Our Team – Family Advisory Council

 

 

Parent Members

Jennifer Banting Romer is the mother of two boys, age 7 and 11, who were both micropremies and spent many months in the hospital before they finally could come home. Her oldest child continues to need hospital care and is in and out of Children's Hospital. Jennifer recognized early in her journey the importance of parents as partners in care and quickly came to appreciate the family-centred care approach taken in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She wanted to share her experiences with other families who were faced with similar challenges and as a result has been facilitating a successful peer group in the NICU known as Parents Supporting Parents. Jennifer is actively involved in advocating for her family and others like hers in the community.

Lisa Cann is a professional parent. She spent her life b.c. (before children) advocating for adults with disabilities and now spends her time advocating for her youngest child who has multiple disabilities and a life threatening illness. She is also the mother of two young adults and two teenagers. She truly believes nothing happens by chance and tries to take every experience (whether good or bad) and learn from it. On that note, she has had many great experiences at Children’s Hospital through very difficult times and feels blessed to have such a great facility right here in London. Lisa joined the FAC to help families advocate for their children and to help facilitate a good working relationship between medical staff and families.

Shantal Feltham has been a FAC member since 2004. She joined the FAC because she is a huge advocate for family-centred care and believes the FAC is important for Children’s Hospital because it is a premier institution that is recognized as a leader in patient care. She is mother of three healthy boys, owns a Clinical Research company, and is an active hockey coach and player.

Anabela Ferreira is a mother of two and uses Children's Hospital with both her sons on an ongoing basis. She believes that nothing in the world is worse than when your child is ill or in need of medical care and she joined the FAC to assist families in advocating this message and to improve family/health care professional relationships.

Andrea Fordham. In 2007, Andrea’s youngest child, at 16 years old, was involved in a critical car crash and was brought to Children's Hospital. He suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and was on life support for 14 days in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit and recovered for 26 more days in hospital. As soon as it was clear that he would survive, she took a lead role in his recovery, working with the team at Children’s Hospital to help him relearn how to communicate, walk, and eat. She believes that because of her critical role as an advocate for her son, he has had a miraculous recovery. She continues to help with his rehabilitation and also travels with him to do motivational presentations about how important it is to "Never Give Up!" It was during one of her son’s presentations to nursing students that she heard the Chair of the Family Advisory Council speak and right then she knew this was something she wanted to be a part of. Andrea has learned the importance of being a voice for your child, especially when he/she is unable to do so. She also realized how vital it is for parents to work collaboratively with the health care team at Children's Hospital. Thank-You doesn't seem like enough when people have saved your child's life, but by giving back as a volunteer she feels she can pay it forward.

Ann Hovey joined the FAC in 2007 with a desire to make a contribution to the quality of family-centred care. She is an organizational coach and a mother of two girls. She uses the services of Children’s Hospital frequently for the care of her eldest daughter who was diagnosed with a brain-stem brain tumour in 2004. She believes the FAC is a great forum within which the perspective of medical staff/administration and parents can be duly considered.

Sue McCarville is a mother of two children. Her daughter was born two months premature and she recalls firsthand how important those initial days of care and love from good health professionals really are. Her second child was diagnosed five years ago with type 1 diabetes. Sue works very closely with her diabetes team to keep her son healthy. She is very grateful for the support and knowledge she has received over past few years from Children’s Hospital. Sue joined FAC to help herself and other families learn all they can to live a happy healthy life.

Leslie Meredith joined the FAC in September 2007 in order to bring insight based on her own family’s experience with the Children’s Hospital. She is a mother of two children and frequently uses Children’s Hospital with her son. She believes that it is of utmost importance to keep a finger on the pulse of users of any service and believes that an informed parent can be an invaluable member of the health care team. Leslie is the current Chair of the council.

Vicki Reeve joined the FAC in April 2008. She is the mother of Kent, who lost his battle with neuroblastoma cancer in March 2006, at the age of 6. After 4 1/2 years and over 20 different services/specialists involved in Kent's treatment and care, Vicki has spent a lot of time at Children's Hospital. She appreciates the opportunity to share their experiences, provide feedback and to remain connected to the healthcare system.

Megan Singeris has been a member of the FAC since 2006. She is an elementary school teacher and a mother of two children. Both of her children have used Children’s Hospital but her son still needs the services on a regular basis. Although the care that Megan has received at Children’s Hospital has been excellent, she joined the FAC to help improve the hospital wherever there was a need so that families have the best possible visit while they are in Children’s Hospital.

Deborah Turnbull joined the FAC in November 2007 because she feels it is important to make the hospital the best place for children and their families. She is mother of three children who are now healthy but she has used Children’s Hospital in the past for a surgery for her son and with her daughter during a lengthy stay after a horrific accident.

Christine Vanderhoek is a mother to three children.  In June 2007, her middle child Kaitlin was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  Kaitlin fought a brave two year battle with the disease, spending approximately 240 days in Children's Hospital.  She also received a Bone Marrow Transplant at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and was doing extremely well when the cancer came back again.  Kaitlin lost her battle to Leukemia in May 2009.  Christine feels that after spending so much time living in the hospital she has an intimate knowledge of both the positive and the negative things the Children's Hospital has to offer.  Her involvement with the FAC is to serve her daughter and work to make the hospital a home for those that need it, as Kaitlin did.  Kaitlin loved the hospital staff and felt very safe and cared for while she was a patient and for this Christine will always be grateful.

