Governance

A resident of Sturgeon Falls, Collin is a graduate of Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology (Toronto) in Funeral Service Education with an Honorary Diploma in Health Sciences from Collège Boréal (Sudbury) and  has been involved in the bereavement sector for over 40 years. He has been a member and has chaired the board of directors of the West Nipissing General Hospital and the West Nipissing Community Health Center. 

Vivian is the Associate Dean for the School of Health Sciences for Canadore College and Nursing Director and Program Manager for the Collaborative BScN Program and the RPN to BScN Bridging program with Nipissing University and Canadore College. 

Vivian has also been a nursing educator with various faculties of nursing and coordinator of International Nursing programs. Her experience also includes positions with VON Canada as their national palliative care lead, as practice educator for Ontario and Western regions, and manager of nursing and home support programs in Ontario. 

Vivian has also held a number of governance positions over the years at the national, provincial and local tables in hospice palliative care. She is President of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA), Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Hospice Palliative Care Ontario (HPCO), and is an advisory member of the Palliative Care Consultants Network of Ontario. 

Vivian is a registered nurse and completed her undergraduate education at Western University, her master’s degree in nursing with a concentration in teaching from Athabasca University, and her doctorate from Nipissing University in Educational Sustainability, with a focus in palliative care nursing. 

Her interests lie in supporting students to have a strong academic experience and has a particular focus of fostering palliative care education in the health science programs. 

Louise Anello is a life-long resident of North Bay. She attended French language schools  at both the primary and secondary level. She obtained her diploma in nursing from Canadore College, her Bachelor of Science Nursing from Laurentian University and a Masters Health Studies-Leadership from Athabasca University. She is a life-long learner.

After a fifteen year career as a nurse in acute care working both medical and Critical Care  Louise transitioned to public health. As a public health nurse and nurse manager she worked in Sexual Health, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDs, Dental, Genetics and Communicable Disease programs. She has a passion for nursing and excellence in care delivery.  After 42 years of working in the health sector Louise retired in 2018.

She was a board member of  Patrick  4 Life and a current member of the Research Ethics Board at North Bay Regional Health Center.  A transition to retirement provided another  opportunity to continue caring for individuals and families, in our community, by becoming a Nipissing Serenity Hospice board member.  She brings years of health care experience, leadership and passion to our board.

Natalie has recently joined the Board of Directors and is pleased to support the Mission, Vision and Values of The Nipissing Serenity Hospice / La Maison Sérénité du Nipissing in providing high quality palliative care with compassion, comfort and dignity.  She is a Registered Nurse with the College of Nurses of Ontario and holds a Master’s of Arts Degree in Gerontology. The majority of her professional career has been dedicated to older adult care with a strong commitment to maintaining the independence and quality of life of the aging population. Throughout her nursing practice, Natalie has integrated research, continuous learning and best practices in several aspects of holistic care.

With over 30 years of Nursing experience, she brings expertise in various specialty areas including Public Health, Gerontology, Geriatric Psychiatry and Long-Term Care. She worked in a variety of health care settings as a front-line worker progressing to managerial positions and executive leadership. In the community setting, she worked for a decade as a Public Health Nurse and Healthy Elderly Program Coordinator. She returned to the hospital as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Complex Continuing Care and was Manager of the Seniors’ Mental Health Program for many years. Her career path led to the Long-Term Care sector where she worked as a LTC Home Administrator until May 2020.

While employed in Northern Ontario as a bilingual health professional, she developed an understanding of the care delivery model used in small communities and rural settings. She advocated for their needs and services through her active participation at round tables with various community agencies and was a representative on several regional and provincial committees.

Natalie’s professional background combined with her personal experience have influenced her interest in Palliative Care. She understands the importance of supporting individuals in their End of Life journey as well as accompanying family caregivers in their grieving process. She is a francophone resident of the Nipissing District since 2001, and is grateful for the opportunity to serve as a community member on the Board of Directors.

Michelle was born and raised in North Bay. She left after high school to attend the University of Ottawa, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce. Upon graduation, she embarked upon a lifelong career in banking, which took her to several locations throughout Ontario. Ten years ago, she had the opportunity to return home to North Bay with her three sons. She is currently working as a branch manager for Scotiabank.

No matter the role, Michelle’s career has always been focused on providing excellent customer experiences. She plans to bring that same passion to her new role with the board.

