Cara Vaccarino

Cara Vaccarino holds a lifelong commitment to delivering client- and family-centred care that helps to improve the lives of people with mental health and substance use health needs. She is a transformative leader with a proven track-record for growing and improving acute inpatient, outpatient and virtual Mental Health and Substance Use Health Care programs.

Cara has more than 25 years of progressive experience in mental health and substance use health care leadership. With a clinical background in social work, she has led large teams in both the public and private sectors in Canada and the United States.

Cara values innovation and is committed to clinical and operational excellence built on evidence-based care, continuous quality improvement, and outcomes driven results. She is known for establishing and nurturing engaged, happy and resilient teams who can then do their best work for the clients and communities they serve. 

For the past eight years, Cara served as Chief Operating Officer of EHN-Canada, the parent company of Bellwood Health Services in Toronto and Gateway Recovery Centre in Peterborough. There, she provided oversight to 10 inpatient mental health and substance use health treatment facilities across Canada and multiple outpatient operations, including an innovative virtual platform that serves thousands of patients across the country each year. 

Previously, Cara was the Director of Mental Health at Trillium Health Partners, and from 2008 to 2013 she was Director of Medical Affairs and Special Projects at CAMH.

Cara also has a strong understanding of and appreciation for research; she started her career in academic research at both McGill University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Cara holds a Master of Science, Health Services Administration (MHA) from University of St. Francis in Chicago and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Tulane University in New Orleans.  She earned her B.A. (Honours) in Psychology at McGill University in Montreal.

The Royal’s CEO search committee was impressed by Cara’s deep commitment to the well-being and needs of clients and families as well as health care workers. Cara’s strong vision for community partnership and system integration to support access and care also resonated with the committee, as did her leadership style of empathy, engagement and collegiality. 

Cara Vaccarino will become The Royal’s President and Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2024.