About› Leadership› Board of Directors› 2024 Board of Directors Election: Meet the Candidates› Ryan MacNeil

Ryan is a passionate individual who is actively working in government to set higher expectations and deliver them on behalf of the people. His diverse background and experience in health leadership, innovation, operations and internal consulting within health provides him a diverse, robust experiences to lead digital health solutions. His successes include the delivery of products like VirtualCareNS, awarding winning primary care solution and the YourHealthNS application.

Ryan has been a Digital Health Canada member for 4 years.

Why do you want to join the Digital Health Canada Board of Directors at this point in your career?
As I enter a new era of leadership in digital health in Nova Scotia, I am leaning into strategic direction and governance for digital health at the Department of Health and Wellness. My health background began as industrial engineering consulting, shifting to being a founding member of the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub, where I was immersed in operations and priority digital health initiatives within our province, examples include, YourHealthNS, VirtualCareNS, Virtual Hallway, SeamlessMD and more.
How does your experience align with the Digital Health Canada strategic plan and mandate?
Shifting recently from operational delivery, working closely with patients, providers and products, to a more strategic and visionary role enables me to offer different perspectives and experience of each.
What unique skills, perspectives and contributions would you bring to the Digital Health Canada Board?

Rather than try to advocate myself, just late this week a colleague nominated me to apply among our team and solicited the amended nominators attached to ensure I did. I hold with high regard feedback from others, therefore, I am going to append a recent unsolicited reference from a colleague that was made on my social network.

“There is not much I can say except that Ryan is one of the most impressive people I have come across thus far in my career. He is a visionary and thinks big picture, but the remarkable thing is that his natural affinity for process and operations allows him to strategically break down the most complex of problems into the day-to-day, and then translate this effectively to his team to deliver results. This rare ability, coupled with his forever-learning frame of mind truly makes him unstoppable.
Ryan is the real deal and I can undoubtedly say he would be an asset a in any room he enters. He delivers, but not only that, he delivers strategically with the full picture front of mind. I can only hope to have the opportunity to work with him again one day (and I would bet he will have landed a c-suite role by then)!”

Do you or have or have you ever had any direct patient care experience (clinical)?

No.

What segments within the Digital Health Canada community do you feel you will best represent?
  • Telehealth
  • Leaders
  • Academic & Research
  • Healthcare Institutions
With which Digital Health Canada committees, task groups or activities have you volunteered in past five years?
Direct Digital Health Canada involvement is newer to me, previously, I was at an arm’s length through our business development function. However, I have been heavily embedded in the digital health landscape and am actively leading many of your key priorities here in Nova Scotia.
What other board appointments or relevant leadership experiences have you had in the past five years?
  • Dalhousie Co-operative Education Board Member, 211 Nova Scotia Board Nominee (Social Services)
  • Executive Secretariat for Nova Scotia Digital Health Board
  • DHW Representative at One Person, One Record Board
Why do you feel Digital Health Canada members should vote for you?
I am a passionate individual who is actively working in government to set higher expectations and deliver them on behalf of the people. My diverse background and experience in operations and internal consulting within our health system has positioned me to become the youngest leader ever in my position. I bring my all to all experiences, and feel there is so much to be done in this space.
Do you currently hold the Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems-Canada (CPHIMS-CA) credential?
I am committed to achieving my CPHIMS-CA.

Educational background
  • Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) Industrial
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
  • OXFORD EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME (Actively) | OXFORD UNIVERSITY
  • VENTURE FOR CANADA FELLOWSHIP | QUEENS UNIVERSITY
  • BACHELOR OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING| DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
  • CERTIFICATE OF APPLIED SCIENCE | ACADIA UNIVERSITY”