Michelle looks forward to serving as a board member for the Nipissing Serenity Hospice. She is proud to be joining a group of individuals dedicated to providing excellence in hospice palliative care in the Nipissing and East Parry Sound community.

Louis-Marc Hurtubise was born in Mattawa and raised in Sudbury. He attended Sacred Heart College and Lasalle Secondary school and then completed his education at Ottawa University. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1972 and his Bachelor of Law in 1975.

He practiced law as a general practitioner in North Bay from 1977 until 2002. In 2002 he worked for Legal Aid Ontario as a Supervisory Family Duty Counsel. He retired from that position in December 2017.

During his legal career, he sat on several committees and Boards. He was the chair of the local Consent & Capacity Board for Nipissing. He also sat on the board of Mattawa General Hospital. He was an executive member of the Nipissing Law Association. He has always been actively involved in his church.

Louis-Marc is a father of four and grandfather to eight grandchildren. 

Louis-Marc is a recent addition to the Serenity Hospice Board. He was attracted to the Hospice by its mission statement and after a visit of the premises decided to contribute to the Hospice by becoming a member of the Board.

Andrea is a retired Registered Nurse.  Andrea’s Nursing career spans more than 37 years in the local health care system.   Andrea holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from Laurentian University, a Master of Education Degree from Nipissing University and a Master’s Certificate in Risk Management from York University.  

Andrea’s nursing career began in North Bay in 1984 at the North Bay Civic Hospital.  During her 24 years at the hospital Andrea held a variety of direct patient care positions on the Paediatric, surgical and medical units.  Andrea then moved into management positions at the hospital including the development and implementation of care pathways, responsibility for the Education, Telehealth, Quality Improvement, Privacy and Risk Management programs at the hospital.  Andrea lead the development and implementation of the Telehealth program at the North Bay General Hospital which supports clients accessing specialized healthcare without the need to travel to communities outside of our district. During her career, Andrea was also an educator with Canadore College teaching in both the classroom and clinical settings.

In 2008, Andrea moved to the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit as the Manager of the Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program.  In 2020, Andrea assumed the role of Director, COVID Immunization Strategy and lead the role out of the COVID Immunization Strategy for the North Bay Parry Sound District.  Andrea retired from the Health Unit in December, 2021.  Andrea continues to be involved with the COVID immunization strategy, providing immunizations at COVID immunization clinics.  

Andrea has a long history of volunteer work.  She has been involved with a number of volunteer efforts including:

• Raising funds to support the purchase of playground equipment for the children of a local school. 
• Managed hockey teams for over 10 years.
• Sat as a member of the West Ferris Minor Hockey Association for several 5 years.
• Was a member of the inaugural Board of Directors who led the development and implementation of the local Community Care Access Center.
• Member of the Nipissing Serenity Hospice Board of Directors from 2018-2020.

Andrea’s father was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and she grew up in a number of communities – she has lived in North Bay since 1977.  Andrea and her husband Ken have raised four children in North Bay and 5 have grandchildren. 

Michel Paulin retired in 2017 with more than 35 years of progressive experience within the financial co-operative and education sectors, where he held senior executive management positions, most recently as Superintendent of Business for the Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord. 

He also has gained extensive knowledge and experience on Boards and Committees at the local, provincial and national levels within the public, associative and non-profit, insurance, and financial co-operative sectors. 

Michel has acquired consultation experience in policy governance, school Board management and strategic enterprise risk management. He was a founding member of an employee health trust in the education sector, where he served as Chair of the Governance Committee and was a member of the Audit, Finance and Investment Committee. He currently serves on the Health Science North Board of Directors as a member of the Audit Committee, and the Governance and Nomination Committee.

Michel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master’s in Business Administration. He is also an accredited Chartered Corporate Director and a Policy Governance Specialist Professional.

Barb is the Executive Director at the Empire Living Centre for the past 6.5 years has directed provided leadership to her team to support Seniors and senior living in the Empire Retirement Home.  

Prior to the Empire, Barb was in the non-profit sector for 14 years with the Canadian Cancer Society as Regional Director for Northeast and Northwest Regions and Manager of the North Bay office.  

Throughout her career, Barb has been committed to providing volunteer support in the area of Palliative Care and End of Life Care.  Barb presently sits on the North Bay and District Palliative Integrated Services Committee and has served on this committee since it was a steering committee.  Barb has also previously provided volunteer leadership with her roles as Vice Chair, Chair and Past Chair on the Near North Palliative Care Network Board.

