David Unrau is currently the Director of Public Works for the Town of Petawawa. He brings with him more than 20 years of municipal experience, having held similar roles in other municipalities including the City of Pembroke. David also brings similar expertise from employment in the private sector (CNL) as well as federally through positions held with Defence Construction Canada. His skillset includes those in management, leadership, communications and critical thinking. He has proven to be an excellent resource on the Board and has voluntarily participated in and attended many other meetings and functions in order to gain more knowledge about the Hospital and the Board. He also sits on the Ottawa River Energy Solution Board and national/provincial committees on Asset Management, Active Transportation and Vision Zero.
Rebecca Paulsen, Vice-Chair
Rebecca is currently employed as a Mental Health Leader with the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board working with teachers, staff, and students to promote a greater awareness of mental health issues which involves speaking at community events and providing professional development to staff. She currently lives in Pembroke and has completed social service administration advanced diploma courses through the University of Toronto.
Dean Sauriol, Vice-Chair
Dean has a degree in Political Science and Public Policy from Carleton University and is currently the Chief Administrative Officer for the Township of Laurentian Valley. He is a Certified Municipal Officer who has his roots in the area. He has an extensive background in municipal government (30 years) and is a Past President of the Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Marianhill and currently sits as Vice-Chair of the Marianhill Foundation Board.
Amy Sicoli, CHSO (Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario) Designate
Amy is passionate about working with children and families, having worked in the education field for more than 20 years as a teacher, a consultant and a principal. She is also President of the Pembroke Soccer Association's Board of Trustees. Married with two young boys, family is very important to Amy. Her other passions include cooking, running, singing and playing the piano and she loves to travel, particularly anywhere with hot weather, a beach and an ocean.
Richard Wilson, Past Chair
Richard is a Chartered Accountant (CPA), retired from his position as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at The Ottawa Hospital, who wishes to continue to contribute and share the knowledge he has gained over his long career in health care. Richard has a deep understanding of hospital financing and governance and currently sits on the board of the Health Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) and was on the board of the Eastern Ontario Laboratory Association (EORLA). He lives in Rolphton, which is at the far reaches of our service area.
Sabine Mersmann, President and CEO
Effective November 1, 2022, Sabine has assumed the role of President and CEO after holding a series of progressive leadership roles over the past 23 years. Educated as an Occupational Therapist in Germany, Sabine moved to Canada in 1986. For 13 years she worked in various clinical roles as part of the team at Renfrew County’s Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) before being hired by PRH in 1999 as Director of the hospital’s new Rehabilitation program. The next 13 years were spent in Clinical Director roles at PRH for a wide variety of programs. In addition, she helped to lead the major capital expansion in the early 2000s, while helping bring much-needed services closer to home such as cardiac rehab, systemic therapy and new programs serving our geriatric population.In 2012, Sabine moved in the position of Vice-President of Patient Services, Seniors, and Community Care where she was a leader in quality and patient safety and was pivotal in the organization-wide implementation of Lean management. Since January 2021, Sabine served as Senior Vice-President of Clinical and Support Services, Partnerships and Integration.
Beth Brownlee, Vice-President Clinical and Support Services, Chief Nursing Executive
Since May 2021, Beth has held the position of Vice-President of Clinical and Support Services and CNE (Chief Nursing Executive) at the Pembroke Regional Hospital.
In 2005, Beth joined the Rehabilitation team as a Clinical Educator with our District Stroke Centre. Since then, Beth has held multiple progressive leadership roles as a Clinical Manager and Clinical Director in Rehabilitation, Medicine, Ambulatory Clinics, Surgery/Operating room and Labour and Delivery Program. As Pembroke Regional Hospital’s cancer care facilitator Beth supported many initiatives allowing quality cancer care closer to home and in 2012 Beth lead the successful launch of our Lean Management journey.
Dr. Tom Hurley, Chief of Staff
Dr. Tom Hurley is a member of the Board in his role as Chief of Staff. After completing his MD (University of Western Ontario, 1995), Dr. Hurley’s initial work was as a Flight Surgeon with the Canadian Armed Forces. This included such unique experiences as working with the Disaster Assistance Response Team and providing front-line healthcare during the NATO mission in Kosovo. After leaving the military, he pursued additional training in Emergency Medicine at Queen’s University. When not occupied by medicine, Dr. Hurley enjoys his most important job as a father of five children.
Dr. Margarita Lianeri, President of Professional Staff
Dr. Margarita Lianeri is a member of the Board in her role as President of the Professional Staff Association. After completing her MD (2009), Dr. Lianeri worked in Poland as a General Practitioner. She moved back to Canada and specialized in Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Lianeri works as a Hospitalist physician at Pembroke Regional Hospital. She actively attends leadership courses and continuing medical education. She is passionate about patient safety and improving patient outcomes, and is recognized by her peers for her ability to teach the skills that promote these values.
Diana Gagne, PRH Auxiliary President
Diana is a 23-year volunteer with the Pembroke Regional Hospital Auxiliary who has served as secretary on their Executive for 15 years and has served as president since 2016. Diana also manages the hospital’s Mural Café, and volunteers in the Sunshine Gift Shop and at the Auxiliary’s Bingo events twice a month. Outside of the healthcare field, Diana has volunteered as the ladies’ co-captain at the Pembroke Golf Club for two years and also served in a secretarial role with the Pembroke Curling Club for eight years. Professionally, Diana enjoyed a 30-year career in a supervisory role with Bell Canada.
As a local business and community leader, philanthropist and EGM Insurance CEO Lisa Edmonds has been a long-time champion of the Pembroke Regional Hospital and the PRH Foundation. Helping to steer the planning of the annual Black and White Gala every year since its inauguration in 2002, Lisa joined the PRHF Board of Directors in 2017, and currently serves as PRHF Board Chair.
