Description
As climate change increasingly affects health and well-being, healthcare systems must adapt to meet emerging challenges. This panel will explore how to recognize climate-related health risks, identify those most vulnerable, and strengthen cross-sector collaboration to build more resilient, equitable, and sustainable models of care. By integrating public health data, community partnerships, and climate-conscious care strategies, participants will gain insight into practical approaches for delivering high-quality care in a changing climate.
This panel will be moderated by Dr. Edward Xie and feature talks from:
Speakers
Talk Title: Peel Heat Vulnerability Index: Understanding Area-Level Vulnerability to Heat in Peel Region Integrating Sociodemographic, Exposure, and Health Status Data
Bio: Franca Ursitti has more than 25 years of experience working for local public health. Her current role is Manager in the Health Protection Division of Peel Public Health responsible for the Health Hazard Investigation and Vector Borne Disease programs. This involves assessing the impact of environmental exposures and managing the climate change and health strategic priority activities at Peel Public Health. Franca has also worked in other public health program areas including Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Communicable Diseases, and Mass Immunization. Franca holds a Master of Science degree in Toxicology from the University of Toronto.
Talk Title: Older Adult Care in a Changing Climate
Bio: Dr. Jessica Cuppage is a Care of the Elderly physician, and the Chief Medical Innovation Officer at Baycrest Hospital in Toronto. She is a Lecturer with the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. She also recently completed the Executive Master of Health Informatics program through the Institute for Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about holistic and person-centered aging and dementia care, environmental sustainability in health care, and health technology and innovation.
Talk Title: Collaborating with Community Organizations to Increase Heat Resilience
Bio: Dr. Samantha Green is a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and at Inner City Health Associates. She is the president-elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. She is the co-director of Temerty Medicine’s Taking Action on Planetary Health certificate program, and co-chair of the CanMEDS 2025 planetary health committee.
Talk Title: Collaborating with Community Organizations to Increase Heat Resilience
Bio: Lidia Ferreira is the Community Engagement Specialist, coordinating all the aspects of community work at CREW (Community Resilience to Extreme Weather). She joined CREW in 2017 to facilitate resilience to climate impacts in a dense and diverse high-rise neighbourhood in Toronto. She understands the multiple social issues around equity and newcomer populations as well as the different experiences of seniors, low-income tenants, mobility challenged, and more. Lidia, a foreign trained architect specialized in urban planning, currently serves as a member of the City of Toronto Climate Advisory Group.
Moderator
Bio: Dr. Edward Xie works as an emergency physician and Clinician Investigator at University Health Network (UHN). Edward is a Faculty Fellow of the Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health and Sustainable Care. He was the past President and Chair of Toronto Environmental Alliance, a Board member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and Faculty Lead of Climate Change and Health. Edward is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Systems Research with a focus on pharmacare and financial protection. He has ongoing research projects related to planetary health and health equity.