Ann Dobby
Acute Care and Access and Flow Quality and Practice Committees
Ann was originally welcomed to NHH’s Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) in September 2021. She was the first PFAC partner to bring the patient and caregiver voice to NHH's recruitment process as the first PFAC Human Resources representative. She stepped back from her NHH volunteer work in the summer of 2025 but returned in January 2026, assuming some of the PFAC responsibilities she had held prior and some new ones.
Born in Montreal, Ann attended McGill University for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Nursing. Her thirty-eight years in health care took her to a variety of settings including university and community hospitals, the community, and psychiatric and rehabilitation centres, primarily in management roles, and brought her to Montreal, Toronto, Peterborough and Cobourg. Her clinical areas of work included mental health, emergency, spinal cord injury, cancer care and out-patient services.
Ann moved to Northumberland in 1994. She achieved what she describes as her “dream job” as Director of what was then “Out-Patient Services” at NHH in 2002, finally working in her own community and helping in the transition to the then new hospital.
Retired from NHH, her original interest in PFAC was sparked by stories from family and friends about their experiences with the health care system. She enjoys sharing those experiences—as a friend and caregiver—and giving back to the hospital and the community she loves and appreciates in many ways.
Today Ann serves on the Acute Care and Access and Flow Quality and Practice Committees. An active ad hoc member of additional committees and working groups as the call arises, Ann's impact throughout NHH has been deep and wide.
Asked what is most rewarding to her about PFAC service, Ann says: "The opportunity to learn about the amazing work that is occurring at NHH and in the community with respect to health and well-being."