The Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable John Haggie, Minister of Health and Community Services, today announced that six committees have been established for the Task Force on Health Care, known as Health Accord NL. Individual Chairs have been appointed to lead each committee on a volunteer basis.
The six committees and Chairs are as follows:
- Aging Population – Joan Marie Aylward
- Digital Technology – Paul Preston
- Hospital Services – Dr. Sean Connors
- Primary Health Care – Dr. Shanda Slipp
- Quality of Care – Dr. Patrick Parfrey
- Social Determinants of Health – Sister Elizabeth Davis
Biographies for the Chairs can be found in the backgrounder below.
Dedicated to supporting healthy living in Newfoundland and Labrador, Health Accord NL will reimagine the health care system in order to best deliver services to meet the needs of people in communities across the province.
Health Accord NL will focus on the social determinants of health, or the social and economic factors that influence people’s health. The Accord will be developed in consultation with all stakeholders, prioritizing engagement with various groups – including Indigenous leaders and health care professionals.
As outlined in the Mandate Letter to Minister Haggie, Health Accord NL will focus on delivering a 10-Year Health Accord with short, medium, and long-term goals for a health care system that better meets the needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Quotes
“Health Accord NL is hard at work, and as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians can see by the priorities set with each committee, the Task Force is charting a course towards reimagining health care in the province. I commend this group of respected leaders, each with a wealth of relevant experience to bring to the table, for volunteering to help in this important endeavour.”
Honourable Andrew Furey
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
“Thank you to each of the Chairs for participating in Health Accord NL. Your insights and professional experience will help to inform our work to change and innovate Newfoundland and Labrador’s health care system.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services
– 30 –
Learn more
News Release: Premier Furey and Minister Haggie Appoint Co-Chairs for Health Accord NL
Follow us on Twitter @GovNL and @HCS_GovNL
Media contacts
Meghan McCabe
Office of the Premier
709-729-3960
meghanmccabe@gov.nl.ca
Kathy Dicks-Peyton
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986, 699-1982
kathydickspeyton@gov.nl.ca
BACKGROUNDER
Biographies of the Committee Chairs of Health Accord NL
Joan Marie Aylward
Joan Marie Aylward has served on the National Seniors Council since September 2018. She was appointed Vice Chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Relations Board in March 2018 for a five-year term. Passionate about working with seniors, Ms. Aylward recently completed a six-year position as the Executive Director of St. Patrick’s Mercy Home – a role that further strengthened her competencies in strategic planning and understanding of the ethical issues surrounding care of seniors.
Ms. Aylward has served as provincial Cabinet Minister of numerous government portfolios, including Health and Community Services, Minister Responsible for Seniors, Municipal and Provincial Affairs, Human Resources and Employment, and Finance and Treasury Board. During her tenure, Ms. Aylward served on both Social and Economic Policy Committees of government and was a developing member of the Province’s Strategic Social Plan.
Ms. Aylward has served on numerous boards and committees, including Oxfam Canada and the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation.
Ms. Aylward began her career as a clinical intensive care nurse before working as a Nurse Educator. She was elected President of the Provincial Nurses Union, a position she held for six years. Ms. Aylward completed the Institute of Corporate Director’s Education Program (ICD.D) in 2006.
Paul Preston
Paul Preston is CEO of techNL (formerly NATI), where he and his team work to develop and grow the province’s technology and innovation sector. This includes driving the mandate of Bounce, a med-tech accelerator for the province, as well as multi-year digitalization initiatives that aim to help other sectors of the economy become tech-enabled, increasing their competitiveness.
Mr. Preston was previously the Director of Science, Technology, and Innovation at The Conference Board of Canada in Ottawa, the largest think tank in Canada, where he led a diverse team that delivered advice to industry, academia and governments. He has travelled extensively to understand how different jurisdictions drive their innovation ecosystems, has presented to leaders in places such as Israel, Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, and has been called as an Expert Witness to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology.
Mr. Preston also worked in finance, providing services to help technology companies grow and compete internationally, and was Director of Business Development with Plato Group/Camouflage Software in both St. John’s and Ottawa.
Dr. Sean Connors
Dr. Sean Connors, a cardiologist practicing in St John’s, is the Clinical Chief of the Cardiac Care Program with Eastern Health and an associate professor of medicine with Memorial University, where he completed his medical school training and internal medicine specialty.
As a Rhodes Scholar, he attended the University of Oxford in England, completing a doctorate in cardiac physiology, followed by a fellowship in cardiology at the University of Toronto and a subspecialty in cardiac electrophysiology at the University of Oklahoma and the Ottawa Heart Institute.
In 1999, Dr. Connors returned to Newfoundland and Labrador, where he established the cardiac electrophysiology program within Eastern Health. His research interests include health care innovation and the genetics of sudden cardiac death. This research has led to the discovery and patenting of a novel gene for heart disease with international implications for the treatment and diagnosis of inherited heart disease. The Governor General of Canada recognized Dr. Connors in May 2018 with a national award for innovation.
Dr. Shanda Slipp
Dr. Shanda Slipp is a community family physician in Corner Brook, where she has been practicing since 2016.
After completing her medical degree and Family Medicine residency training at Memorial University, she worked in St. John’s and Twillingate, as well as in the Family Medicine departments of the University of Calgary and Queens University, before moving back to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015. She has been the Chair of the Long Range Family Practice Network since 2017, working on collaborative projects with local family physicians and the regional health authorities.
Dr. Slipp is a cabinet member of the Western Stream Family Medicine residency program and was the recipient of the Dr. Yong Kee Jeon Award for 2019 from the Memorial University Discipline of Family Medicine.
Dr. Patrick Parfrey
Dr. Parfrey is a clinical epidemiologist and a John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professor at Memorial University. He is the clinical lead for Quality of Care NL and Choosing Wisely NL, programs funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Provincial Government.
Dr. Parfrey is an officer of the Order of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
Sister Elizabeth Davis
Sister Elizabeth Davis is Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Gathering Place and a member of the Board for St. Patrick’s Mercy Home.
Sister Elizabeth has been an administrator of St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital in St. John’s, and President and CEO of the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s (now Eastern Health).
She has been a member of the Medical Council of Canada and the National Board of Medical Examiners in the United States. She has also been a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Trudeau Foundation, and Dalhousie University’s Management Program for Physicians.
Sister Elizabeth is also a part-time faculty member at Memorial University’s Queen’s College in St. John’s.