Our Board of Directors

Barb moved to McNab/Braeside in 1996 to become the Chief Financial Officer for a local technology company. She left full-time work as a CFO in 2007 to open Sew Inspired in Arnprior. With her husband and children actively involved in the retail store, Barb was able to enjoy a newfound balance between work and family. Seven years later, after growing the business substantially, Barb sold the store. It was then she finally had time to commit to giving back to the community, and joined the ARH board.

Barb brings a wealth of financial expertise, traditionally in short supply on organizational boards. Her career as a Chief Financial Officer for several Ottawa technology companies has allowed her to build expertise in financial management, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, HR management and legal/regulatory issues.

Barb is married to Wayne and has two adult children: Emily, 20, is studying at her mother’s alma mater Queen’s University and Connor, 21, shows his mother’s passion for serving the community as a proud member of the Canadian Forces at Garrison Petawawa.

Barb loves to travel. At home on the shores of the beautiful Madawaska River (she and Wayne call it “God’s Country”), Barb remains an avid knitter and sewer.

Recognizing the area’s charm and tranquility, Donna and her husband retired to the Ottawa Valley in 2013.

Donna is a long-time community-minded volunteer with a passion for healthcare. With over 20 years as principal of an HR consulting firm, more than five years as a VP with Accreditation Canada and a former Chief of Staff to the mayor of the City of Ottawa, Donna brings a range of skills in the areas of human resources, strategic planning, government relations, healthcare administration, governance/risk management, charity leadership and communications and marketing. She brings particularly valuable experience in health quality, having been an international surveyor and HR expert for the International Society of Quality.

Donna has also served as a board member for Eastern Ontario Young Offenders and for a residential hospice facility within the Ottawa Valley.

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Deborah and her husband moved to McNab/Braeside in 2010 after they retired. She saw joining the ARH board as a way to give back to her new community, having been fortunate to have so many wonderful opportunities throughout her lifetime.

Deborah brings extensive technical/scientific, financial and management skills to the board. She worked for more than 20 years as a research scientist developing novel fabrication processes for semiconductor lasers, detectors and integrated circuits. Deborah was the program coordinator and taught in the micro-electronics manufacturing apprenticeship program at Algonquin College. From 2004 to 2013 she served as VP for FabFlow Inc. where she was responsible for finances, training and customer relations. She has a BSc in chemistry and a MSc in organometallic chemistry.

When not immersed in her work with the ARH board, Deborah can be found enjoying a wide range of interests, from the active (walking, hiking, cross-country skiing, cycling, travelling) to the creative and contemplative (sewing, quilting, reading, gardening).

Valerie was born and raised in the Ottawa Valley and moved from the Pembroke area closer to Arnprior six years ago. She brings a broad range of skills in technology and management of information systems, as well as in project management, healthcare administration and strategic planning.

Valerie is passionate about participating in the ongoing improvement of healthcare offered in rural Ontario. As a patient, as a caregiver to aging relatives, as a previous hospital employee and as a provider of services, she brings a well-rounded perspective. For 15 years Valerie worked coordinating both clinical and non-clinical applications at the Pembroke Regional Hospital. She also previously spent time as the General Partner for Supples Landing (Retirement Residence) Limited Partnership.  Currently Valerie works as a Technical Consultant with Mitel, designing and implementing unified communication systems primarily for healthcare organizations throughout the U.S. and in Canada.

When asked about her most significant accomplishment, Valerie says aside from the great personal pride and feelings of accomplishment that comes from her family life and being a mom, the work she is doing now with clients who want to transform their enterprise has been very exciting. When not “on the job” or busy volunteering for the hospital Valerie can be found stealing some quiet moments kayaking along the Ottawa River.  Valerie says she “feels gratitude every day for the life we get to live here in the Valley”.

Chris is a lifelong Arnprior resident with deep roots in the area. In fact, his family was one of the founding families of the town. Chris also has strong family connections to ARH: He began his volunteer work with ARH as the Chair of the Family Council at the Grove, where his grandmother was an original resident when it was built and his father-in-law spent his last 18 months. Chris is immensely proud of having led the successful advocacy campaign for 36 new beds at the Grove.

Chris  is a strong believer that being part of the ARH board is the best way to shape the future of health care in the community. He brings skills in procurement and negotiations, accounting/financial management, communications/marketing, strategic planning and IT software and systems integrations, developed through a progressive career and education in procurement/supply chain and product development. Currently Chris is a member of the senior management team at one of Canada’s “Best Managed Companies,” Deslaurier Custom Cabinets.

Chris coaches hockey and likes to golf, kayak, do home renovations and travel with family and friends. His wife Maureen is also from Arnprior. The two spend a lot of time supporting their nephews at their sporting events. As advocates of supporting local businesses, in the summer months Chris and Maureen can be found at the Carp Farmer’s Market, shopping local.

Becky is well known in the Arnprior area. She was formerly the Director of the Arnprior Villa Retirement Residence and is married to local United Church clergyman Rev. Dr. Richard Hollingsworth. Becky hopes that her position on the ARH Board will allow her to be a positive link between ARH and the community.

With 30 years of community nursing experience, Becky brings a valuable perspective on health promotion and the impacts of the social determinants of health. She was one of the first mature students accepted into the BScN program at McMaster University in 1974. She worked as a front-line nurse for St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurses in Hamilton, then as the Executive Director for VON Grey/Bruce and, subsequently, the Ottawa-Carleton branch. Becky also completed a Masters degree in Women’s Studies at Carleton University, for which her thesis addressed the personal and professional caregiving roles of women, how providing care at home is not always the ideal, and that institutional care can be appropriate for some.

