Virtual Townhall on COVID-19 with Ottawa Public Health, Police and Fire

Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer, Ottawa Public Health

Dr. Etches was appointed as Medical Officer of Health for Ottawa Public Health (OPH) in April 2018, having served as Deputy MOH from 2014 to 2017.

As Deputy MOH, Dr. Etches supported the organization in delivering quality, client-centered services; contributed to knowledge transfer and applied public health research; and reinforced population health assessment, surveillance, and program evaluation.

In her role as Associate Medical Officer of Health at OPH from 2009 to 2014, Dr. Etches was responsible for the management of teams that provided clinical services to prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections and blood-borne illnesses as well as clinical services to prevent and treat dental health problems. Other teams she directed included those that provide reproductive health counseling promote breastfeeding, carry out home visits to new parents to support positive parenting skills, public health inspection, environmental health and programming related to the control of communicable diseases, and infection prevention and control.

Prior to joining OPH in 2009, Dr. Etches served as an Associate Medical Officer of Health, Acting Medical Officer of Health and Director of Clinical Services at the Sudbury & District Health Unit (SDHU) after completing her specialty training in Public Health and Preventive Medicine in 2005.

Dr. Etches is a native of Hazelton, British Columbia. She started her post-secondary career by completing a Bachelor of Science at Simon Fraser University and went on to complete her Medical Doctorate at the University of British Columbia followed by a Masters of Health Science, and a Fellowship in Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Etches has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and has been invited to present at many provincial and national conferences.

Dr. Etches is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa, where she continues to supervise medical residents in Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine.

Gwen Lewis, Assistant Division Chief, Fire Prevention, Ottawa Fire Services

Gwen entered the Ottawa Fire Services - Fire Prevention Division in July 2006, in July 2015 was promoted to Assistant Division Chief and currently is the Acting Division Chief for Ottawa Fire Services - Fire Prevention Division.
 
In addition to Gwen’s duties and responsibilities within the City of Ottawa, Gwen is the current President for the Ontario Municipal Fire Prevention Officers Association, and is participating in many of the Ontario Fire Marshalls Provincial Advisory Committees (PAC).
 
Gwen has had a very successful career with Ottawa Fire, some of her accomplishments, that she is most proud are;

• Creation of Ottawa’s first “Obtaining and Maintaining Fire Code Compliance” program for building owners 
• Creation of @Ottawa Fire Prevention Twitter account, that provides technical Fire Life Safety information for Building Owners

Gwen is passionate about Fire Prevention, and believes is the most important fire fighting anyone can do.  If the fire department responds, it’s already too late.  The loss, damage and even death is already in progress

Mark Ford, Superintendent, Ottawa Police Services

Mark is currently the Superintendent of Frontline Operations which includes all Frontline Officers, Emergency Services Unit, Airport Policing Unit, Bikes and Beats Unit, Incident Command and Emergency Management Programs.  Mark is also the Operational Lead for Pandemic planning, preparedness and response during COVID19.

Mark has over 25 years of experience with the Emergency Operations and Emergency Response as a member of OPS.  His experience ranges from Tactical and CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) Units, to Event Planning, Incident Command (including Incident Commander of the OPS response to the tragic events on October 22nd, 2014).  Mark sits on a provincial committee and chairs a federal committee related to Emergency Management and Preparedness.

Actively engaged with the community, Mark is currently Chair of the Board of Directors for the Snowsuit Fund of Ottawa, as well as at a strategic and operational level with SchoolBOX (building schools in Nicaragua).  Mark also works with the executive of Ottawa Bluesfest, in a volunteer capacity helping them with their preparedness for Emergencies.

Nancy Houle, BA(Hons) LL.B, President, CCI-EO

Nancy is one of the founding partners of Davidson Houle Allen LLP. Her practice includes general corporate advice to condominium corporations, financing and secured transactions, construction law, building deficiency litigation, and proceedings involving disputes between condominium corporations and residents. Nancy is the current President of CCI Eastern Ontario Chapter.