HomeEquity Bank adds medical voice to the retirement-planning conversation

HomeEquity Bank says it has become the first bank in North America, and possibly anywhere, to appoint a Chief Medical Commentator.

The reverse mortgage provider recently announced the appointment of Dr. Samir Sinha to the newly created role. A practising geriatrician and clinician scientist with Sinai Health System and the University Health Network, Dr. Sinha is also the Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing and was the architect of Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors. 

Over the last decade, Dr. Sinha has appeared at numerous events and conferences hosted by HomeEquity Bank. He was also featured in the 2021 book “Home Run: The Reverse Mortgage Advantage,” co-authored by the bank’s former President and CEO Steven Ranson and current chief customer, brand and advice officer Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher.

“We saw him speak at a women’s brain health event last December in Toronto, and the way he talked about aging and various health considerations — cognitive decline, being able to age in your own home, what it means to travel when you’re older — there were just so many connections to our business and how we think about our clients,” Ziomecki-Fisher says. “We had a couple of meetings, and the rest is history. He officially joined us a couple of weeks ago.”

In his new capacity, Dr. Sinha will be responsible for sharing relevant medical knowledge with Canadian seniors through upcoming events, thought leadership activities and digital content.

“He is going to help us broaden the conversation about healthy aging,” Ziomecki-Fisher says. “We believe that Canadians will benefit from having access to this trusted information and to his expert perspective, and we want to advance conversations around healthy aging as being part of holistic retirement planning.”

Filling the information void

HomeEquity Bank says 13 million Canadians, or about a third of the population, are eligible by age for its reverse mortgage products, which are available to homeowners 55 and older. However, pediatricians outnumber geriatricians — who specialize in elder care — by more than 10 to 1.

That mismatch between demographics and medical resources has created a gap for Canadian seniors seeking health information.

“Increasingly we see older Canadians who are facing a system that has not been prepared to support them and meet their needs effectively and efficiently,” says Dr. Sinha. “The fact that I can now reach millions of older Canadians through this platform and partner with an organization that values what I do is exciting.”

The health benefits of aging in place

In working with older patients, Dr. Sinha says he’s witnessed the interconnectedness of health with financial, emotional and social well-being.

A recent survey from the National Institute on Ageing found that 81% of Canadian adults 50 and older want to remain in their homes for as long as possible, and Dr. Sinha says that desire can have direct health implications.

“When you’re thinking about the health and wellness of older people, financial issues often come into play, and they’re all inextricably linked,” he says. “I’m often having conversations with my patients about what’s important to them, and often it’s about staying healthy and independent in one’s own home for as long as possible.”

Dr. Sinha explains that loneliness and isolation can have dramatic health implications for older Canadians, and that many spend years developing social and community ties in their local area. Moving out can therefore have real health-care implications.

At the same time, many require costly retrofits and repairs, as well as in-home health-care services, to age in place. Dr. Sinha says access to home equity, including through a reverse mortgage, may help some homeowners cover those costs.

“If you’re physically living at home, but you can’t access the supports and services you need, then your home can almost become a prison for you, as opposed to an opportunity to support healthy aging,” he says. “It’s exciting to partner with an organization that not only wants to think about the financial well-being of its clients, but in particular the health and wellness of their clients.”

Making health information widely available

As HomeEquity Bank’s new Chief Medical Commentator, Dr. Sinha says his mandate is to democratize access to information relevant to seniors, extending beyond financial and physical health.

“Dr. Sinha has created a lot of content and materials that are relevant to this group,” says Ziomecki-Fisher. “It’s sleep, it’s falls, it’s exercise, it’s travel, it’s things that you may not think about when you’re young and healthy but as you get older, become more prominent in your life, and we’re looking to give our customers access to those key pieces of content.” 

While the bank will gear Dr. Sinha’s content to its customers, he emphasizes that the information will be made freely available to older Canadians more broadly.

“Previously it was only my patients or people who were affiliated with my organization that could get access to this,” Dr. Sinha says. “None of this knowledge is going to be locked behind any paywalls, all of this stuff is public-facing so that any Canadian — or anybody who has an internet connection anywhere in the world — will be able to access these materials.”

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aging in place HomeEquity Bank reverse mortgages Samir Sinha seniors Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher

Last modified: July 30, 2026