Patient and Family Advisory Council Members
Julie Drury, Chair
Julie Drury is no stranger to advising health care providers. While managing her daughter’s complex medical needs, Julie mentored other families facing similar challenges, and helped them navigate the health care system. She is passionate about the partnerships between patients, families, and health care professionals.
Through her practical experience as a care coordinator and medical advocate, Julie’s ability to work with stakeholders towards meaningful solutions, to troubleshoot difficult situations, and to build strong relationships, has helped to improve patient and family experiences and outcomes.
Collaborating with multiple hospitals and community care organizations also gave Julie the insight and expertise to provide advice on matters involving hospital and home care, health support services, patient safety, complex care and more.
Julie has worked as a senior policy advisor and director with Health Canada, and is a board director of MitoCanada Foundation. Julie was the former chair of the Family Forum patient advisory council for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. She has also been a family advisor with organizations such as the Provincial Council on Maternal and Child Health, Complex Care Kids Ontario, the Rare Disease Foundation, and the Canadian Family Advisory Network.
As Chair of the Minister’s Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC), Julie’s personal and professional experience will help advise government on key health care priorities that will have a real impact on patient care and patient experiences in Ontario.
Mansour Asrani
For over ten years, Mansour has extensive experience with the health care system while his daughter was being cared for at ‘SickKids’ Hospital. His daughter developed several health issues requiring lengthy hospital stays allowing Mansour a unique opportunity to become familiar with the health care system. Mansour is mindful of the importance of patient and family advisory work to ensure that valuable resources are utilized in a way that benefit the very people the heath system serves.
As a PFAC member, Mansour sees this not only as an opportunity to give back to the community, but also as a chance to make a positive contribution to the future of the health care system in Ontario.
Mansour has played an important role in making new and innovative green projects ready for commercialization. In doing this work, he is proud to have played a role in helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
Rita Boutette
Rita currently chairs the Canadian Mental Health Association in Kenora and is involved in the Dryden Integrated Health Care Organization that is exploring various opportunities to improve the delivery of care in this region. Rita has a strong grasp on the unique challenges that northern Ontarians experience, and is excited to bring this important insight to the Council.
As a caregiver to her parents and family, Rita has many first hand experiences navigating the health care system and sees her role with the PFAC as an opportunity to help patients be proactive about their own health care.
As an active member of her community, Rita has volunteered in many capacities, including on her local hospital board, school board, school council, parish council, library board, and museum board.
David (Dave) Fasano
As the founding Chairperson for the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, Dave’s passion for improving healthcare spans many decades. Dave’s extensive professional work has allowed him to witness important aspects of patient care first hand, across various geographic areas of Ontario and nationally.
Dave is keen on advancing new concepts in health care, and believes that patient outcomes are an important way to measure success in the health care system. Dave sees the PFAC as an opportunity to improve one’s community and to help improve health care across Ontario.
Dave is a graduate from the University of Manitoba with a degree in Physical Education, having worked for over 30 years advocating new concepts in medical practice.
Christina Gilman
Throughout her life, Christina has managed her own health concerns by accessing healthcare in a variety of settings. Now with several children having their own unique medical needs, Christina is acutely aware of where healthcare challenges lie and where the system needs to aspire. She believes there are many opportunities to improve access to the health care system.
Being Métis, Christina is inspired to bring her unique perspective to the Council and hopes to help shape positive change in health care across the province.
Christina is most proud of being a Mother to four children, two of whom are venturing off into post-secondary education. In her spare time, upon feeling the urge to help others, Christina volunteers to advocate for cancer families in her local community.
Robert (Bob) Hale
As a member of his local hospital’s patient and family advisory council, Bob has a deep understanding of the importance of including patient’s voices heard as a way to improve care delivery and patient experience. Bob is involved in a number of patient engagement initiatives in his local community, and is passionate about various health care initiatives including youth mental health, and system navigation.
A firm believer in educating oneself, through the PFAC, Bob aims to affect change by helping others achieve the same level of confidence when it comes to asking key questions about their own health care.
On a personal note, Bob is proud to have been part of team that commissioned, trained and managed the first of its’ kind, state of the art steelmaking operation in Canada.
Bernice King
Bernice’s participation on her patient and advisory council at a local level has prepared her for this next challenge as a member of the Minister’s PFAC. Bernice sees this new role as an opportunity to broaden her influence and affect positive change more broadly across the health care landscape.
Bernice’s work experiences provided her additional opportunities to teach, manage, and participate in research projects — skills that empowered her to educate herself about her own health care — skills she hopes to share in this new role.
Inspired to always continue learning, Bernice’s career gave her an opportunity to teach, manage, and participate in research. As a result, she has a thorough knowledge of her present state of health, and researches looking for evidence based care when a new health issue arises.
Mario Lopez
As someone who has relied on the health care system, Mario is keen to provide the advisory council with meaningful insight from his own lived experiences as a patient. Mario has a great appreciation of how important it is to have equitable health care services that are transparent, safe, accessible and efficient.
Over the years, Mario has learned how to educate himself to stay informed about his own health care needs, and sees his role with the PFAC as being able to help empower other patients and families to become better informed about their own health issues, and how to navigate a complex health care system.
As an accomplishment, Mario is proud to have advocated for compensation for all victims of the tainted blood by testifying at the Krever Commission that resulted in tangible improvements to the healthcare system.
Ann Matte
Ann was a founding member of an AIDS hospice in Northeast Ontario, and has also acted as a caregiver to close family members through their own ailments. These experiences with the health care system have opened Ann’s eyes to the need for patient and family advisors in the health care system. Ann sees the PFAC as a chance to positively change how health care in Ontario is fostered and administered and wishes to see a system that is patient-friendly, accessible and provides seamless transitions in care.
With a background in nursing, Ann was intent on helping her parents receive good quality care. With her knowledge of health care she was challenged in navigating the system as they aged.
Colin Mullaley
Biography coming soon.