Marie VanderWyngaard is a retired nurse and a domestic engineer. She joined the FAC in 2006 because she felt that with her dual roles as a nurse and as a parent of a child with life threatening medical conditions, she has a unique perspective on health care delivery in Ontario. Marie has five children and it is her youngest who frequently uses the services of Children’s Hospital.

Debbie White is the mother of three young children. Her two youngest, ages four and seven years both have severe disabilities and are medically fragile. She and her family have spent the last 7 years in and out of Children's Hospital with a multitude of issues. At first this was very overwhelming and she felt very naïve, however, Debbie has learned a lot over the years about how the system works and how to function well within it and has become a good advocate for her children. Debbie joined FAC to share this experience and help to support families navigate through the system.

Lisa Wright has experienced "hospital life" with all three of her young children through hospital stays, day surgery, outpatient services and many emergency room visits and mostly with her daughter Rachael. Rachael was born with Congenital Heart Defects and spent the first two months of life between London and Toronto hospitals. She was only twenty months old when she underwent Open-heart surgery and at 5 years old, she is presently followed on a continual basis through the Paediatric Cardiology department at Children's Hospital. Lisa is excited about using these experiences to assist the FAC in supporting family centered care and all the families living "hospital life" with their children.

Staff Members

Karen Bondy is a registered nurse who started working at LHSC 31 years ago. Her nursing background is inclusive of Critical Care Trauma, (before there was a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit), Neonatal Intensive Care at War Memorial Children’s Hospital, and as a Emergency Room Nurse for 17 years. The past nine years, she has worked in the Paediatric Emergency Department as staff nurse, charge nurse and as of July 2008 assumed the leadership role of Interim Coordinator. Karen is the mother of a 24 year old son and has one grandson who has Down Syndrome. She is pleased to be a member of the FAC because she has always believed in family centred care and has been a strong advocate for patients and their families. She appreciates hearing the views of the FAC on how to serve families better.

Dr. Jason Feniak is a first year pediatrics resident, and a recent graduate from the University of Calgary. Jason believes families are integral to the health care team and patient care is dependent on the quality if communication with families. He works with the FAC to improve communication among all members of the team, and personally to become a better pediatrician.

Lisa Hawthornthwaite is a Specialist for Family Centred Care at Children’s Hospital and the Liaison for the Family Advisory Council. Her previous clinical work supporting families front-line as a Child Life Specialist inspired her to pursue working in a role aimed at improving the quality of care for children and families. She believes that working collaboratively with families is the most effective and satisfying way to provide services. She is a mother of two boys, one of whom has a severe peanut allergy and has required the specialized services of Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Jessica Jakobczyk is a first year Pediatrics Resident. She completed her medical training in Poland and Australia, thus bringing a worldly view to the committee. She strongly believes that family centred care is crucial when treating children. She looks forward to being a part of this team and helping to bring new ideas to facilitate communication between patients, families, and health professionals.

Nancy Lawrence began her career at LHSC in 1996 in Corporate Communications and Public Relations. In 2005, she assumed the role of Patient Relations Specialist at LHSC and currently supports the Women's and Children's programs, Medicine and Emergency Program, and Corporate issues. She is a strong advocate of patient and family-centred care and has an interest in hospital ethics, both clinical and organizational. As a parent of a child who has used the hospital system in the past and as a former patient and breast cancer survivor herself, she brings varied perspectives to the FAC. Also a strong advocate for striking a healthy balance in life, she enjoys time with her husband, two sons and stepdaughter, and recently began racing triathlons.

Dr. Michelle McNeill is a General Academic Hospital Paediatrician who joined Children's Hospital in 2008 and has recently joined the FAC. Prior to her role at Children's Hospital, Dr. McNeill spent 10 years caring for medically fragile, technology dependent children in London and surrounding areas. She has always been an advocate for family centered care and hopes to continue to promote this in her role at Children's Hospital. As the head of the Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) she hopes to hear directly from the parents and families about their experiences at Children's Hospital and advocate for changes as needed. Dr. McNeill is the proud mother of 4 children who keep her quite busy when she is not at the hospital.

Val Rousom is the Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Developmental Follow Up Clinic and Neonatal/Paediatric Transport Team and recently the interim Director for the Paediatric Critical Care Unit and Genetics Clinic. She has been engaged in a process to ensure family centered care in the NICU for the past 10 years, based on a philosophy that was lived and promoted by Dr. Graham Chance in the 80's. Chance believed then in the philosophy of parents as partners long before the term family centered care was familiar. He instilled that belief to Val early in her career. Val has worked as a Neonatal Nurse, a Charge Nurse and a Manager. She is a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, grandmother and a nurse who has navigated the health care system in all of these roles. Because of these experiences, she established a peer to peer support group for the NICU and a Family Centered and Developmental Supportive Council for the NICU.

Dr. Ram N. Singh has been the Director of Paediatric Critical Care since 1998 and has recently been appointed as Deputy Chief of the Children’s Hospital. Dr. Singh currently sits on many committees at department, hospital and provincial level and chairs many of these committees. He has been a FAC member since October 2007. As Deputy Chief of Paediatrics he joined the FAC in order to receive feedback directly from parents and families. As a supporter of family-centred care, he sees value in the input that comes from the families who have used our services.