Becky has been in the Arnprior Community Choir for 25 years and is a member of the Dochart Book Club. Becky has two daughters and four grandchildren.

Ryan was born and raised in Renfrew and has deep familial roots in the Arnprior/Packenham area. He cites his admiration for JFK and the leader’s iconic statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you…” as the inspiration for his long history of volunteerism.

Ryan brings extensive skills in accounting/financial management, program planning and evaluation, human resources, strategic planning and marketing/communications. Ryan has held various leadership roles with RBC, including Branch Manager and Community Manager. He has also led other not-for-profit boards of directors. Ryan recently led an engagement committee within RBC focused on employee experience for younger and new employees, which generated a significant increase in the measured engagement of the target group.

Ryan volunteers for Junior Achievement, which brings financial literacy and business lessons into schools. He sings and plays guitar, piano and mandolin and also plays volleyball and golf regularly.

Ryan’s wife, Tierney, is a nurse practitioner. Ryan readily admits that he and Tierney “spend far too much time doting on” Archer, their Welsh Springer spaniel.

Julie has lived and travelled throughout the world, as her husband was posted to Europe and Africa as well as to other areas of Canada. Once they both retired, they chose to settle in the great community of Arnprior.

Julie joined the board in order to back to her new community. Her international experience and 30-year career as a professional social worker in health care, focused primarily on helping people cope with the stress of living with life threatening illness and navigating the health care system, provides valuable perspective to the board. She brings a range of skills including clinical experience, strategic health care planning and policy development.

Julie enjoys aquafit classes at the Nick Smith Centre and curling at the Arnprior Curling Club. She and her husband are also kept busy with their four grandchildren.

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How did a girl who grew up on a beef farm outside of Fort Coulonge, Quebec end up on a board in Arnprior? Her parents bought her a car from Reid Brother’s when she finished her undergraduate degree. During a regular servicing visit to the dealership two years later, she was recruited to play in Arnprior’s Sunday night Mixed Lobb Ball League. This is how she met a local man named Graham. Erin and Graham were married in 2008, and the couple moved to McNab-Braeside.

Erin brings extensive expertise in a number of areas, including accounting/financial management, communications/marketing, government relations, health care administration, public policy development, human resources, strategic planning, program planning/evaluation, governance/risk management, not-for-profit or charity leadership, clinical leadership and legal/regulatory issues.

Erin received a BSc in Biochemistry in 2005 and a doctorate in Cellular and Molecular Medicine Ottawa in 2011, both from the University of Ottawa. She began teaching at Algonquin College in 2008, became a full-time professor in 2010 and is currently the Chair of their Allied Health Department, which includes programs such as Medical Radiation Technology (x-ray technician), Diagnostic Medical Sonography (general ultrasound) and Respiratory Therapy. She provides our board with a critical connection to educational advances and innovative practices that are such an important driver of healthcare change.

Erin completed an Executive Masters of Business Administration from Queen’s University in 2017.

Robin, her husband and children moved from Montreal to rural West Carleton in 1982. It was Robin’s experience as a cancer patient that inspired her to join the board as it made her keenly aware of the importance of empowering patients and listening to their voices as key health system stakeholders. With her new appreciation of our health care system and the medical profession, she is currently in remission and enthusiastic about using her energy and skills to contribute back to the health care system.

In addition to her valuable patient perspective, Robin also brings a range of expertise in the areas of legal/regulatory issues, government relations, public policy development, strategic planning, program planning/evaluation, governance/risk management, not-for-profit or charity leadership as well as eagerness to learn.

Robin is most proud of her wonderful, engaged children and also her work with difference-makers in their communities supporting economic, social and political rights and advancing the rights of the marginalized. Robin herself has long worked as a champion of human rights and social justice. She was Director of International Development for the Canadian Bar Association from 1994 to 2013, where she managed projects in over 30 countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Central and Eastern Europe. She sat on the Rule of Law and Access to Justice Working Group for the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. In 2013 she received the inaugural Commonwealth Lawyers Association Rule of Law Award and in 2014 the Walter S. Tarnopolsky award for Human Rights.

Robin serves as the co-chair of the Ottawa-Gatineau Multiple Myeloma Support Group, is a member of the Ottawa-Gatineau Myeloma March Committee and the chair of the Ontario Advocacy Committee for Multiple Myeloma. She also sits on the board of the International Commission of Jurists and is past chair and advisor to the Pro Bono Committee of the International Bar Association.

Robin enjoys an active lifestyle. Living on a farm on Galetta Side Road gives her the opportunity to enjoy her horses and gardening. She also cycles, cross-country skis, walks and sails.

Having been raised in an Air Force family and serving in the Canadian Air Force for over 30 years, Doug has lived or worked in every province and territory in Canada. His international experience includes attending the final two years of high school in Metz, France as well as completing a year-long Fellowship Program in National and International Studies that included travel to 32 countries. After 12 years of living in the Ottawa area, Doug settled in Arnprior in 2012.

Doug brings a range of skills in the areas of strategic planning, non-for-profit/charity leadership, governance/risk management, program planning and evaluation, government relations, and marketing and communications. He offers extensive leadership experience, having held senior positions in the Canadian Air Force, including CEO of one of Canada’s largest and most active military facilities and as COO of  the Metis Nation of Ontario. He also brings significant board experience, having sat on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation, Trenton Memorial Hospital and Albert College. He was on the Board and aVP of the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa, was past VP of the Ontario Retirement Communities Association and a member of the Joint Management Committee of the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy.

Doug was a qualified pilot on 10 different aircraft including jet, rotary-wing and multi-engine and has compiled over 4,000 hours as a line pilot, instructor, test pilot and supervisor.