NHH board meets its four newest Community Members

By Cecilia Nasmith

Northumberland Hills Hospital's board of directors welcomed four new Community Members at its October meeting, the result of a recent call for interested individuals to consider signing on to this crucial role in the board's commitment to public input.

In addition to holding voting privileges for board committees on which they serve, Community Members also support proactive succession planning for the board, as they may be appointed to a board director position in the event of a vacancy.

Following the call for expressions of interest and an open house last spring, board members conducted interview of all candidates and selected the four individuals introduced at their meeting.

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Laina Andrews of Cobourg enjoyed a varied career in public education, including serving as principal at both CDCI West and Cobourg Collegiate Institute. She is currently a member of the Faculty of Education at Ontario Tech University. Her most recent leadership experience included working directly with a governance body, the Board of Trustees, where her understanding and knowledge of policy and procedure, working with government ministries, labour relations, contract negotiations, hiring processes, health and safety, and more is extensive. Originally from Halifax, she has lived in Northumberland County for 30 years. She currently serves on the board's Quality and Safety and Facilities and Campus Development committees.

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Mary-Ann Cocchetto of Port Hope holds more than 25 years of experience as a lawyer and public-sector leader. Her work includes representing Legal Aid Ontario clients at the Cobourg courthouse, later holding positions on the senior leadership team at provincial level. She is currently a leadership coach and principal of Mary-Ann Coccetto Coaching, and has served the community on the board of Northumberland United Way and as a member of Port Hope's Parks, Recreation and Culture Committee. She currently serves on the board's Governance and Quality and Safety committees.

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Randall Freeborn of Baltimore has more than 30 years of experience in strategic human-resources management and business strategy development in the professional services, media, consulting and high-tech sectors. Bilingual in English and French, he has been a member of several global executive teams, working in Asia, North America and Europe, and is currently Senior Vice-President of People and Strategic Initiatives at Toronto's WoodGreen Community Services. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Concordia University and a Laboratory Sciences Diploma from Fanshawe College. He currently serves on the board's Quality and Safety and Facilities and Campus Development committees.

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Carol Anne Bell-Smith of Cobourg is a retired Director of Education and Critical Care Registered Nurse with 40 years experience in health care – and is also a multi-faith minister and award-winning fine arts photographer. As former Chief Executive Officer of TPG Consulting, she provided management consulting services to non-profits, charities and private-sector companies across the province. As a person with a disability and a regular consumer of health-care services in addition to being a former health-care executive, she brings a unique perspective and experience. She has a long list of board and committee experience that includes Community Care, Community Living, Northumberland Orchestra and Choir, Cobourg Poetry Workshop, as well as a number of provincial steering committees. She currently chairs the Town of Cobourg's Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Board chair Elizabeth Selby extended a welcome to the four.

“They join Myles Noel, Leslie Orpana and Lynda Sellar to form the NHH board's largest-ever team of Community Member representatives,” Selby said.

“As their biographies demonstrate, each of our new Community Members are unique in their own strengths, while bringing experience with and knowledge of the community served, and a commitment to support the quality and growth of NHH. We welcome each to the board table and thank them for their interest.”