

SPEAKERS

JEFFREY DALE
Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association (EORLA) Chief Executive Officer
EORLA provides the laboratory services for acute care hospitals in Eastern Ontario and oversees the operations of 18 licensed hospital-based laboratories. EORLA provides approximately 13 million diagnostics testing for hospital inpatient and registered outpatients with a team of 850 clinical, operational and medical and scientific staff.
Jeffrey has extensive board and management experience with technology, finance, manufacturing, education, healthcare, airports and multiple charitable organizations.
Prior to EORLA, Jeffrey was Co-Founder of PB Capital, CEO of Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI currently Invest Ottawa), President of KOM Networks, and Vice President at SHL Systemhouse.
Currently, Jeffrey is on the board of YAM Financial Services Inc. and was Past Chair of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

JO-ANNE POIRIER
VON President and Chief Executive Officer
Jo‐Anne Poirier joined VON Canada in 2014 as President and Chief Executive Officer. From 2008 until 2014, Jo‐Anne was Chief Executive Officer of Ottawa Community Housing Corporation. Under her leadership, Ottawa Community Housing received several awards for excellence including the 2011 Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards’ Non‐Profit Organization of the Year. She is currently the Chair of the Board of the Shaw Centre, Vice‐Chair of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and a member of the Boards of TVO and Calian. Previous Board roles include Chair of The Change Foundation, Vice‐Chair of Ottawa Public Health, and founding Board member of the Board of Directors of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

JONATHAN HUGHES
apetito HFS Head of Sales
Originally from the UK Jonathan has a Degree in Hospitality Management – specializing in Healthcare. With over 30 years experience in Healthcare management and sales, he now leads the sales team at apetito HFS. A real foodie, he is passionate about making a difference to the meal experience and enhancing the quality of life through the food eaten. He has been with HFS and apetito HFS for over 10 years.

KAREN NELSON
Former Stanford Healthcare Executive Director
Karen has extensive experience as a social worker, administrator, leader and educator. She has been employed in the areas of pediatric and adult inpatient and outpatient healthcare, in mental health programs, within school settings and in the correctional system nationally and internationally. Karen recently retired from the position of Executive Director at Stanford Healthcare where she led a Department of over 200 social workers, case managers and chaplains. She is a member of the Board of the SSWLHC, an ACMA National Committee member and a mentor to MBA students at the University of Ottawa. Karen has previously served as Faculty for the Leadership Institutes in Seattle, Toronto, Los Angeles and Chicago.