Maria Vandenhurk founded Banyan Work Health Solutions in 1995 working as an independent consultant. Banyan has grown into a skilled labour force of some 300 consultants across the country over which Maria remains the Chief Operation Officer.

Maria has 20 years front line experience working with a range of diagnosis including mental health, cardiac, musculoskeletal and, in particular multi-diagnosis cases. She has instilled in her team a de-medicalized, function focused approach to case management where return to work is incorporated as part of the recovery process. She is a strong believer that rehabilitation solutions providers need to demonstrate a return on investment if they are to remain valued by the paying customer.

Maria has published several articles in leading industry magazines such as Canadian Underwriter and Benefits Canada. She has developed an e-learning series on insurance concepts relevant to rehabilitation and outcome based disability management. She is a regular guest speaker in the industry lending her visionary insights to the field of insurance rehabilitation.