Board of Directors

The Board of Directors provides strategic direction and guidance to the Association on matters concerning the delivery of public health programs and services by Ontario's health units. In particular, these issues relate to policies on public health funding, governance and the provincially-mandated programs that promote and protect the health of the population.

The alPHa Board comprises seven directors from the Board of Health Section (representing board of health members), seven from the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health (a section of alPHa), and one from each of the seven Affiliate Organizations of alPHa representing public health dentists, health inspection supervisors, nurses, nutritionists, health promoters, epidemiologists, and business administrators. The final and only non-voting seat is held by the representative of the board of directors of the Ontario Public Health Association, bringing the total number to 22 directors on the alPHa board.

Terms for Directors of alPHa's Board run between Annual General Meetings, normally held in mid-June of each year.

 alPHa Board of Directors - June 2011-June 2012 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President: Dr. Paul Roumeliotis	Dr. Paul Roumeliotis is the Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit. He received his medical degree in 1983 at McGill University and trained as a pediatrician at the Montreal Children's Hospital. He was Director of Continuing Medical Education in the Department of Pediatrics and founding Director of Multiformat Health Communications at McGill. Dr.Paul created and directed the Montreal Children’s Hospital Asthma Centre and Pediatric Consultation Centre in 1990. He completed his Masters of Public Health Degree at Johns Hopkins in 2009
Vice-President Maria Harding	Rep. North Region. Maria Harding is the Reeve of the Township of Shuniah and has sat on the Thunder Bay and District Board of Health since 1988 and has been an alPHa Board member since 2001. Maria is the recipient of the 2008 alPHa Distinguished Service Award and has recently served as Treasurer of the Association.
Past-President:	VACANT*
Chair, Board of Health Section: Mary Johnson	Rep. Eastern Region. Mary Johnson is the Chair of the Eastern Ontario Board of Health. She is originally from the Eastern region and debuted her career as a registered nurse.  Mrs. Johnson has extensive health care experience from having been employed in the delivery and management of health care for over thirty years.  Notably, she spent 8 ½ years as Director of Public Health Nursing in Fort McMurray, Alberta. She also served as Director of Care and VP of Clinical Services for seven years with the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre. In her role as Community Development Manager with AWASAK Child and Family Services Authority, she facilitated Alberta’s first successful Family Resource Centre with numerous agency partners.  In addition to her nursing background, Mrs. Johnson holds a number of certifications related to health services management, emergency response and served as the Deputy Director of Emergency Response for the city of Ft McMurray, AB. Her experience in facilitation of common community goals strongly reflects her belief in the value of advancing addressing social determinants and the philosophy of health promotion and prevention.
Chair, Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health: Dr. Penny Sutcliffe	Rep. North Region. Dr. Penny Sutcliffe was appointed as the Medical Officer of Health for the Sudbury & District Health Unit in August 2000.  Before coming to Sudbury, she was the Medical Officer of Health for Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Her first position as Medical Officer of Health was with the Burntwood Regional Health Authority in northern Manitoba.  A specialist in Community Medicine, Dr. Sutcliffe has a longstanding interest in socioeconomic inequalities in health and is a strong advocate for incorporating broader determinants of health into core public health programming.  She is particularly interested in pursuing opportunities for healthy public policy development at the local and regional level and to this end is engaged with local healthy community initiatives and with critically examining and modifying local public health practice.
Treasurer:  Dr. Malcolm Lock	Rep. Central West Region. Dr. Malcolm Lock is the Medical Officer of Health for the Brant County Health Unit, also acting as MOH for the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit.  Dr. Lock received his medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1973, and spent over 30 years practicing family medicine and occupational health.  He joined the Brant County Health Unit in 2003 as an acting Medical Officer of Health, and gained his Masters of Public Health degree at University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006.
Affiliate Representative: Ellen Wodchis Health Promotion Ontario (HPO)	Ellen Wodchis has worked in public health for over 20 years.  She is a Registered Dietitian and holds a Masters of Health Science (Toronto) and Master of Education (Brock).  Currently she is the Director, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at Niagara Region Public Health.  Ellen has been a member of Health Promotion Ontario public health (HPOph) for many years.  She has represented HPOph on the Ontario Council on Community Health Accreditation board and was Chair in 2007 – 2008.
*Valerie Sterling served as Past-President of alPHa from June - December 2011. As her appointment to the Toronto Board of Health has ended, so has her position on the alPHa Board.
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health
Dr. Isra Levy	Rep. East Region Dr. Isra Levy is the Medical Officer of Health for Ottawa.
