Ian McDermott is the Vice President, Facilities and Capital Development with Sinai Health (www.sinaihealth.ca) in Toronto, ON. He covers all areas of space management, capital renewal, capital planning and construction, facilities management, security operations, fire & life safety and switchboard. He also manages the P3 Partner responsible for the facilities management of the Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital. From a major capital redevelopment perspective, Ian is planning for new research infrastructure for Sinai Health, expected to result in a new tower on the Mount Sinai Hospital campus properties. He introduced new approaches to capital project governance resulting in better decision making and broader communication to all stakeholders involved.

When he was with the University Health Network (www.uhn.ca), Ian covered all areas of space management, capital renewal, capital planning and construction, as well as specialized research facilities for all of UHN’s nearly 7M square feet. Ian completed UHN’s first comprehensive Integrated Facilities Master Plan creating a roadmap to transform the Real Estate portfolio by increasing footprint from 6M square feet to a total of 10.5M square feet over a 30 year period. He was implementing the early stages of this plan with nearly $2B in ongoing capital projects and was planning for another $4B new campus development. He successfully led UHN teams through the planning stages and into the construction phase of the new surgical/patient tower at the Toronto Western Hospital, Project Aspire, using an innovative Construction Management approach in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Infrastructure Ontario. He was responsible for the Facility Maintenance and Operations of both the Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower (MaRS) and the Krembil Discovery Tower, ensuring these environments were leading sustainable environments meeting the needs of the UHN Research teams. With a clear focus on the needs of the clinicians, educators, patients and researchers, Ian was instrumental in developing effective, efficient and safe workspaces that are sustainable while continuing to meet all the regulatory guidelines. Ian managed space for UHN across all disciplines and put in place the first comprehensive space policy and space management structure for that organization. Early on in his capital planning activities, Ian’s role in developing the Master Space Plan for UHN Research (1999) was instrumental in leading to the development of Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower (400,000 sq ft) and the Krembill Discovery Tower (360,000 sq ft).

After serving as a founding Board Director for a new national sustainability organization, Sustainable Labs Canada, he served as the President of SLCan for 4 years followed by a 2-year term as the Past-President (www.SLCan.ca). Ian was inducted as a SLCan Fellow in 2021. Ian was a member of the Senior Management Team for Research at the University Health Network for over 25 years and was the co-leader of the UHN’s Facilities Maintenance – Planning, Redevelopment and Operations (FM-PRO) department.

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Ian holds a Specialist Degree in Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of Toronto and worked in the medical research laboratory as a trained Molecular Biologist/Molecular Geneticist for several years. With this experience and decades of construction and operation, his experience has been invaluable in providing a critical thinking perspective to all aspects of every role he holds. His has a clear understanding of clinical and laboratory operations, along with a constructive, innovative and collaborative approach that enhances the environments he leads to provide the best patient care, the best research and the best education.