Community member volunteers play critical role on hospital Board
Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) benefits from the commitment and dedication of a broad range of generous volunteers.
Among these volunteers are Community Members of the NHH Board of Directors. Committee Members are a key component of the Board's ongoing commitment to direct public input while also supporting proactive succession planning. Each holds full voting privileges for the NHH Board committees on which they serve. They may also be appointed to a Board Director position when a vacancy occurs. NHH currently has four Community Members actively involved on Board Committees today. Their unique skill sets and Committee assignments are listed below.
Sharon Anderson (Grafton), currently serves on the Governance Committee. A retired Human Resources professional with experience across a variety of sectors from social services to retail, consumer-packaged goods and packaging, Sharon also brings not-for-profit experience in governance, management and direct volunteerism. A life-long volunteer, Sharon’s community involvement in Northumberland has included volunteer roles with Community Care Northumberland (Hospice Volunteer, 2014 onward), the Alnwick/Haldimand-Grafton Community Centre (Board Member, 2015-2019), as well as Northumberland Players (Board Member and costume/prop volunteer).
John Saunders (Port Hope) is a member of the Governance and Quality and Safety Committees. He brings 25+ years of experience in the field of emergency management and crisis communication. Now President/Owner of SEEMS (Saunders Enterprises & Emergency Management Services), John has been personally involved in the response to 9/11, SARS, and multiple severe weather events in the US. Here in Canada John has worked closely with many First Nation Communities, including Attawapiskat (2012 emergency). His international work has included a deployment to Haiti, where he assisted with earthquake response and the set-up of a mobile field hospital built to address a cholera outbreak. Prior to forming SEEMS, he served for seven years with the Canadian Red Cross as Provincial Director – Disaster Management and International Response. John has worked with and on multiple boards, including the International Association of Emergency Managers – Canada, which he served as Chair. He was also a member of that Association’s global board. John is currently a Technical Advisor for two Public Safety Canada Committees.
Kendra Simmons (Cobourg) is a long-standing hospice palliative care volunteer and mentor whose involvement in the Northumberland community has also included membership on the Board of Directors for Community Care Northumberland and Chair of that organization’s Hospice Advisory Committee. She currently serves on the NHH Board as a Community Member on the Quality and Safety Committee. A local business owner, Kendra has owned and managed Antiques on Queen, in Port Hope. for over forty years and, in that capacity, provided training and mentorship to dozens of the antique agency’s employees. A skilled community fundraiser, she spearheaded a fundraising gala to offset the medical expenses of a Port Hope resident, raising over $16,000 in 2016, and supported ‘Double Exposure,’ a fundraiser for Toronto-based Houselink, on a ten-year goal to raise $1,000,000—a goal that was reached in 8 years (2008-2016). Currently a member of the Board of Directors for Legion Village (2017 to present), Kendra was honoured with the Capital Theatre’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2017 and the June Callwood Award in 2017.
Ross Stevenson (Roseneath) serves on the NHH Board’s Quality and Safety Committee as well as the Facilities and Campus Development Committee. Now retired from a distinguished career in academia, Ross—who holds a doctorate in Agricultural Meteorology—was a long-serving Professor of Environmental Science with Durham College’s School of Science and Engineering Technology. He served on the College’s Management Team in early 2000, directly supporting the creation of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (now Ontario Tech University), before being temporarily seconded to that institution’s Executive Council (August 2001 to July 2002). Prior to his work in academia, Ross was the Member of Parliament for the Riding of Durham (1988 to 1993) and, before that, Member of the Legislature of Ontario for Durham-York (1981 to 1987). He has held a life-long interest in farming and animal genetics, and has shown his prize-winning purebred Limousin beef cattle at the Royal Winter Fair and local fall fairs.
Recruited through an open call for interest issued regularly by the Nominating Committee of the Board, Community Members are drawn from each of the three ‘wards’ or districts within the catchment area NHH serves. Each brings a unique mix of skills and experiences identified by the Nominating Committee as essential to fulfilling the Board’s obligations.
“We are grateful for the skills brought to the Board table by Sharon, John, Kendra and Ross, and all the Community Committee members who have come before them,” said Pam Went, Board Chair. “In addition to broadening our Board’s skill mix, the Community Committee model has proven to be an effective channel for NHH’s community engagement and succession planning as well. The NHH Board is currently preparing for its next call for interest for Community Committee members. Please watch for information on our NHH social media feeds, in In Touch—our print and e-newsletter (join our community of direct subscribers here)—as well as on the hospital’s website, nhh.ca. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about Board opportunities, our Nominating Committee will look forward to having a discussion.”