Speakers

Cheryl San Juan

Consultant, Accelerated Change Transformation Team, Alberta Medical Association

Cheryl is a passionate advocate for building health equity for marginalized and underserved populations. Her nursing career has enabled her to work in a variety of acute and primary care settings, while gaining an appreciation for the complexity of our Canadian healthcare system.

Carly Weeks

Health Reporter, The Globe and Mail

Carly Weeks is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about health for the Globe and Mail since 2007. Carly has been one of the leading reporters covering the COVID-19 pandemic and during her career, has shone a light on important issues affecting the country, including the opioid crisis and a lack of equitable health access.

Hon. Scott Johnston

Minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care, Province of Manitoba

Scott Johnston was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for St. James in 2016 and then elected as the MLA for Assiniboia in 2019.

Upon Heather Stefanson becoming Premier of Manitoba, she recognized the need and demand to establish a Ministry of Seniors and Long-Term Care. Scott Johnston was honoured to be made the Minister of such an important portfolio.

Sandra Ketchen

CEO, Spectrum Health

Spectrum CEO and leader in home care Sandra Ketchen has spent more than 20 years leading operations and strategy. Under her leadership, Spectrum has a staff retention rate above the industry standard and has received ‘Canada’s Best Managed Company’ designation.

Sandra has led Spectrum through the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to work with skilled team members to provide innovative operational solutions to the challenges facing the home care sector today.

Carly Ellis

Director, EnterpriseHealth

Strategic Planning, Hospitals, Facilitation, Ontario Health Teams, Redevelopment and Health System Transformation

Carly Ellis is sought after strategic advisor leveraging her deep expertise of the health sector having spent her early career working directly in a hospital and health authority in Ontario.

Heather Binkle

Executive Consultant, CarePartners

Heather Binkle has over 20 years progressive experience both provincially and internationally in complex inter-professional, multi-site healthcare environments. She is a creative champion of change with an ability to influence complex transformations in challenging environments. Heather is passionate about leading cross-functional care and technical teams to deliver enterprise-wide clinical transformation. Currently, she is an Executive Consultant with CarePartners, a contracted service provider for home and community care with 4,000 staff across Ontario.

EJ Davis

Director of Housing, North End Community Health Centre

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Heather Jarvis

Manager of Supported Housing, North End Community Health Centre

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Mayo Hawco

Executive Director, Gateway Community Health Centre

Mayo is a Certified Health Care Executive who has worked in the sectors of health human resources and community health for the past three decades. For the last 20 years she has worked in Community Health Centre’s in both British Columbia and Ontario. She is currently the Executive Director at Gateway Community Health Centre located in Tweed, Ontario. 

Julia Swedak

Director of Quality & Knowledge Management, Gateway Community Health Centre

Julia is the Director of Quality and Knowledge Management with Gateway Community Health Centre and is the Strategic Digital Co-Lead for the Hastings Prince Edward Ontario Health Team. Julia supports population health analysis, performance management and the development of integrated tools (Shared Health Integrated Information Portal) in the Unattached Diversion project.

Trixie Barrow

Nurse Practitioner, Gateway Community Health Centre 

Trixie is currently practicing as a Nurse Practitioner with the Virtual Care program at Gateway Community Health Centre. She has been involved with this program for the past year and a half. Previously, she worked in Primary Care at Gateway CHC since 2004.

Axelle Janczur

(she, her), Executive Director, Access Alliance Multicultural Health & Community Services 

Axelle Janczur has been working in the not for profit sector in Toronto for over 30 years. Grounded by principles of access and equity, her interests include organizational capacity building and working with communities made vulnerable by the impact of systemic barriers, to achieve lasting change. She is an experienced trainer and public speaker, and a committed volunteer.

Andrew Lodge

Medical Director, Klinic Community Health

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Kelly Surbey

Program Coordinator/Addiction Counsellor, Klinic Community Health

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Steven Richardson

Director, Housing, The Alex

Steven Richardson is the Director of Housing with the Alexandra Community Health Centre (The Alex). Steven oversees five Housing First programs within The Alex that support 400+ formerly homeless individuals annually. Steven has worked within the homeless sector in Calgary, Canada for the past 10 years and enthusiastically works to elevate and assist socially and structurally marginalized persons through the development and operationalization of housing programs with a whole health and harm reduction mandate. 

Shannon Shoemaker

Program Lead, Pathways to Housing, The Alex

Shannon Shoemaker is the Program Lead for the Pathways to Housing program with the Alexandra Community Health Centre (The Alex). Shannon has worked in the homeless-serving sector for over 12 years and has experience in program development and management. She cares deeply about fair treatment for people who face homelessness, and her work strives to put program participants at the heart of decision-making.  

Tara Pratt

Program Lead, Abbeydale and Prelude Place Based Supportive Housing Programs, The Alex 

Tara Pratt is the Program Lead of Abbeydale Place and The Prelude, two 24/7 place-based supportive housing programs with the Alexandra Community Health Centre (The Alex). Tara is passionate about social justice issues, and has worked within the homeless-serving sector for 7 years. She has held a variety of positions within public and non-profit organizations supporting individuals facing complex barriers to health and housing stability. 

Sophie Bart

Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Accreditation

Sophie has been working for over 20 years in the Ontario public and community health sectors. She is passionate about health equity and is committed to enabling high quality health and social services for all. Sophie’s experience is focused in the areas of community engagement, community governance, and supporting community-based primary and allied health care for people experiencing marginalization. In her new role as the CCA Executive Director, Sophie is working to promote excellence in health and social services across Canada through quality improvement and accreditation services.

