Board of Directors

Michael LeMay - Interim Board Chair

Michael LeMay is a retired educator. He was a teacher with the Renfrew County District School Board for 28 years. From 1985 to 1997, he held the position of vice-principal at a number of secondary schools. Prior to this, he was principal of Renfrew County Summer School from 1971-74, head of guidance from 1979-85 and itinerant guidance counsellor in the Canadian Armed Forces Europe in 1979. He is past member of the Pembroke Regional Hospital Board of Directors, where he served for nine years. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Family and Children Services of Renfrew County, the Phoenix Centre for Children and Families Board of Directors and on the Pembroke Planning Advisory Committee. Michael is also a member of the Pembroke Police Services Board.

Reappointed January 5, 2008 for a three-year term.

Jo-Anne Poirier - Interim Vice-Chair

Ms. Jo-Anne Poirier is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation.  Before January 2008 she was employed by United Way/Centraide Ottawa as Vice-President, Resource Development and CEO of the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign. From November 2000 to March 2003, she was First Vice-President, Business Development for MBNA Canada Bank. From 1993 to November 2000; she worked as Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services with the City of Gloucester. Prior to 1993, Ms. Poirier worked for 15 years in both the private sector and regional government in increasingly senior positions.  Jo-Anne’s community involvement presently includes, acting as a Special Advisor with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund Ottawa Chapter. From 2003 to 2006 she served on the Board of Directors for the Regroupement des gens d’affaires de la capitale nationale (RGA). From 1999 to 2003, she served as a senior volunteer on the United Way/Centraide Ottawa Campaign Cabinet. 

Reappointed June 2, 2008 for a three-year term. 

Linda Assad Butcher

Linda Assad Butcher has been executive director of Consortium National de Formation en Santé for La Cité collégiale from 2002 to 2007. From 1989 to 1990, she served as a member of the transition team for the Creation of La Cité collégiale and subsequently held positions as director of health sciences and community services at this community college. Prior to this, she was employed as a Learning Resources Consultant and Professor of Nursing at Algonquin College. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the Ottawa-Carleton Nursing Executives, the Ontario College Administrative Staff Association and the Ontario French Nurses Association. In 2003, she received the Capital Educator’s Award. Linda has served on the boards of numerous community organizations including the United Way, the Academic Operations Committee at Montfort Hospital and the Council on Aging.

Reappointed January 5, 2008 for a three-year term. 

Wilmer Matthews 

Wilmer Matthews is a retired high school principal. In 30 years with the Renfrew District School Board, he held positions as teacher, vice-principal, and principal at a variety of high schools in the county. His community involvement has included coaching or convening duties in community sports programs such as hockey, skiing and basketball. He has also been a past member of the local Lions Club.  Wilmer's interest in health care has seen him involved as a director of the St. Francis Memorial Hospital Foundation Board, where he has served as acting chair as well as chair of the Capital Equipment Campaign. He resigned from this position when appointed to the Champlain LHIN Board. 

Reappointed June 2, 2008 for a three-year term.

Johanne Lacombe 

Johanne Lacombe has a wide range of experience at the executive level. Some of the positions she has held are as follows: Executive Director at Languages Canada, a national not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to be the voice of the Canadian language training sector; Executive Director at Go for Green a national not-for-profit organization which was responsible for environmental and physical activity portfolios; Manager of Communications and Marketing at the Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est (CECLFCE); Executive Director at Alliance TechPoint Inc.; and Executive Director of the Outaouais Chamber of Commerce (Regroupement des gens d'affaires).  In her spare time, Johanne serves on the board of directors of the Caisse populaire Orléans Inc., where she is Vice-President of the Executive Committee.  She is also on the board of the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation and has just completed a 9 year term on the board of the Cité Collégiale Foundation.  Johanne’s post-secondary education covers the fields of Business Administration, Communications and Sociology.

Appointed November 18, 2009 for a three-year term. 

Mike DeGagné

Mike DeGagné is the founding Executive Director of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, a national Aboriginal organization dedicated to addressing the legacy of Canada's Indian Residential School System.  He has worked in the field of addiction and mental health for the past 25 years, first as a community worker on-reserve in northern Ontario and later with the Addiction Research Foundation (ARF), the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), and the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP).  With the federal government, he has been an Executive manager in Aboriginal health, and a land claims negotiator.  Mike lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on issues of Aboriginal health, Residential Schools, reconciliation, and governance.  He serves on a number of Boards including Algoma University, and is currently the Vice-President of the Child Welfare League of Canada, and past Chairman of the Queensway Carleton Hospital.  His PhD focuses on Aboriginal post secondary education.

Appointed November 18, 2009 for a three-year term.

Alexa Brewer 

Mrs. Alexa Brewer has extensive experience in the health field, as a nursing practitioner, administrator and educator and as a senior manager within the federal government.  She has worked in the areas of health policy, strategic program design, planning and evaluation of complex projects.  Working in various branches of Health Canada, she developed a strong background in program development and analysis and in reorientation of programs to meet changing and/or emerging priorities and resource constraints.

Long interested in the use of technology to support health service management and delivery, she has contributed to the development and implementation of the federal components of national health information infostructure and surveillance networks, including developing evaluation and accountability reporting frameworks. 

In her final position with the federal government, as Senior Director of the Information Management Strategies Division, Treasury Board Secretariat, she was accountable for improvement of the management of government information holdings, compliance with legislative and policy requirements and supporting cost-effective electronic service delivery.

Appointed April 28, 2010 for a three-year term.