Ontario Health Team of Northumberland Experience Partners

The Ontario Health Team of Northumberland (OHT-N) Experience Partner Council and Experience Partner Project Pool are bodies of patients and caregivers working together with service provider partners to transform the delivery of local health and community care through the Ontario Health Team model. 


Launched in 2021, the Experience Partner Council ensures patients and caregivers have a clear and equal voice in advancing local priorities for health and community care services. Guided by a collaboratively developed vision and purpose, members are active within all OHT-N governance, planning and project team structures.

What We Do


First and foremost, the Experience Partner Council continually promotes the advancement of the provincial Patient, Family and Caregiver Declaration of Values, ensuring these values are embedded in all OHT-N planning and decision-making.


Guiding much of the Experience Partner Council's developing community engagement activities is the OHT-N Patient/Caregiver Partnership and Community Engagement Framework. 





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Our Vision


The OHT-N Experience Partners envision a Northumberland County where patients, families, and caregivers are empowered leaders—shaping decisions, design, governance, and delivery of health and social care for a healthier, more connected community.




Our Purpose


The OHT-N recognizes that patients, families, and caregivers, by virtue of their lived experience, have critical wisdom to share to advance service integration and system coordination. The purpose of the Experience Partner Council and Experience Partner Project Pool is therefore to:

  • Provide patient, family and caregiver perspectives and guidance to all OHT-N efforts to transform health and community care systems, with the goal of achieving progress in Quintuple Aim outcomes, including:
  • Enhancing patient and caregiver experience,
  • Improving patient population health outcomes,
  • Improving provider work-life experience, 
  • Improving value, reducing the per capita cost of health care, and
  • Advancing health equity, building a collaborative and inclusive care team environment.


  • Experience Partner Council

    Working with the Collaboration Council, the Experience Partner Council responsibilities will include the following:


    • Advance understanding among and beyond OHT-N partners of why patients/clients, families and caregivers should be engaged as equal partners in program and system planning and support that work through recruitment, education, and engagement.

    • Build, through a model offering different levels of engagement, the OHT-N’s ability to effectively engage with diverse communities along a spectrum of participation, including equity deserving populations typically under-represented at system planning tables.

    • Lead the recruitment and retention of patients/clients and caregivers to inform Experience Partner and OHT-N core areas of focus.

    • Build linkages with patient experience communities of practice in Northumberland County, our Ontario Health East region, the province and beyond so we can learn from one another’s experience and exchange tools and resources for mutual benefit.

    • Monitor, support and evaluate engagement within the OHT-N and provide suggestions to improve.

    • Bring Experience Partners together quarterly to standing meetings.

  • Experience Partner Project Pool

    The Experience Partner Project Pool members’ responsibilities will include the following:


    • Participate in OHT-N projects by bringing lived and living experience perspectives to inform planning, implementation, and evaluation.

    • Support meaningful integration of patient, family, and caregiver voices within project workstreams by providing insights, feedback, and recommendations.

    • Amplify the voice of local patients and caregivers on project-specific initiatives.

    • Assist with identifying gaps and opportunities within projects to enhance patient and caregiver engagement.

    • Evaluate the effectiveness of their engagement within projects and share reflections with the Experience Partner Council and project teams to foster continuous improvement.

    • Participate in quarterly Experience Partner meetings.

  • Terms of Reference

    Read our full Terms of Reference for more information, including details about council composition, reporting structure, decision-making model, meeting frequency and more.

Our amazing team

Meet our Experience Partners

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Suzanne

Throughout her career, Suzanne has been focused on collaborating with others (individuals and organizations) in shaping and improving health systems. The possibilities of helping to do this in the current healthcare challenges are endless. So is her commitment!

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Howard

Howard believes active partnerships with patients, caregivers and community engagement can lead to better health and community care outcomes. He is a strong advocate for the implementation of leading edge technology in the health care field to improve quality and value of outcomes for all stakeholders.

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Chloe

Chloe has a passion for Mental Health advocacy and seeing her communities grow. She brings life experience to the table as a parent concerned with youth mental health, managing her own mental and physical health, as well as being there for her mother as she ages in the community. 

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Ellen

Ellen worked as a refugee lawyer with no previous experience in health care. She joined the EPC to offer her perspective as a patient without a primary care provider. Having been unable to find a local primary care provider after moving to Cobourg within the last couple years, Ellen is encouraged by the variety of opportunities to contribute within the OHT, to help the province find primary care for everyone. 

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Pamela

Pamela is a retired secondary school teacher who brought in the Indigenous curriculum for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12. She has 22 years of teaching experience in Northumberland and is a volunteer for the Environmental Committee, Brian Todd Community Memorial Fund and Hugs (Helping Ukrainians Get Settled) in the Brighton Community. Over 33 years of living in Brighton she has created an expansive network and is always looking for ways to give back to the community.

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Fran

Fran is a great believer in total body health, that includes the physical (especially oral health), emotional, spiritual and mental health. As a highly functioning person who has long suffered from depression, she wishes to champion good practices for both the person and their health care practitioner. 

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Cheryl

Cheryl has been very fortunate throughout her career to have worked in long term care, retirement and private settings as a PSW.  She provides care ensuring privacy and dignity and always remembers that each person's needs may be similar, but they themselves are unique. She is also aware that some caregivers find navigating the healthcare system and acquiring the services on offer challenging. She wants to work alongside others to conceive new concepts to ensure those who are in need receive the best possible care and resources.

Beryl

Beryl has had a career as a registered nurse in a variety of settings including homes, schools, and communities focusing on  family health, hospice/palliative care, and care with older adults. Prior to retiring from nursing education at the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing, Beryl focussed on aging and older adults with a particular interest in dementia and palliative care. Now, as an older person herself with a wide circle of older friends and family members, Beryl maintains a passion for older adults and those who journey with them. The complexities of contemporary society give rise to many opportunities to advocate on their behalf, particularly at the systemic level.

Jane

As a current caregiver, Jane has been learning how to cultivate patience and recognize when to reach out for support. She hears the concerns many seniors have about navigating health care and would like to provide compassionate support and clarity to help them feel understood and empowered.

Pat

Pat has had a successful business career with problem solving and communication. She is dedicated to the palliative care of her beloved husband, parents and friends. 

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Carol

Carol has worked in leadership roles within the health and social services sector, and is passionate about improving the health outcomes for people living in Northumberland County. Carol is particularly interested in prevention and early intervention for both physical and mental health, as well as timely services throughout the lifespan.

Become an Experience Partner.

Submit your expression of interest:

We are currently accepting applications for Experience Partner volunteers, welcoming all expressions of interest. With this open call for interest, the OHT-N’s Experience Partner Council aims to expand from a small core Experience Partner Council drawn from OHT-N members to a larger team offering different ways to join the conversation.

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