North East LHIN’s NEW Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council

The North East Local Health Integration Network’s (NE LHIN) new regional Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council met for the first time on Tuesday at a Knowledge Exchange Day, held in collaboration with the LHIN’s system partner, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

This new council was struck to develop a plan to implement the recommendations of Dr. Brian Rush’s Review of Addiction Services in Northeastern Ontario, commissioned by the North East LHIN, as well as a mental health Blueprint undertaken by Health Sciences North and North Bay Regional Health Centre.

Both Dr. Rush’s review and the North East LHIN’s recently released Aboriginal Health Care Strategy and Reconciliation Plan talked about the importance of having Indigenous leadership on the LHIN’s decision making groups. The North East LHIN is pleased that Pam Williamson, Executive Director of Noojmowin Teg Health Centre, accepted the position of Co-Chair of the Advisory Council, along with North East LHIN Senior Advisor to the James and Hudson Bay Coasts, Carol Philbin Jolette.

More than 100 people applied to be on the 23-member Advisory Council. “Clearly the idea of a regional advisory council resonated with Northerners,” said Louise Paquette, CEO of the North East LHIN and a member of the province’s Mental Health and Addiction Leadership Council. “We had so many outstanding applicants – it certainly wasn’t easy to choose only one-fifth of the people to be on the council.”

In pulling together the Advisory Council, the North East LHIN wanted to ensure diversity including people with personal “lived experience” as well as their family/caregivers, senior leaders working in both hospital and community mental health and addiction settings, First Nations/Aboriginal/Métis people, Francophones, primary care providers, as well as geographic representation from Northeastern Ontario.

• Members of the North East LHIN Mental Health and Addiction Advisory Council include:

• Jane Battistelli, Chief Nursing Officer/Director of Clinical Services, Espanola Regional Hospital and Health Centre
• Diane Brown-Demarco, ED, CMHA - Muskoka/Parry Sound
• Natalie Carle, Director of Organizational Performance, Timmins and District Hospital
• Mary Davis, Executive Director of Nipissing Mental Health Housing and Support Services
• Dr. Ralph Dell'Aquila, North Bay Regional Health Centre
• Angele Desormeau, ED, South Cochrane Addictions Services
• Deb Hill, VP Patient Care/Chief Nursing Executive, Weeneebayko Area Health Authority
• Kathryn Irwin-Seguin, CEO, Monarch Recovery Services
• Ali Juma, ED,  Algoma Family Services
• Dinah Laprairie, ED, NISA
• Kelli-Ann Lemieux, Director, Mental Health and Addictions Program, Sault Area Hospital
• Lisa Lurz, Addictions Counsellor, Nipissing First Nation Health Services
• Clark MacFarlane, ED, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) - Cochrane Timiskaming
• Jan Metheany, Manager of Community Mental Health Support Services, Algoma Public Health
• Maureen McLelland, Associate Vice President, Clinical Transformation & Transitions, Health Sciences North
• Tanya Nixon, Vice President – Mental Health, North Bay Regional Health Centre
• Carol Philbin Jolette, Co-Chair, NE LHIN Senior Advisor for James and Hudson Bay Coasts
• Marion Quigley, CEO, CMHA - Sudbury/Manitoulin
• Sylvie Sylvestre, Agente de planification et d'engagement communautaire, Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l'Ontario
• Mary Taz, Director of Client Services, North East CCAC
• Shelley Watt Proulx, ED, Counselling Centre of East Algoma
• Leeann Whitney, ED, North Bay Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic
• Pam Williamson, Co-Chair, ED, Noojmowin Teg Health Centre

• In addition, the council also has the following ex-officio members:

• Shana Calixte, Mental Health, Addiction, and Housing Officer, North East LHIN
• Gail Czukar, CEO, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario
• Jody Legros, Regional Supervisor, MCYS/MCSS
• Stephanie O'Brien, Executive Lead, Health Canada
• Christine Lebert, Manager – Northeast Regional Services, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Provincial System Support Program (CAMH – PSSP)
• Kristen Morin, PhD Candidate, Laurentian University/Northern Ontario School of Medicine

• To find out more about the North East LHIN Addiction Services Review or the Mental Health and Addiction Services Blueprint visit: http://www.nelhin.on.ca/mentalhealth.aspx