OVFHT Governance

Dr. Lobo grew up in the Greater Toronto Area. During medical school she completed her clinical rotations in several places in the United States. She completed her Family Medicine residency at Queen’s University.

Dr. Lobo has been building her practice in Carleton Place since April 2022. She holds privileges at the Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital (CPDMH). She also provides coverage at the CPDMH Emergency Department. She was drawn to Carleton Place as it provided her the opportunity to practice broad scope rural family medicine. 

She is an avid traveller and is always looking to plan her next adventure. She also enjoys exploring the Ottawa area parks, painting and restoring furniture. 

Karen Simpson joined the OVFHT Board to support the expansion and development of Family Health Team Services to the communities of Mississippi Mills and Carleton Place/Beckwith.   

Karen was the Executive Director of the Arnprior & District Family Health Team (ADFHT) up until her retirement at the end of July of 2023.   Prior to joining the ADFHT, she was the Director for Long Term Care Inspections at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.  Karen worked with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as well as the Ministry of Community and Social Services for almost twenty years.  

Before joining the Ministry, Karen was the Executive Director of the Mills Community Support Corporation in Almonte – now named Carebridge Community Support.  Karen was with the Mills for fifteen years and is happy to be once again supporting services for residents in the North East of Lanark County.

Louise Heslop is a Distinguished Research Professor and Professor Emerita in the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University and remains active supervising PhD students, engaging in research, and serving on a university research ethics committee.

She holds a Ph.D. in Business from the Ivey School of Business, Western Ontario University, and an MSc. and a BHSc. from the University of Guelph. She also completed a post-degree internship to become a registered professional dietitian.

During a 45-year career in university teaching, research, and administration, she served in several senior university administrative positions and university and college committees, including the Board of Governors and Senate. She has taught in Canada and internationally.

Louise has a background of over 40 years as an active volunteer as a member and executive member of many professional associations and in many not-for-profit community organizations including, more recently, Valley Heartland Community Futures Corporation, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Boards of Directors of the Almonte and the Carleton Place hospitals and the Almonte General Hospital Foundation.

Louise is delighted to join the Board of the OVFHT in this exciting period of its expansion to offer support for the delivery of primary health care from locations in Mississippi Mills, Carleton Place, and Beckwith regions.

Colleen is an active member of the Almonte community.  She and her family have been patients of the OVFHT since it began in 2010.

Colleen was a teacher for many years and has worked as a secondary school administrator for the past nine years. This has given her a breadth of experience that includes building collaborative teams, mentorship, and operational leadership. Both in this role and her role as a member of the Board of Directors, she believes that every stakeholder in an organization can make a valuable contribution and deserves support.

Colleen embraces the challenge of balancing the realities of the organization and advocating for the needs of the individuals who the organization serves.  Her goal is to build positive relationships, to have honest dialogue about challenges, and to foster a shared vision of success.

In addition to her busy day job, Colleen enjoys volunteering in the community. This includes supporting local theater both on stage and off stage as choreography and tech crew and volunteering as a leader at Camp Lau-Ren in the summer.

Colleen is grateful that she and her family have access to excellent health care close to home.  She appreciates the opportunity to contribute her time and experience to the Ottawa Valley Family Health Team which provides such valuable support to the community.

Nicki Collins retired from full time work after 40 years working in health and social services. She is a Social Worker by profession, and she was the founding Executive Director of Open Doors for Lanark Children and Youth. Her interest in child and youth mental health resulted in past positions on several provincial boards, Children’s Mental health Ontario and the Canadian Centre for Accreditation.

A native of the Ottawa Valley, Nicki has lived in Lanark County since 1995, currently living in Beckwith

The Muston family arrived in Canada from England in 1986 and have lived in Almonte since then.

During her career, Susan worked in several roles in the avionics software industry latterly leading software test teams.  This work included choosing, customizing, and managing off-the-shelf and custom IT software packages. 

Susan has volunteered all her adult life with particular interest in supporting medical charities and organizations.  A member of the local CHEO auxiliary (now defunct) and a volunteer at the Almonte General Hospital, (AGH) as the hospital shop buyer, and an in-service volunteer on the Rosamond Wing.   She served nine years on the AGH board and was chair of the Finance and Audit Committee for three years. Susan also served a second term of six years on the AGH board.

Susan has a Computer Science diploma from the University of Hertfordshire in England

John Coderre is a retired officer of the Canadian Forces who served in the Military Engineering branch for over 22 years. Following his military career, he was the Campaign Director of the United Way of London & Middlesex for many years before returning to public service for the last five years of his working career.

Since retiring, John has been constantly involved in volunteer work. For nearly eighteen years he was an active member of Patient Partners in Arthritis, demonstrating muscular-skeletal examination techniques to medical students and other health professionals. From 2008-2013, he was on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Canadian Arthritis Network. During that time, John was a member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee and participated in the peer review of many applications for CAN grants. He has carried that experience to the present day, still participating on grant review panels for the Arthritis Society and the Canadian Institute for Health Research. In 2018, John was given the Qualman-Davies Consumer Leadership Award in recognition of his work in Arthritis consumer advocacy.

John has been on the board of Big Sisters of London and the board of Hospice of London. He is currently treasurer for Mississippi Mills All My Relations and Friends of the Mississippi Mills Public Library. John is also a member of the Research & Business Advisory Committee of the Bone and Joint Institute for Research and Innovation in Musculoskeletal Health at Western University.

John received his B.Eng in Civil Engineering from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, and an MSc in Operational Research while attending the University of Birmingham, UK, on an Athlone Fellowship.

John and his wife Pat have lived in Almonte since 2014 where they are involved in community organizations such as the Civitan Club and Hospice of North Lanark. John also volunteers every Thursday morning in the Physiotherapy Department of the Almonte General Hospital.

Peter Hamer has been the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa Valley Family Health Team, (OVFHT) since 2013.

Previously, Peter held positions as a Senior Practice Management Consultant with the Canadian Medical Association and as a Practice Advisory with OntarioMD. He has also held various other management positions in the health care sector for over 25 years.

Peter holds a Certificate in Healthcare Leadership from the Rotman School of Management through the University of Toronto. He also has advanced training in health privacy and serves as the Privacy Officer for the OVFHT.

Peter is on the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario’s Leadership Council representing the Champlain Region. He is also a member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders, the Ontario Medical Group Managers Association and the Medical Group Managers Association of Canada.

Peter is a member of the Ottawa West Four Rivers Ontario Health Team Collaborative Leadership Committee and was the past Co-Chair of the Primary Care Engagement Committee.