When long-time Mount Sinai Hospital surgeon Dr. Ian Witterick was appointed Surgeon-in-Chief in 2023, he knew he was inheriting world-class surgical care teams—and stepping into the role at a pivotal moment.
Dr. Witterick had already spent more than three decades at Mount Sinai as an internationally recognized head and neck surgeon-oncologist. He had also witnessed the donor-driven transformation of Renew Sinai, including a 65,000 square foot suite of leading-edge operating rooms and surgical services supporting cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, orthopaedic and other complex surgical programs—advancements made possible in part through a transformational $10-million gift from the Ganz Family Foundation in 2021. There was also the new 3D computed tomography imaging for the most demanding procedures, a robotics-assisted room for minimally invasive procedures and dedicated patient bays to improve the patient experience before and after operations.
“Since opening our new ORs, patient care has been transformed, combining leading-edge technology with exceptional surgical expertise to achieve the best possible outcomes.”
But for Dr. Witterick, the opportunity ahead was about more than infrastructure. With philanthropy already helping to equip Mount Sinai for the future of surgery, he believed it was time to strengthen the culture around that care by creating an environment where innovation, teamwork and continuous improvement could thrive.
Changing culture to improve care
Ask Dr. Witterick about this past year’s improvements in everything from wait times to infection rates, and he first shifts the focus elsewhere.
Those results matter, he says, but they are the outcome of something deeper: a deliberate shift towards a more inclusive, collaborative culture where team members across the department are empowered to share ideas and solve problems together.
“We’ve created a culture of engagement, quality and safety for patient care,” he says. “That was not just me, it was all of us.”
A big part of that shift has come through a more disciplined, data-driven approach. Dr. Witterick and his colleagues closely monitor performance through monthly dashboards that track operating room efficiency, cancellations and wait times—using that data to identify issues early and respond quickly.
He also introduced new initiatives to invite everyone who touches the surgical program to propose ideas for improving care, with seed funding awarded to the winning concepts. And in the spirit of the hit reality show Dragon’s Den, he created a competition where surgical leaders pitch how they would use additional operating room time to improve care.
“There’s now a can-do attitude about how we can all continue to improve things. It starts in the pre-op unit and extends into the recovery rooms and to getting patients back home.”
That spirit of inclusion extends to recognition, too. Dr. Witterick launched an annual awards program to celebrate contributions from across the department. The operating room holiday party was revived. During Perioperative Nursing Week, staff were recognized and celebrated. He also allocated funding in memory of a beloved longtime nurse to support education for perioperative nursing staff.
The results speak for themselves
Those changes are translating into measurable results.
Mount Sinai expanded from 12 operating rooms to 17, increasing capacity and reducing the number of “long waiters” – patients waiting beyond provincial targets for cancer and non-cancer surgeries. Since 2024, the percentage of long-waiting surgical patients has dropped significantly—by nearly two-thirds.
At the same time, the department has strengthened recruitment across nursing, anesthesia and surgery, bringing in six new surgeons this year in priority areas including breast cancer, orthopaedic oncology and colorectal surgery.
These improvements have been recognized externally. Announced in January, Mount Sinai received meritorious outcomes recognition from the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), placing it among a select group of hospitals internationally to receive the distinction.
It also earned a provincial NSQIP Award for most-improved outcomes in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) – a result of sustained quality improvement work across the surgical program. “We’re now the best in Ontario at reducing the number of infections after a catheter is used. We went from 61st to first—in just a few years,” says Dr. Witterick.
Ganz Family Foundation makes a transformational investment in the future of surgical care
Today, Dr. Witterick sees enormous opportunity to build on Mount Sinai’s already exceptional surgical strengths – momentum that will be accelerated by this year’s transformational gift to the department.
The recent $20-million gift from the Ganz Family Foundation – building on their $10-million contribution in 2021 and bringing their total support to $30 million—will ensure sustained investment in capital infrastructure, leading-edge equipment, research and education, and the continued recruitment of top surgical talent. In recognition of this extraordinary support, the department will be named the Sam and Gitta Ganz Department of Surgery, honouring a family whose legacy reflects both gratitude and a deep commitment to advancing surgical excellence.
Siblings Howard and Mindy Ganz (shown below), on behalf of the Ganz Family Foundation, made this gift to further honour their parents, Sam and Gitta, with a legacy of surgical excellence, discovery and care. Sam and Gitta Ganz arrived in Toronto as immigrants seeking a chance to renew their lives after the Holocaust. Over the years, they built their family in a welcoming community and received care at Mount Sinai—an experience that left a lasting impression of compassion and excellence.
Part of the Ganz Family Foundation gift will be used to create surgical research and nursing awards that support cross-disciplinary innovation, quality improvement and excellence in patient care. These investments build directly on the culture that Dr. Witterick and his team have fostered—helping to ensure that new ideas are not only generated, but also supported, scaled and sustained across the surgical program.
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Continuing to push the boundaries of surgical innovation
Under Dr. Witterick’s watch this past year, Mount Sinai became the first hospital in Canada to perform a partial knee replacement using the VELYS™ Robotic-Assisted Solution—made possible by a gift from Janice and Earle O’Born – which improves implant placement and reduces tissue disruption and pain for patients. The hospital also celebrated the 500th procedure in its Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) program, reinforcing Mount Sinai’s leadership as Ontario’s largest and most experienced centre for this highly complex abdominal cancer surgery.
Community philanthropy has also helped Mount Sinai surgeons and engineers advance 3D-printing technology and virtual surgical planning for complex head and neck reconstructions, while the hospital’s Surgical Skills Centre—the University of Toronto’s designated centre for surgical skills training—continues to train thousands of learners each year.
For Dr. Witterick, the next frontier is research. He wants Mount Sinai not only to remain a place known for surgical complexity and technical excellence, but also to become an even stronger hub for clinical trials in conjunction with Drs. Anne-Claude Gingras and Susanna Mak.
“We have some of the best equipment, exceptional surgeons and a renewed culture that allows people to work together and innovate,” he says. “Now the opportunity is to keep pushing forward.”
With donor support helping fuel the technology, training and research behind this work, Sinai Health is emerging as a leader in shaping the future of surgery in Canada and beyond.