Suli Adams, Director
Suli retired from a career in research science which included clinical trials for cancer treatment and development of PCR technology in her early years at the UWO. More recently, she worked at CNL as a Root Cause Analyst, a Nuclear Oversight Auditor and finally as a Regulatory Specialist for the NRU Reactor. Suli is passionate about contributing to the local community and has volunteered for PSP and PMFRC. Prior to the pandemic, Suli volunteered for employment services in Petawawa and taught ESL under the citizenship program for newcomers to the area. Suli is the past Co-Chair for the Pembroke Diversity Committee. Currently, Suli assists the Local Immigration Partnership for Lanark and Renfrew counties with many of their new initiatives. More recently, Suli was nominated as a member of UNESCO-CID (United Nations for International Dance Council).
Daniel Burke, Director
Daniel who is currently in his third year of a second three-year term as a Director on our Board is a Chartered Accountant/CPA who has held his CPA designation since 2014. He has over ten years of public accounting and corporate finance experience. He is currently the Finance Manager of the County of Renfrew. Born and raised in the Ottawa Valley, Daniel is also a volunteer for the Canada Revenue Agency's Community Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Program which hosts free tax preparation clinics and arranges for volunteers to complete income tax and benefit returns for eligible individuals who have a modest income and simple tax situations.
Previously, Clay has served the Board as a Community Representative. In his current Director role he will be participating in the Resource & Audit and the Board Nominating Committees. Clay is a Program Officer within the Ethics and Business Conduct Department at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories located in Chalk River, Ontario. Clay has a Master's of Business Administration from Royal Roads University of Victoria, B.C. and has a designation of a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional - International through the Compliance Certification Board of Minneapolis, MN. Clay has a keen interest and has held past positions in continuous process improvement initiatives where he holds a Master Black Belt through Sigma Pro. of Denver, CO.
Kim Drake, Director
Kim is excited to be in her second term as a Board member. She is currently Chair of the Board Quality and Patient Safety Committee. She is also an active member on the Governance Committee as well as the Resource and Audit Committee and has had exposure to the workings of the hospital through her active participation on these committees. Kim is also the Treasurer of the PRH Foundation and is an active volunteer in the community. Her professional background is in the accounting/operations field and she is currently the Acting Chair of the Business Technology and Outdoor Training department and has been the Coordinator and full time professor of the Accelerated Business Diploma Program at Algonquin College's Waterfront Campus for the past 20 years.
Matthew Neadow, Director
Throughout his 20 year career in public sector Information Technology, Matthew has worked for and supported several community organizations such as Family and Children's Services, The Phoenix Centre for Children and Families, the Pembroke Regional Hospital, the Child Poverty Action Network and the Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Clinic. He is a professor and Coordinator in the Computer Programmer and System Technician diploma programs at Algonquin College's Waterfront Campus. An Ottawa Valley native, Matthew lives in Laurentian Valley with his wife and two sons.
Neil Nicholson, Director
Neil joined the Board in 2019 and will be participating in the Board Quality and Patient Safety Committee. Neil is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran with a keen interest in Emergency Management having obtained a master's degree in Disaster and Emergency Management from Royal Roads University. As a father of four, much of his time is invested in their activities and community activities within the Township of Whitewater Region.
Les Scott, Director
Les is excited to continue his community involvement as a member of the Board. Retired from a career with the Renfrew County District School Board, Les spent 12 years in teaching and 18 years as school Principal. Even from a young age, Les had a passion for community involvement. He was involved in coaching and refereeing hockey at the minor levels, which eventually led him to junior and professional refereeing. His interest in politics and community responsibility led to 36 years on the political scene in the City of Pembroke, serving as Councillor, Deputy-Mayor and Mayor. In his free time, Les enjoys daily walks, exercising and, on occasion, golf.
Born and educated in the United Kingdom, Rosemarie and her family emigrated to Canada in 1973, settling in Pembroke in 1975 where her husband worked as a general surgeon. Rosemarie opened a solo practice which included obstetrics and palliative care in 1987. Over the years she also provided family practice coverage, emergency department coverage and coverage for obstetrics while raising four children of her own. She and her husband retired early in 1997 so that they could travel to Africa, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea as part of World Medical Missions. She and her husband also spent time working in Iqaluit and Moose Factory. With specialty training in palliative care, Rosemarie spent 11 years in Pembroke as a palliative care specialist, a role which ended in 2012.
Sheldon was born and raised in the Ottawa Valley. He currently resides in Laurentian Valley and is a small business owner of a law practice based out of Pembroke. He is passionate about advocating for both local and rural issues; particularly those which will have a positive impact on local residents. Sheldon is a member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario. He is also a Board member of Valley Mental Health and of Renfrew County Community Futures Development Corporation. He is pleased to be able to be to assist the Pembroke Regional Hospital.
David Noble
Dave has lived in the Pembroke with his wife and 3 children for almost 20 years. He is currently a Principal with the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board and has had various teaching and leadership roles with the school board. Dave and his family are actively involved is several community events and extra curricular activities. You can find him in the local rinks, at the soccer field or enjoying all of the outdoor spaces that the Ottawa Valley has to offer. In his free time, he loves to golf, play Mens league basketball or take his dog for a hike.
Sean was born and raised in the Renfrew area and now lives in Pembroke with his wife Claire. He is currently the Treasurer/Deputy CAO at the Township of Whitewater Region and is in the process of completing a Master of Accounting with Carleton University. He loves to walk his dog Lucy while listening to sports and business podcasts. He is excited to learn from and contribute to the Resource and Audit Committee.