Irene Kavanagh

Emergency Department, ICU and Laboratory

Irene was born in Ireland and came to Canada (just for a holiday!!) in 1974 after qualifying as a Medical Laboratory Technologist in Dublin. She has five siblings in Ireland. She worked as a Technologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto and as a Research Technologist at The Wellesley Hospital in the same city for 12 years.

In 1989 Irene moved to the pharmaceutical industry where she had a long and successful career in the clinical trials area. She worked for Amgen, EMD Serono and Astra Zeneca.

She and her partner Isabel of 19 years moved to Cobourg full time in 2014 after frequenting the Northumberland area to their cottage for many years. Irene retired in 2016.

Irene has had experience with NHH in the following ways:

Irene now spends her time with her dog Dolly, a Maltese poodle, which she and Isabel rescued last August. She loves golf, photography and singing with her choir “Joyful Noise,” singing ‘50s and ‘60s songs. She also volunteers with “Helping Hands,” a non-profit charity which helps third world countries and local and national people in need.

Irene answered the call for volunteers for NHH’s Patient and Family Advisory Council after seeing an ad in the local paper. She has been a volunteer since March 2018 and currently participates on the Emergency Department/Intensive Care Unit Quality and Practice Committees, the Laboratory Quality and Practice Committee, as well as the regional Patient Experience working group supporting promotion and awareness of MyChart, the patient portal introduced to hospitals across the Central East region. Alongside other PFAC partners Irene has also been a key participant in the evolution of NHH's experience measurement tools, actively participating on the Experience Measurement Working Group and its sub-committees.


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PFA Council