Barb’s commitment to supporting Palliative and End of Life Care has brought her to the Nipissing Serenity Board of Directors where she hopes to continue to provide support to people and their families in their end of life journey.

Barb holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Diploma in Human Resource Management.

In 2006, while serving as the founding Chair of the North East Local Health Integration Network (NE-LHIN), Mathilde experienced the exceptional end-of-life care that her brother and his family received in a residential hospice in Chambly, Québec.  She realized how beneficial and needed a peaceful residential hospice would be for our Nipissing and East Parry Sound residents. She then set her goal to get it built.  From 2011 to 2020, as the founding Chair of the Board of Directors of the Nipissing Serenity Hospice-Maison Sérénité du Nipissing, (NSH-MSN), she dedicated her energy in recruiting a team of community leaders who shared her dream of a peaceful residential hospice. 

After gaining the support of an army of volunteers and the provincial and municipal politicians needed to build our residential hospice, our 10 room, bilingual hospice opened its doors in January 2020. 

It is after a successful 20 years career as a Health Care Administrator and Nurse Educator, that Mathilde obtained her Law degree from the University of Ottawa in 1991. Prior to that she had earned her degrees of Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Education and Master in Educational Administration from the same university.  During 1982-83, she attended the National Defence College at Fort Frontenac in Kingston.  After entering the practice of law in 1991, she specialized in Health Care Law and Conflict Resolution until her retirement from Justice Canada in 2004.

In addition to serving as the Founding Chair of the NSH-MSN from 2011 to 2020, Mathilde had served on many commissions, Boards and committees in the local, provincial and national forums. Among others: Commissioner of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (2004-2011);  Chair of the NE-LHIN (2005-2009); Ontario Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) (2010-2019); Loeb Medical Research Institute; University of Ottawa Medical Program Advisory Committee; Ottawa-Carleton District Health Council; Ontario Health Review Panel (Evans Commission); St. Joseph’s Hospital Board of Directors (1975-1984). 

She was the grateful recipient of many awards during her varied career:

• Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.) – June 2023
• June Callwood Circle of Outstanding Volunteers – April 2022
• NSH-MSN – Mathilde Gravelle Bazinet Distinguished Volunteer Award - 2022
• Senate of Canada –Sesquicentennial Medal for ‘’Valuable Service to Canada’’ – 2017
• Justice Canada – Merit Awards for Establishment of Office of Conflict Management & Excellence in conflict resolution service– 1998 and 2001
• University of Ottawa – Faculty of Law –Excellence in Advocacy and Teaching – 1991 & 2003
• Gold Medal for Excellence in Nursing Theory and Practice- St. Joseph’s School of Nursing – Cornwall

Mathilde is the author of several publications in conflict resolution, health care administration and emergency services. 

As a Director Emeritus, Mathilde is pleased to continue serving in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors and as a recruiter of supporters for our community residential haven, where our palliative residents and their families receive the highest quality end-of-life care.

Gil Pharand has been the Executive Director of Nipissing Serenity Hospice since May 2020.  Gil serves as a champion for the Hospice’s vision of palliative care, representing the interests of the Hospice in various forums and acting as a key liaison with a range of health care partners and stakeholders.

Gil supervises and provides oversight to the day-to-day operations and administration of the Hospice. He is responsible for planning, directing and managing all programs, personnel, and finances of the Hospice in support of the policies, guidelines and budgetary authorities set by the Board of Directors. Gil manages all resources to ensure the delivery of quality palliative care that responds to the needs of residents and their loved ones.

The Executive Director is directly accountable to the Board of Directors for the total operational performance of the Hospice. and for achieving the mission of Nipissing Serenity Hospice. The Board directs the Executive Director through policies, delegating interpretation and implementation to them.

Gil acts as a resource to all Committees of the Board. He ensures the organization operates in accordance with the goals, executive authority, governance and board-staff relationships policies established by the Board of Directors. As per the by-laws, the Executive Director also serves as the Secretary and Treasurer to the Board.

Gil has extensive experience in fundraising and non-profit management.  He holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce and was a Certified Fundraising Executive.  Like his passion for the Hospice, Gil is passionate about time with his family. He is involved in minor hockey as a parent, coach, official and mentor and the biggest fan of the many extracurriculars that his five sons are involved in.