Leadership Team

With more than 20 years’ experience in community based healthcare, Steve Perry is the Chief Executive Officer of Carefor Health & Community Services, a not-for-profit home health care and community support services organization that offers a diverse basket of services across Eastern Ontario.
Comprised of a multidisciplinary team of 1,500 dedicated staff, Carefor delivers services that include nursing (in home and clinics), therapies, personal support services, adult day programs, assisted living, retirement home and respite care, specialized supportive housing, palliative care and residential hospice, non-urgent medical transportation, meals programs and many others.
Steve assumed a lead role in a number of integration projects at the organizational and program levels including the amalgamation of three not for profit organizations to create Carefor, the establishment of a regional collaborative involving more than 20 agencies coordinating non urgent medical transportation and the acquisition and repurposing of vacant institutional facilities to establish vibrant, new, client-focused 24/7 residential care services.
In addition to his experience leading the delivery of community based healthcare, Steve has been a member of the federal and provincial public service and has also been employed in the construction, manufacturing and financial services industries.
At a governance level, Steve has served as a volunteer board member in the not for profit community and primary health care sectors, and he has been actively involved with a number of associations and regional committees fulfilling the roles of Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer during these various assignments.
With a BA from the University of Ottawa and an EMBA from the University of Fredericton, Steve has also studied with the Telfer School of Management, Athabasca University and Algonquin College.
Married with two children, Steve and his family cherish spending as much time together as possible travelling, spending summers at their cottage, participating in family related sports and activities or just being together at home.

Bill Chwedchuk is Carefor’s Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Bill joined Carefor in 2013 and provides strategic and operational leadership for Finance and Administration, Information Technology and Facilities. He has achieved business and organizational success through a “Lean” leadership approach, acquiring a deep understanding of stakeholder requirements, selecting innovative solutions, and engaging staff at all levels in system change and process improvement initiatives. He has distinguished himself through a passion for hands on leadership and a drive to implement effective solutions for growth and sustainability.
Bill has 25+ years of financial, operational and strategic leadership across a diverse range of sectors including health care services, technology and manufacturing. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree at Queens University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Ontario.
In his spare time, he likes to travel, ski, and spend time with the family at a cottage in the Gatineau hills.

Amy Boudreau, BScN, MHSA is Carefor’s Director of Integration and Sustainability. In this role she leads Carefor's transition into the Ontario Health Teams.
Amy joined Carefor’s leadership team in 2017 following a long-term post as Director, Strategic Planning and Operations for the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO. Prior to this, Amy spent time developing national health care standards at Accreditation Canada and developed a paediatric home care program and led other strategic initiatives for the VON Ottawa-Carleton Branch (now Carefor). Before this, Amy spent time pursuing a nursing career in paediatric acute-care facilities, holding positions at both SickKids in Toronto and at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax).
As an active member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders, Amy is deeply committed to lifelong learning as a health leader and strives to coach others to learn, evolve and grow to the best of their abilities. Most notably, Amy is a proud mother to three incredibly active, forever fun and amazingly kind boys.

Mrs. Sharon Maye is the Director of Operations and Programs for Carefor Pembroke – Renfrew County. Sharon and officially assumed the role on July 31, 2017, taking over for Mr. Steve Perry, who transitioned into the role of Carefor’s Chief Executive Officer on August 21, 2017.
As a result of her 10 years of management service with Carefor Pembroke-Renfrew County, Mrs. Maye has naturally assumed the next level of responsibility; site operations and the service delivery of assisted living, retirement care and specialized supportive housing at Carefor’s Civic Complex and Mackay Centre facilities in Pembroke, Ontario. Additional Renfrew County wide program operations. Her oversight responsibility in the role of Director, will include leading a multidisciplinary team of staff and volunteers to deliver community based personal support & caregiver services, foot care clinics, community support services including non-urgent medical transportation.
Sharon completed her Bachelor of Nursing as well as a Masters of Health Studies through Athabasca University.

Robin Meyers has over 15 years of management experience in the Community Support Services and Developmental sectors, and is currently Carefor's Director of Ottawa Community Support Services (OCSS).
Programs within her portfolio include Ottawa Inner City Health (OICH); working with community partners to provide health care, harm reduction and support with mental illness to clients using Inner City programs.
Ms. Meyers also has the responsibility of providing service delivery of the Richmond Care Home, Guest House, Perley-Adult Day and Carling Adult Day Programs, Homemaking, Going Home, GEM programs as well as a distinctive program to Champlain specializing in working with seniors living with mental health issues called Let’s Get Together Club. Her portfolio also includes providing leadership and direction to the Personal Support Program.
Robin is very involved in her community and served as Chair of the Adult Day Program Association, Chair of the Ottawa Community Support Coalition and is a member of the executive for the Champlain Community Support Network.

