Bob Armstrong

Bob Armstrong is a novelist, playwright, speechwriter and freelance writer. His creative works have employed humour in many forms: the comic sidekick in his award-winning 2021 western Prodigies (Five Star/Gale); a satire of masculinity in crisis in his debut novel Dadolescence (Dadolescence); spoofs of the philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau in his play of ideas, Noble Savage, Savage Noble (Theatre Projects Manitoba). In other works, in settings from a haunted Eastern European mountain range, to a family cottage on Lake of the Woods, to a celebrity-studded alternative-universe Christmas party, to the Franklin Expedition, he’s found the funny in the midst of mystery and tragedy. But until he was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas of 2019, he’d never tried stand-up comedy. Bob lives in Winnipeg with his wife Rosemary.

 

Ashley Bowering

Ashley Bowering is a Clinical Resource Nurse in Palliative Care at Riverview Health Centre, and has worked in palliative care since 2019. She has spent 10+ years working in Emergency Departments across Canada, including in Ontario, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories. Ashley has held a position in the Forensic Nurse Examiner program since 2017. She completed her Master of Health Evaluation in 2021 with the hope of utilizing the degree to advocate for healthcare accessibility and equity.

 

 Dr. Paul Daeninck

Dr. Paul Daeninck is a medical oncologist and palliative medicine consultant connected with CancerCare Manitoba, the Rady College of Medicine, and the WRHA. He is actively involved in education of medical professionals and has ongoing clinical and academic interests in palliative medicine, cannabinoids and psychedelic-assisted therapy. He has authored or co-authored several research papers and textbook chapters and continues to work with others having a similar interest both locally and nationally.

 

Dr. Alyssa Delaquis

Family Physician in Portage la Prairie, MB since 2016, including clinic and inpatient work and previous ER and obstetrical experience. She is also a recent graduate of the palliative care fellowship program at the University of Manitoba (July 2023).

 

Rehana Durocher

Rehana is currently working as a casual pharmacist for St. Amant Centre Pharmacy and Spirit RX Pharmacy. Her pharmacy background is diverse which includes palliative care, specialty community pharmacy and academia. Rehana also has a deep interest in functional medicine as the model of care that focuses on nutrition and lifestyle to address chronic diseases.

 

Salina Fukumoto

Salina currently works with Shared Health as the Provincial Clinical Services Consultant with the Cancer & Palliative Care Provincial Clinical Team. She is a graduate of the University of Manitoba. Prior to her current role, she worked as the Palliative Care Social Worker at Riverview Health Centre on the inpatient Palliative Care Unit. Salina is an executive member of the Board of Directors for the Manitoba College of Social Workers.

 

Carleigh Grenier

Carleigh Grenier, RPN, BScPN, – Carleigh is a registered psychiatric nurse and the Clinical Placement Coordinator in the Department of Psychiatric Nursing (Brandon University – Winnipeg). Her research interests are the use of treatment modalities in childhood anxiety disorders, specifically those with selective mutism. Her experience as a caregiver of a parent in end-of-life, as well as her role as an RPN has provided her with a unique perspective of the challenges faced by those supporting the end-of-life journey.

 

Scott Groen

Scott Groen is the Assistant Manager at Tache Pharmacy, 400 Tache Avenue location, where he has worked for the last 23 years.   He oversees the medication compounding department, where medications are prepared daily for alternate routes of administration.  Scott has expanded his knowledge in palliative care, pain management, pharmacy compounding, and endocrinology through various educational training opportunities & modules, including through the Victoria Hospice Society, Pallium Canada, the Professional Compounding Centers of America, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.

 

Dr. Ahmad Khan

Ahmad is currently a Palliative Care Fellow in the University of Manitoba’s Family Medicine Enhanced Skills Palliative Care Program. He is passionate about Palliative Care and looks forward completing his fellowship training by June 30, 2023.

 

Dr. Christina Kim

Stay tuned for bio.

 

Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller

Kathy Kortes-Miller, MSW, PhD,  an Associate professor in the School of Social Work and the Director of the Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada. Kathy has a passion for contributing to improving the end-of-life care for all and hopes her work will encourage people to think about what will be important to them at the end of their lives and what might matter to those close to them.

