Dr. Danielle Martin is on the frontlines of transforming the healthcare system. An internationally recognized health policy leader and executive, she is committed to revolutionizing healthcare to meet the demands of the 21st century. She speaks with passion on our national healthcare system, defending and defining the ways we can make it even more worthy of our national pride.
Martin is currently chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto. DFCM is the largest academic department of family medicine in the world and home to the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Family Medicine and Primary Care. Prior to this, she spent eight years as a senior hospital executive, most recently as executive vice president and lead medical executive at Women’s College Hospital, where she was also medical lead of the hospital’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Martin also led the establishment of Women’s Virtual, Canada’s first virtual hospital, while in this role.
In 2014, Martin made headlines when her testimony on the merits of the Canadian vs. American health systems at a US Senate Subcommittee hearing, with Senators Richard Burr and Bernie Sanders, went viral. The video received over 35 million views online as well as worldwide media attention. A go-to media spokesperson, Martin frequently provides commentary on health issues in the media and is a known health contributor for the CBC. She is also the author of the national bestseller, Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians.
Martin has been named one of Toronto Life magazine’s “Top 50 Influentials”; called one of the most powerful doctors by The Medical Post; and is listed as one of the Toronto Star’s top “13 People to Watch”. In 2019, she became the youngest physician ever to receive the F.N.G Starr Award, the highest honour available for Canadian Medical Association members.