Jessica Peters is Carefor’s Director of Quality and Accreditation.
She joined Carefor as a contractor in September of 2017, to support Leadership and staff as we headed into our April 2018 Accreditation Canada peer review. We passed the review with exemplary standing, thanks to the hard work of management and staff, but also because of the support and expertise that Jessica brought to the table.
Jessica has a Bachelor’s of Arts, Honours Degree from Queens University as well as a Master’s in Public Administration from Queens University. She started her Career as a Coordinator of Communication/Accreditation at the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Society. She moved on to Health Planning at the Southeastern Ontario District Health Council and in 2004, joined Accreditation Canada. For thirteen years, Jessica supported Accreditation Canada first in research and development, then within the realms of quality, risk and evaluation, and finally managing the Accreditation Canada Learning Centre.
Jessica’s objective is to engage her leadership capabilities, health care and accreditation knowledge, and research and policy experience, to support the strategic and innovative delivery of quality health services.

Jason Samson is Carefor’s Director of Operations in Eastern Counties
He joined Carefor as the Manager of the Cornwall Hospice in July 2013 to support the nursing, allied health and physician staff as well as lend support to the Volunteer base. He has successfully mentored the staff and volunteers through 2 Accreditation processes in addition to expanding the Hospice’s community support programs. In addition he has developed a referral and triage system inclusive of both a case management function as well as a rapid response nursing function.
Jason graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Nursing Science Baccalaureate program at the University of Ottawa and has also obtained a project management certificate and a black belt within the LEAN and Sigma Six program. He started his career within the field of oncology, hematology and palliative care at the Ottawa Hospital as well as within the community as a palliative care consultant. For the past 16 years Jason has been involved within healthcare administration in both the Hospital and Community sectors.

Jennifer Osseni is Carefor's Director of Human Resources.
Born and raised in Manitoba, before coming to Carefor, Jen worked at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) for seven years in different HR leadership positions. In her most recent role as Director, People Engagement and Culture, her portfolio included HR Business Partner Services, Employee Engagement and Performance, Learning and Leadership Development, Wellness, Accessibility, Total Rewards, Employee Services and HR Information Management.
Before working at TOH, Jen spent seven years as a consultant with Deloitte Canada’s Strategic Human Resources consulting practice in Winnipeg and Ottawa, specializing in Talent Management and Rewards. Prior to that, she worked with Ernst & Young LLP in their Winnipeg Assurance practice.
Jen has a B. Comm (Honours) with distinction from the University of Manitoba, possesses a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM) from the University of Regina, and has a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designation through the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario.
When she is not at work, Jen spends quality time at her home in Gatineau with her husband and two children, keeping active, traveling, and continues her studies to improve her French. She also loves a good book, when not taxiing her kids around to their many activities. Jen is a believer in building connections in her life and work and follows the words of Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

With over 15 years of experience in IT systems and programs, Faisal (Sal) Shahid has developed a wealth of knowledge, experience and skill, which will help Carefor in its digital transformation. Leading Carefor's Information Technology team, Sal works with the Leadership Team to strategically leverage technology solutions to improve our services and therefore, our client experience.
Through a rich academic and professional background, he has a strong knowledge-base in a dynamic array of areas that deal with Leadership, Team Building, Time Management, Goal-Setting, Self-Motivation, Mindset and Workplace Excellence. Sal specializes in business development, strategic governance and enterprise systems, product and project management, training, financial analysis, help desk support and consumer/business coordination environments.
He applies advanced practices involved in multi-divisional Systems and Data Analytics, Business Functions, Client Management and Portfolio Management, with special attention to creating long-lasting client relationships.
He has been able to combine his professional background with the rapidly evolving Networking, Programming, Stakeholder Operations, Customer Management and Team Relationship Building realms of today where organizational goals are crucial to the advancement of any company.
Sal’s Vision ➤ With an insatiable drive for progress, Sal believes in the golden formula of K.S.E (Knowledge, Strategy and Execution). It is the very bedrock upon which his career has grown over the years. It is this visionary foresight that fuels his devotion towards his aspirations.
In his spare time Sal likes to travel around the world and spend time with his family. He also plays a lot of field sport such as: Soccer, Badminton, Tennis, Basketball…

Kaelen Bray, is Carefor's Director of Nursing & Allied Health Services.
In her role, she leads the team of Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Social Workers and Registered Dietitians in supporting the complex health needs of home and community care clients within the Ottawa area.
Prior to joining Carefor, Kaelen provided frontline care to clients and families as an Occupational Therapist within a variety of home care settings, here in Ontario as well as New Zealand. After working for several years at Carefor as an Occupational Therapist, her extensive community-based experience and ongoing professional development afforded her opportunities for career growth within the organization. She has worked as a Supervisor within Personal Support Services and subsequently the Manager of Allied Health Services at Carefor.
Kaelen has a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Queen’s University and Master’s degrees in Occupational Therapy (Post-Professional) from Dalhousie University and in Public Ethics from St. Paul’s University. She is a self-described life-long learner who is an avid audiobook listener. As a sports enthusiast, Kaelen enjoys cross-country skiing and mountain biking adventures with her husband and two sons.