Kathy’s research is interdisciplinary and collaborative contributing to a broad range of fields of study including: palliative care, end-of-life, MAiD, TSLGBTQ+ and gerontology. In March 2018 published the book “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You” with ECW Press and in Feb of this year launched the podcast “Disrupting Death”.

 

Trevor Lehmann

Trevor Lehmann is a counsellor (M.Ed, CCC) and president of the Climate-Informed Counsellors of Canada specializing in life transitions. He draws upon his work with grief and loss, career transitions, and spiritual care to help people explore difficult emotions, cultivate hope, and take meaningful action in an uncertain and changing world.

 

Stephanie Lelond

Stephanie Lelond is a clinical nurse specialist at CancerCare Manitoba with expertise in palliative care, serving patients with advanced pancreatic and liver cancers. She is involved in research and publication, nursing and palliative education, program development, quality improvement, professional leadership, and systems-based work. She has additional interest in nursing mentorship, elevation of the nursing profession, and advocating for the role of the clinical nurse specialist.

 

Dr. Robin McClure

Dr. Robin McClure, CCFP(PC), is a family physician from Winnipeg. She began working as a clinician in the WRHA Adult Palliative Care Program in 2008 and expanded her clinical role to include pediatric palliative care in 2014. She is actively involved in palliative care research and education, and is a member of the WRHA Palliative Care Education and Post Graduate Education Committees, and of the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians Subcommittee on Pediatric Palliative Care Education.

 

Pat Murphy

Pat established the Health Care Ethics Service at St. Boniface Hospital in 1992. Her work as a Clinical Ethicist from that time until retirement in 2017 focused on ethics education, clinical consultation, policy review and development, as well as,  research ethics review. As someone working in clinical ethics, she was, and remains, concerned about what is constructed, camouflaged and/or missed in accounts of the experiences of those receiving care, their intimates and their professional caregivers.

 

Dana Naismith

Dana Naismith, RPN, BA, BScPN, MHS, – Dana is a registered psychiatric nurse and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatric Nursing (Brandon University – Winnipeg). Dana is part of a research team tasked to assess the Rapid Access Addictions Medicine clinics that have opened in the Prairie Mountain Health region. Dana is actively engaged in research looking at the lived experience of psychiatric nursing students participating in a peer mentor program as well as community mental health activism.

 

Dr. James Paul

Stay tuned for bio.

 

Maxxine Rattner

Maxxine Rattner, MSW, RSW, PhD, is a hospice/palliative care clinician and educator. Her research focuses on non-physical suffering, and seeks to create more space within palliative care literature and practice for the harder parts of living with, and dying from, a life-limiting illness. Currently, she writes, teaches, provides clinical supervision and training, and does research and advocacy work on palliative and end-of-life care, suffering, and grief.

 

Tammie-Lee Rogowski

Tammie-Lee Rogowski, RN, CHPCN, CCHN, Clinical Team Manager has worked as a nurse in the field of Palliative Care for 27 years, 15 years in the urban environment of the WRHA and for the last 12 in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority (IERHA) where she manages the Palliative Care Program, Wound Care and Spiritual Health. She is the current Project Lead for the ‘Paramedics Providing Palliative Care at Home’ project and is a Master Facilitator with Pallium Canada.

 

Wayne Sandler

Wayne Sandler (he/him) is a dedicated professional and volunteer who has served the community his entire life. He spent almost 28 years supporting individuals and families, with an emphasis on youth and adults with disabilities. Wayne is a passionate advocate for human rights, queer and trans rights, and nurturing those who live on the margins. Wayne also has an extensive background in training, facilitation and skills development. As a volunteer Wayne has extensive experience in health care policy development, citizen engagement work and training support. Most recently he has taken on the Community Outreach and Education Coordinator role at Palliative Manitoba.

 

Simone Stenekes

Simone is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with the Pediatric Palliative Care Team of the WRHA Palliative Care Program. Simone has been working in palliative care for over 22 years, with many of those years focused in pediatric palliative care primarily in Winnipeg. In her current role Simone acts as a resource to health care teams across the province, engaging in pediatric palliative care consultation, research, project work and teaching.