Lisa Clatney

Executive Director, Saskatoon Community Clinic 

Lisa Clatney’s background is steeped in understanding systems thinking and quality improvement. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the Saskatoon Community Clinic, she worked in the areas of quality improvement, person and family-centred care, acute care and designing workflow processes. 

Brett Williams

Registered Psychologist, Saskatoon Community Clinic

Brett Williams is a registered psychologist, who has worked in the sectors of education, health, private, and community.  As a counsellor and consultant, he has provided services to children, youth, and adults, with emphasis on parenting and early childhood mental health. 

Trudy Myers

Therapies Department Head, Saskatoon Community Clinic

Trudy Myers graduated from the University of Saskatchewan School of Physical Therapy in 1995.  She began working at the Saskatoon Community Clinic in 1999 because she was attracted to the Cooperative Model and team-based care approach. As the Therapies Department Head, she has been part of the development and implementation of group programming focused on addressing the social determinants of health, healthy lifestyles, chronic disease management, and life skill development.

Marcella Blanchard

FASD Program Coordinator & Coordinated Service Planner, Aboriginal Health Centre, Hamilton

Marcella Blanchard is a Haudenosaunee woman with matriarchal ancestral roots from the Mohawk band of the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario. Marcella works and resides in the Niagara region. Her passion for re-connecting to her culture inspires her work as FASD Program Coordinator and Coordinated Service Planner at De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre in partnership with Contact Niagara.

Ashley Hardman

System Lead, Contact Niagara

Ashley is a white settler with European ancestry who lives and works in Niagara. Ashley has worked in the fields of allied health and social services for the last 20 years, in both hospital and community-based programs servicing a variety of pediatric and adult client populations. Ashley has been a member of the team at Contact Niagara since 2012 where she has led implementation of several new Ministry programs, and has a passion for change management and systems-level roles that allow her to support children/youth with complex cross-sectoral needs and their families.

David Fry

Vice President, Client Services, VHA Home Healthcare

David has extensive home care leadership experience and a track record of building strong connections with partners, developing and enabling innovative programs and delivering meaningful outcomes for clients and providers. Prior to joining VHA, David held a senior leadership position at a large home care agency where his portfolio included patient care operations, professional practice and healthcare transformation, as well as pandemic prioritization and preparations for Ontario Health Team participation.

Chantel Marshall

Director, Integrated Health Systems & Partnerships, Spectrum Health Care

Chantel is a seasoned leader with frontline nursing experience in different provinces and the United States across a variety of sectors including home care, primary care, and acute care. She also holds a Master of Health Administration from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Health, Policy, Management and Evaluation and is a Certified Health Executive.

Jennifer Sampson

Director, Seniors & Aging, WoodGreen Community Services, Michael Garron Hospital

Jennifer works for WoodGreen and Michael Garron Hospital within the East Toronto OHT as the Director of Seniors and Aging Assisted Living Services and Transitional Care. She is a Registered Nurse and holds a Masters in Disaster and Emergency Management. Jennifer is a published co-author in the revered peer-reviewed British Medical Journal (BMJ) for her contributions on quality improvement and patient safety.

Amy Hallaran

Professor, Fleming College, Trent University

Dr. Amy Hallaran is a Registered Nurse with over 20 years of nursing experience. Dr. Hallaran’s professional experience has included direct practice experience in emergency departments in eastern Ontario, leadership roles in acute care, nursing regulation, academics, and home and community care. Currently, Dr. Hallaran is a professor with the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.

Janet Daglish

National Director, Business Development, Government Relations, Bayshore HealthCare

Janet Daglish, MBA, C.Dir, is National Director, Government Relations and Business Development, at Bayshore HealthCare. Janet has over 25 years’ experience in strategic planning, business development and collaborative stakeholder engagement. She supports all divisions at Bayshore, collaborates with operational leaders building more flexible models of care that drive health outcomes, and impactful patient and family experiences. She has significant experience in advocating provincially in Ontario Canada for pathway-based, best practices in-home and community care. 

Christopher Sulway

Chief of Strategy, Growth & Stakeholder Relations, OntarioMD

Chris Sulway joined the executive team of OntarioMD (OMD) in October 2022. In his role at OMD Chris has turned his expertise and leadership to working with community-based physicians and other clinicians to support improved integration of care that is enabled by effective digital tools and better use of data. Before OMD, Chris was the Special Advisor to two provincial Ministers of Health (the Hon. Sylvia Jones and the Hon. Christine Elliott) and led the political strategy for system transformation including the architecture of Ontario Health and Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) and the provincial Digital First for Health Strategy.

Valérie Dubois-Desroches

Director, Critical Care Services & Patient Flow, Hôpital Montfort

Ms. Dubois Desroches is the Clinical Director of Critical Cares Services and Patient Flow at Hôpital Montfort, Ontario’s Francophone Academic Hospital, offering exemplary person-centred care. The hospital serves over 1.2 million people in Eastern Ontario, in both official languages. In 2022, it earned its third Accreditation with Exemplary Standing from Accreditation Canada and was designated a Best Practices Spotlight Organization by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.

Manon Lavergne

Program Manager, Ottawa Paramedic Service

Manon Lavergne is currently working as the Program Manager, Operational Support Services, with the Ottawa Paramedic Service. As such, she is spearheading some of the Service’s most innovative initiatives such as Community Paramedics, data-driven patient distribution and Emergency Room Paramedics. Leveraging her 25-year experience as a paramedic and her Executive Diploma in Municipal Management, Manon constantly pioneers new solutions to address the crisis within healthcare and builds strong collaborations within the system.