Cross-Departmental Leaders
Alberta Health Services
Dr. Kat Bateman EMS Provincial Leadership
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Dr. Ping Chen STARS
Shock Trauma Air Rescue Services (STARS)
Dr. Steve Clark RAAPID Provincial Medical Director
Referral, Access, Advice, Placement, Information and Destination (RAAPID)
Dr. Peter Davids PLC Site Medical Informatics Lead (sMIL)
Dr. Colin Del Castilho Associate Zone Medical Director
Dr. Colin Del Castilho attended the University of Calgary Medical School from 2000-2003 followed by the Rural Alberta South Family Residency Program from 2003-2005. He then completed the CCFP EM program at the University of Calgary and has been an Emergency Physician in the Calgary Zone since 2006.
Dr. Del Castilho has previously held roles as the Emergency Department Site Chief at both the Peter Lougheed Centre and South Health Campus. Currently, he is the Facility Medical Director at the South Health Campus and the Associate Zone Medical Director for the Community, Rural and Continuing Care portfolio. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Colin served as the Medical Director for the Calgary Zone Emergency Operations Centre and later as a Medical Advisor to the Clinical Operations Branch of the AHS Emergency Coordination Centre. His interests include enhancing patient flow and striving to provide high quality, safe, patient and family centred care. Colin enjoys staying active, and when he is not at work, you can often find him coaching soccer or cheering for his children at a local soccer pitch.
Dr. Shawn Dowling Acute Care PIN Director
Program Improvement and Integration Networks (PIN)
Dr. Shawn Dowling is an Emergency Medicine Physician practicing both adult and pediatric EM. As the medical lead for the Emergency and EMS Program Improvement and Integration Network, Shawn is committed to working with operational leads and frontline staff to ensure ED’s deliver top tier emergency care in a timely and compassionate manner. He is a former Quality Improvement Scientist with the Department of EM and the Assistant Dean at the Physician Learning Program with the University of Calgary. Shawn earned his MD and did a research fellowship at the University of Ottawa. He completed a Royal College Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Calgary. His expertise is in quality improvement, knowledge translation and in using audit and feedback to identify gaps in care, encourage self-reflective practice and resource stewardship.
Dr. Brad Granberg Integrated Operational Center
Dr. Kevin Hanrahan EMS Provincial Leadership
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
After working as a Family Physician for 15 years I joined the Calgary Fire Department and worked as a front-line Firefighter and Technical Rescue Team Member for six years. I subsequently trained in Emergency Medicine through the CCCFPO(EM) program in Calgary and have been a full time Emergency Physician working at the Foothills, Peter Lougheed hospitals since 2005, retiring spring 2024.
I am very active in pre-hospital Medical Direction and have worked with the Calgary Fire Department, multiple Fire Departments in the Calgary zone, Provincial Medical First Response Program with Alberta Health Services-EMS, Canadian Task Force 2, many local races and mass gathering events. I also have an interest in Wilderness Medicine, have a Diploma of Mountain Medicine and am active in three separate ski commercial ski operations in Canada as well as being a travelling Physician with the Canadian Alpine Ski Team.
I have been married for 25 years to my wife Diana, have two grown children and enjoy recreating in the backcountry as well as golfing, cycling and adventure motorcycling.
Dr. Chris Hall Provincial Medical Informatics Lead
Chris is a 13 year member of the Calgary Zone Emergency Medicine team. Since moving here after completing his residency in Hamilton, he has dabbled in a number of roles over the years, including contributions to the Royal College residency training committee, various hospital and zonal quality improvement initiatives, and the Clinical Knowledge and Content Management division of AHS. This year he took over the Medical Informatics Lead role for emergency medicine in the Calgary Zone. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, mountain/road biking, and spending time with his wife and three kids.
Dr. Pauline Head CSART Medical Director
Calgary Sexual Assault Response Team (CSART)
Dr. Gerald Lazarenko Provincial Pharmacy Medical Director
Dr. Jen Nicol STARS
Shock Trauma Air Rescue Services (STARS)
Dr. Cheri Nijssen-Jordan Associate Zone Medical Director
Dr. Mandeep Sran Calgary Fire Department Medical Director
Dr. Mandeep Sran completed his emergency medicine training at the University of Alberta, specializing in prehospital and flight medicine. Currently, he serves as an emergency physician at both the Foothills and Peter Lougheed emergency departments in Calgary. Since 2018, Dr. Sran has also provided online medical consultations, offering expert advice remotely.