 

Dr. Amy Tan

Dr. Amy Tan, MSc (Pall Med), CCFP(PC), FCFP, is a woman of Cantonese Chinese descent, daughter of immigrants and first-generation university and medical school graduate who lives & works with disabilities. She is a palliative care & family physician, medical educator, researcher, anti-racism consultant & educator, writer and health equity advocate.

Dr. Tan is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Palliative Care and Dept of Family Practice at the UBC Faculty of Medicine, and has been in practice since 2005, now based in  Victoria, BC. She is the Director of Teacher Assessment and Support in UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Faculty Development Office, and an Anti-Racism Support Program Faculty Mentor for UBC’s Family Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Tan is Section Editor for Racism & Health for PLOS Global Health Journal that addresses deeply entrenched global inequities in public health and amplifies the voices of underrepresented and historically excluded communities. She is a researcher and expert on culturally-safe communication with patients, ethical shared decision-making, an anti-oppressive approach to care of patients and healthcare team functioning, primary palliative care, and advance care planning. Dr. Tan is an advocate for health justice and equity, and an anti-racism educator and consultant. She combines her passions for palliative care and culturally-safe practice to speak about how to be anti-oppressive in the practice of Palliative Care and Family Medicine. She completed her medical school at the University of Calgary, and her family medicine residency at the University of Alberta and obtained a Masters of Science in Palliative Medicine at Cardiff University in 2011. She has been a faculty member and held various medical school leadership positions previously at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. She has received local, provincial and national awards for her research work, and her medical education work. She is an Avenue Calgary’s Class of 2017 Top 40 Under 40 class for her work in primary palliative care and advance care planning, and was named a Compelling Calgarian in 2020 for her COVID-19 health equity advocacy work. Dr. Tan has been speaking out about the intersection of systemic racism and COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and is committed to ongoing work towards solutions for the structural inequities that the pandemic is laying bare in Canada.

 

Mike Todd

Mike Todd Advanced Care Paramedic has been working in the emergency medical field for over 20 years between military, civilian, ground and air services. He completed his Advanced Care Paramedic course through the City of Winnipeg WFPS program and has been working for 16 years within the IERHA (now Shared Health East Zone). He is currently the regions EMS Education Officer for Shared Health East Zone. He helped deliver LEAP-Paramedic education to over 250 paramedics through the ‘Paramedics Providing Palliative Care at Home’ project and continues to utilize this education during on-boarding of new paramedics to the East Zone.

 

Patricia Uy

Patricia Uy, BSc, BScPN, Student – After graduating from the U of M with a major in psychology, Patricia was drawn to Psychiatric Nursing because of its focus on holistic care. Her interest in end-of-life care began as she navigated the loss of loved ones. As a 4^th year student, Patricia is grateful to work alongside empathic staff and volunteers at a Hospice in Winnipeg, who provide exceptional care and a loving home to many.

 

Kayla Vanderwees

Kayla Vanderwees has worked as a registered nurse at Riverview Health Centre since 2016 in various units including Rehab, Chronic Respiratory, and in Specialized Dementia Care. She started on the Palliative Care Unit in 2020 and in 2021 became a Clinical Resource Nurse for the unit. She has worked on initiatives including Individualized Approach to Care (formerly know as Non-Forced Care) and education to staff in the facility regarding end of life care in all units and settings. Her goal is to empower staff in all areas to be able to provide equitable and safe end of life care.

 

Dr. Joanna Webb

Dr. Joanna Webb is a family physician with additional training in palliative care. She works as a family physician at Crestview Medical Clinic and as a palliative care physician/consultant for the WRHA palliative care program.

 

Dr. Cornelius J. Woelk

Dr. Woelk has been involved in the provision of cancer care since 1988, and became involved in Palliative Care in 1990. In 1998, he completed a Palliative Care Fellowship in London, Ontario, and then became the medical director of palliative care, first for RHA – Central MB and now for Southern Health-Santé Sud.  He is a member of the “Ask A Professional” team of the Canadian Virtual Hospice, a Pallium educator, and a co-chair of Shared Health’s Cancer and Palliative Care Provincial Clinical Team.  He has won several awards for his work, and divides most of his time between Palliative Care and oncology care through the Community Cancer Program at Boundary Trails Health Centre.  He is married to Viola, and they enjoy time with their three adult children and their spouses, as well as time travelling and relaxing at their cabin in Manitoba’s Whiteshell Park.