Dr. Robert Kyle	Rep. Central-East Region  Dr. Robert Kyle has been the Commissioner & Medical Officer of Health for the Regional Municipality of Durham since 1991. He obtained his medical degree and Master of Health Science degree from the University of Toronto. He is a certificant in the Specialty of Community Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and holds a certificate in Family Medicine from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.   Dr. Kyle is an active member of many provincial and regional health organizations. For example, he is currently Chair of the Durham Nuclear Health Committee; past Chair of the Port Hope Community Health Centre; member of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Public Health Performance Management Working Group and Co-chair of its Information Privacy Working Group.   Dr. Kyle is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American College of Preventive Medicine, and is a former Medical Officer of Health for the Peterborough County-City Health Unit and Associate Medical Officer of Health for the Borough of East York Health Unit. He is also an Adjunct Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
Dr. Herveen Sachdeva	Rep. Toronto Public Health
Dr. Allen Heimann	Rep. South West Region Dr. G. Allen Heimann is the Medical Officer of Health of the City of Windsor, County of Essex, and Chief Executive Officer of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.  Dr. Heimann has been in this position since coming to Windsor in 1989.  He graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City in 1976 and interned at Vancouver General Hospital.  Dr. Heimann joined the Health Protection Branch as a Federal Field Epidemiologist in 1979.  In 1981, he became Director of Communicable Disease Control for the Province of Saskatchewan.  In 1983, Dr. Heimann became Director of the Provincial Emergency Health Services.  He returned to British Columbia in 1985 to obtain his Master's Degree in Health Science at the University of British Columbia and graduated in 1986.  He returned to Saskatchewan in 1986 serving as Medical Officer of Health until 1989 in a number of jurisdictions including Melfort, Kamloops, Rosetown, and Saskatoon rural.  Having served since 1980 with the Canadian Forces, Dr. Heimann retired in December 2006 as Commanding Officer, 23 (Hamilton) Field Ambulance, in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Dr. Heimann is also certified in Travel Medicine by the International Society of Travel Medicine and is the Medical Director of the Health Unit’s Travel Clinic.   Dr. Heimann is the South West Region representative on the Council of Medical Officers of Health on the alPHa (Association of Local Public Health Agencies) Board of Directors.
Board of Health Section
Joseph Matko	Rep. North East Region Joseph Matko is a Provincial Appointee to the Porcupine Board of Health and has been a member for approximately 7 years.  Mr. Matko currently serves as Vice Chair of the Resource Committee which oversees financial and human resource matters.  He has held this position for 5 of his 7 years on the Board of Health.  Joseph Matko has 30 years of experience as a School Board Trustee and serves on the local hospital advisory Board.  Joseph’s community activities include the community kitchen, Kapuskasing Sno Rovers and fundraising for the local hospital.
Al Edmondson	Rep. South-West Region.
Lorne Coe	Rep. Central East Region. Lorne Coe is a Regional Councillor for the Town of Whitby. During the past eight years, he has served on a number of Provincial, Town, and Durham Region Committees, including:  * Chair, Durham Region Non Profit Housing Corporation * Vice-Chair, Health and Social Services Committee, Region of Durham * Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Chair, Ontario Pandemic Strategy Committee * Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Chair, Public Health Strategy Committee * Chair, Planning and Development Committee, Town of Whitby * Chair, Community Safety Task Force, Town of Whitby * Chair, Task Force to Recruit and Retain Family Doctors, Town of Whitby * Downtown Business Development Committees, Town of Whitby
Cindy Forster	Rep. Central West Region. Cindy Forster joins the alPHa Board from Niagara Region.
Affiliates
Jo Ann Tober Public Health Nursing Management ANDSOOHA	Jo Ann Tober is the Executive Director of the Brant County Health Unit.
Deborah Moore   Association of Public Health Epidemiologists in Ontario (APHEO)	Deborah Moore is the Senior Epidemiologist with Niagara Region Public Health.  She has been working with Niagara Region for the past 5 years.  Deborah holds a Masters of Science in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology (University of Southern California), a Bachelor of Education (University of Western Ontario) and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (McMaster).
Bjorn Christensen Association of Supervisors of Public Health Inspectors of Ontario (ASPHIO)	Bjorn Christensen has worked for Regional Niagara Public Health for over 35 years.  Bjorn is certified as a public health inspector with the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health (Ryerson University) as well as a Master of Education (Brock University).  Currently he is the Director of Environmental Health for Regional Niagara and the past president of the Association of Supervisors of Public Health Inspectors for the Province of Ontario.  Bjorn is an active member on a number of provincial and federal committee’s dealing with Environmental Health issues and a sitting member on the Environmental and Public Health Advisory Council to the Underwriters Laboratory.
Paul Sharma Ontario Association of Public Health Dentistry (OAPHD)	Paul Sharma is the Manager of the Department of Oral Health for the Hastings-Prince Edward Counties Health Unit. Paul is also alPHa's non-voting cross-appointment to the Board of the Ontario Public Health Association.
Patricia Hewitt Association of Ontario Public Health Business Administrators (AOPHBA)	Patricia Hewitt is the Manager, Public Health Administration for the Halton Region Health Department
Tracy Allan-Koester  Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health (OSNPPH)	Tracy Allan-Koester is the Director of Community Health for Perth District Health Unit.
alPHa - OPHA CROSS-APPOINTMENT  A reciprocal, non-voting cross-appointment between the Ontario Public Health Association and alPHa  boards of directors was implemented as a means to increase collaboration and information exchange between the two closely related associations.
Liz Haugh	Liz Haugh is the current president  of OPHA, and Director of Health Promotion at the Windsor Essex County Health Unit. She is  a member of ANDSOOHA,  HPOph  and associate member of APHEO and OAPHD. She is also an adjunct associate professor with the Faculty of Nursing at University of Windsor.