In addition to his clinical roles, Dr. Sran has taken on the responsibility of medical director for the Calgary Fire Department since 2019 and serves as the EMS block coordinator for the University of Calgary Emergency Medicine residency program. Outside of his professional commitments, he enjoys spending quality time with his family and pursuing his passion for hockey, basketball, and refining his golf skills during his downtime.
Dr. Arthur Tse STARS Calgary Medical Director Transport Physician
Shock Trauma Air Rescue Services (STARS)
Born and raised in Edmonton, Arthur completed medical school and residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Alberta. In order to shorten his commute to mountain recreation, he moved to Calgary after completing his training. In addition to clinical work at the Foothills and Rockyview hospitals, Arthur is involved in prehospital care and critical patient transport as a Transport Physician with STARS. Outside of work, he can be found on a bike or on skis enjoying what our outdoors has to offer.
Dr. Ian Walker EMS Medical Director Calgary Zone
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Dr. Walker has been a member of the department since graduating from the CCFP(EM) program in 2001. He is a graduate of the UofC MD program and did his Family Medicine training at the University of Ottawa. His role with EMS largely involves clinical advising and oversight as well as case reviews and liaison between the EMS system locally and the local acute care facilities. In an unrelated capacity, he also serves as a member of the Council for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. Outside of his professional life, he enjoys road cycling, travel and is a big fan of US college basketball. He has a statistically improbable "one out of ten" record in his last ten March Madness bracket competitions.
Dr. Denise Watt RGH Site Medical Informatics Lead (sMIL)
Originally from Toronto, I’ve been working as an emergency physician in Calgary for the past 23 years at Rockyview General Hospital, and until recently, Foothills Medical Centre. I also work with the Virtual MD program and lead the clinical ARP group. My informatics experience is largely from my prior role as Medical Director at Health Link, where I was involved in the Personal Health Portal and MyHealth.Aberta.ca site. My goals for this role are to help improve the efficiency of physicians at RGH, increase engagement in digital tools and learn as much as possible about clinical informatics. For fun, I love to XC ski, bike and watch my kids compete in biathlon.
Dr. Charles Wong Urgent Care Medical Director
Charles is an emergency room physician practicing out of the Rockyview General Hospital, as well as part-time at all five Calgary Zone Urgent Care Centres. He and his wife live in southwest Calgary where they raise their two wonderful children.
Dr. Mark Yarema Medical Director PADIS
Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Lead and the Medical Director of the Poison and Drug Information Service (PADIS)
Dr. Mark Yarema is the Section Chief for Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Medical Director of the Poison and Drug Information Service (PADIS). He is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and a member of the O’Brien Institute of Public Health at the University of Calgary. His research interests include acetaminophen poisoning, pharmacogenomics, drugs of abuse, and toxic alcohols.
Dr. Nancy Zuzic Medical Affairs / Physician Relations and Planning
Dr. Nancy Zuzic continues as the Site Lead at the Rockyview General Hospital. Dr. Zuzic received her MD at the University of Ottawa in 1997 and then completed her CCFP-EM residency in Calgary in 2000, working clinically at the Rockyview ED ever since. Nancy is fortunate to work with a cohesive and supportive administration team at the RGH ED that continues to find innovative ways to improve flow and patient care.
Cuming School of Medicine
Dr. Aaron Johnston Associate Dean Distributed Learning and Rural Initiatives (DLRI)
Aaron is originally from Ontario and completed his medical school and residency at Queen's University. He worked in multiple areas including British Columbia, Nunavut and NWT before moving to Calgary in 2012. He works clinically at the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary. Aaron is a dedicated medical educator. He previously served as CCFP-EM program director, and currently serves as Associate Dean Distributed Learning and Rural Initiatives at the Cumming School of Medicine. His research interests include rural medical education and rural health services.
Dr. Fareen Zaver Associate Dean, Office of Faculty Development
Fareen Zaver is a Clinical Associate Professor for Emergency Medicine (EM) at the University of Calgary. She is the Deputy Head of Education as well as the Grand Rounds Coordinator for the Department of Emergency Medicine. Fareen has completed her Masters in Medical Education - focusing on the challenging transition of the first two years of independent practice across multiple specialties. Fareen continues to publish in medical education journals as well as on the CanadiEM and AliEM Emergency Medicine blogs as well as speak at national and international conferences. She was awarded Top 40 under 40 in Calgary in 2019 for her work in medical education. While not at work, you may find Fareen following her taste buds travelling to exotic destinations around the world.