spaces to reduce the spread of bacteria and infection. He is also responsible for overseeing Teck’s annual Community Investment program which has included local and international responses to COVID-19, the global Zinc & Health program providing therapeutic zinc supplements to developing countries, and numerous other community-based contributions across Teck’s operating sites and regions.
Previous to this role, Jay spent 15 years as a senior leader and public administrator with the Government of British Columbia, where he most recently held the role of Assistant Deputy Minister, Local Government and Inspector of Municipalities. Prior to that position, he held a number of senior roles with the Province including Deputy Chief of Staff to the Premier and provincial Cabinet.
Jay holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Victoria. Jay is Chair of the Community Support Working Group of the International Council on Mining and Metals and serves on multiple non-profit agencies in Vancouver.
Board Vice-Chair – John Baxter
John Baxter is currently the President & COO of Aereus Technologies located in Guelph Ontario.
In this role John is currently transforming Aereus, to strengthening our core competences to meet our customers needs, currently and in the future. By introducing key measurables and strategies that align with customers expectations, with focus on hi quality product and process improvements.
John, started with Aereus in August 2021 and he has made significant changes to the business profitability and sustainability.
Previous to this role, John has spent more than 30 years in senior and executive positions in the manufacture, business development industry with global experience. John brings a wealth of knowledge to our board and sits several other boards both for profit and non-profit.
John has a B.Sc. Engineering and an Executive MBA .
Secretary – Danielle J. Cane
Danielle has recently completed her MSc in Infectious Diseases through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She also holds an IPAC Canada Essentials in Infection Prevention and Control certificate from IPAC Canada.
Previous to her graduate degree, she completed a BSc in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Toronto where she was introduced to the study of epidemiology. While Danielle has been fascinated with infectious diseases for several years, the COVID-19 pandemic further spurred her on to get involved in their control. She has a wide array of experiences in the field of infection control and prevention ranging from hospital-based roles to positions in grassroots-led organizations that promote healthy communities in Ontario and across Canada.
Danielle is an early-career infection control strategy advocate who is beginning to gain more research and writing experience in consortium with other scientists, physicians, engineers, and epidemiologists. Her special interests include healthcare setting infection control, zoonotic disease prevention, medical anthropology, infectious disease immunology, epidemiology, and health promotion and communication.
Danielle joined the CHAIR executive board in 2022 as the Secretary and she is eager to apply her wide base of knowledge to further promote healthy communities.
Treasurer – Louis Goldberg
Louis Goldberg is the Founder and CEO of Canadian-based Coptek Copper Covers.
Coptek transforms nasty high-touch surfaces into self-sanitizing surfaces with antimicrobial copper. Coptek's solutions can be found across a number of industries including Senior Care, Universities, Airports, Malls, and Commercial Spaces.
Previous to Coptek, Louis was in a Director role at a boutique investment bank in Toronto. In search of a more fulfilling career, Louis left finance to pursue innovations that create a safer environment and save lives.
Board Member and Co-Founder of CHAIR – Richard Dixon
Richard has 40 years of experience in senior administration, planning, design, construction, commissioning plus infection prevention & control of health facilities in Canada, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt and Qatar.
Richard has been a significant contributor to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and other organizations:
What drives Richard to do all these things?? Only one thing... Creating ‘safe spaces’ for people!
Board Member and Co-Founder of CHAIR – Barry Hunt
“Life is short. Have fun. Make a difference.”
Barry is President of the Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers (CAPPEM) where he leads the charge to develop the highest quality PPE products and standards to protect Canadians. He initiated the movement to better breathability for respiratory PPE and champions the move to more comfortable and environmentally friendly products including reusables and plant-based disposables.
Barry received his Honour’s degree in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from the University of Guelph and studied Post-Degree Sciences at the University of Waterloo. He co-founded the Coalition for Community and Healthcare Acquired Infection Reduction (CHAIR), a collaboration among academia, industry and healthcare to reduce preventable community and hospital acquired infections (HAIs) in Canada. CHAIR has successfully sponsored research and trials, provided education, become a hub for collaboration and innovation, sponsored Canada’s first CSA National Standard for cleaning & disinfection of hospitals and provided a catalyst to initiate the use of copper high-touch surfaces in airports and public transit.
Barry was inspired to take action after a 2009 World Health Organization report showed Canada had the highest HAI rate in the developed world. His concept of Engineered Infection Prevention was awarded a 2017 Top 10 World Patient Safety Innovation by the Patient Safety Movement.
Barry has had many leadership roles at CSA since 1995 including Chair of several Standards development committees and Vice-Chair of the Strategic Steering Committee for Healthcare Standards. He is Vice-Chair of the Canadian Mirror Committee for ISO Technical Committee 121, Anesthesia & Respiratory Standards. He is past-Chair of the Infection Prevention and Control Canada (IPAC) Environmental Hygiene Interest Group, a member of the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES), the Canadian Coalition for Indoor Air Quality (CCIAQ), and the International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA) Healthcare Working Group and CoVID19 Task Force. He is a member of the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE), American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), and Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Barry is a volunteer with the World Health Network (WHN), CoVIDisAirborne, and Zero Covid Canada.
