Pacific Blue Cross Board of Directors
Brendan Dick is the former Director of Pensions and Benefits for the Hospital Employees' Union as well as the Coordinator of the Enhanced Disability Management Program for the Facilities Bargaining Association. He is co-chair of the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) defined benefit pension plan and has been a CBS trustee since 2005. He has been a member of the Canadian Board of the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans. He is a past Chair/Vice Chair of the Municipal Pension Board of Trustees and served on the board from 2003 to 2014. He is on the Board of Blue Cross Life and is the Chair of the Investment & Loan Committee. Brendan has completed the Advanced Trustee Management Standards Program and the Responsible Trustee Program through the Sauder School of Business. He sat on the lnterplan Audit Committee (Municipal, Public Service, College and Teachers Pension Plans) for more than 15 years, and as a board member on the B.C. Pension Corporation in 2013/14. Brendan has his Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) designation from the Rotman Directors Education Program, has been a Pacific Blue Cross plan member for close to 30 years and currently resides in Coquitlam, B.C.
CEBS, CRM, CRSP
Marty Gibbons has spent close to two decades working in the field of employee group benefits, where he has completed multiple designations including Certified Employee Benefit Specialist, Group Benefits Associate, and Retirement Plans Associate. His passion for risk management and workplace health and safety inspired him to complete the Canadian Risk Manager and Canadian Registered Safety Professional designations. In addition, he has received significant education regarding fiduciary / governance duties and responsibilities, such as certification in Fundamentals of Trust Management Systems and Advanced Trust Management Systems, as well as attended many educational conferences through the IFEBP, a leader in trustee/fiduciary education. Marty applies his governance training and experience serving his community as an elected Director of Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Area C. He started his career in the forest industry as a production worker, advancing to become a certified trades person, and was elected president of USW Local 1-417 in 2005. Marty is of Métis and Cree ancestry and is in the process of receiving his Métis Citizenship.
Janet Andrews serves as the full-time Secretary-Treasurer of the New Westminster & District Labour Council, representing over 60,000 union members across 14 municipalities, which are located on 10 unceded First Nation territories in British Columbia. With a strong commitment to grassroots advocacy, Janet takes immense pride in her involvement with a community-based organization that upholds a strong tradition of empowering workers to voice their concerns both within their workplaces and across their communities. A member of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union Local Lodge 764 since 1998, Janet has extensive Board and Finance committee experience in labour and the charitable sectors, including roles at the United Way of BC and the Union Protein Project. She is currently serving on the Executive Council of the BC Federation of Labour and holds a BA in Classical Studies and an MA in Classical Archaeology from the University of British Columbia.
After earning his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of British Columbia’s Dental School in 1987, Dr. David Ciriani recognized the need for health care professionals in more remote areas of the province, and immediately went into general practice in Smithers, BC. While there, in addition to his private practice, he provided care in hospitals and long-term care facilities, where he identified disparities in oral health care for First Nations people and communities, sparking a lifelong mission.
After 14 years in Smithers, Dr. Ciriani returned to his hometown, Kamloops where he continued his successful private practice and championed the Children’s Oral Health Initiative (COHI) for First Nations children. He also collaborated to establish on-reserve dental clinics at Q'wemtsin and Skwlax Health Centres and supported dental therapists in remote regions under the First Nations Health Authority.
Dr. Ciriani has played pivotal roles in numerous organizations, including the BC Dental Association, College of Dental Surgeons of BC, and Northwest BC Dental Society. He has received Distinguished Service Awards from the Kamloops and District Dental Society, and the BC Dental Association. His focus on providing exemplary health care is based on patient-centered care, education, integrity and unwavering compassion.
He holds an Environmental and Occupational Health certificate from the University of Victoria, a certification of Foundation and Advanced Trust Management Systems from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, and has attended the Wharton Business School for Investment Portfolio Concepts and Management and is an Alumni of the Canadian Governor General Leadership Conference.
Joe Elworthy is the former president of UNIFOR Local 2200, which represents more than 1,000 Skilled Trades and Support Workers employed by Coast Mountain Bus Company (Translink) in Metro Vancouver. He has worked for Coast Mountain Bus company for more than 40 years (since 1976) and served as president of his union local for 18 years, for five terms of office.
Since 1993, he served as Trust Chair for the Transit Employees' Health Benefit Trust. Other roles have included serving as Financial Secretary for the UNIFOR National Skilled Trades Council, the Sector Advisory Group for the BC Industry Training Authority, National President of the Confederation of Canadian Union and the Independent Canadian Transit Union, and Trustee for the BC Public Service Pension Plan.
Joe Elworthy has also led educational seminars for the International Foundation and its benefits-related conferences and has presented to both the Conference Board of Canada and PBLI Conferences. He was recently elected as a Municipal Councillor for the Village of Belcarra.
Dr. Patricia Gerber obtained her Pharmacy degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1993. She completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency Program at the Children’s & Women’s Health Centre of BC in 1994, and obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from UBC in 1997.
Between 1994 and 2008 Dr. Gerber served in various roles at the Children’s & Women’s Health Centre of BC: as Clinical Pharmacist, Education Coordinator, and Residency Coordinator. As Clinical Pharmacist, Patricia provided care for pediatric patients presenting to the hospital with a range of medical conditions, cared for hospitalized patients with chronic neurological and psychiatric conditions, and educated families and caregivers of children from across the province.
Since joining the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1994 on a part-time basis and in 2008 full-time, she has been teaching and providing educational leadership in entry-to-practice and graduate programs. Her main areas of teaching have been pediatrics, professionalism, ethics, and leadership. While teaching, she served in several leadership and scholarly roles, including as Clinical Coordinator and Director of the Graduate Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Dr. Gerber is currently the Director of Degree Programs for Pharmacists (which includes the Flexible Doctor of Pharmacy Program for working pharmacists), and is leading the development of the new Professional Master’s degree program for pharmacists. Dr. Gerber has published in several clinical and academic journals, has been an invited speaker in national and international conferences, and continues to serve in several national and international scholarly roles.
Since 1981 Ms. Hartman has served on a variety of boards including the United Way and other charities, union and labour federations, advocacy organizations and labour history associations. Her background includes local, national and international work in both waged and volunteer positions.
Jim lker is a teacher and the past president of the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) .He has an honours degree in Political Science and Sociology at McMaster University, and Bachelor of Education at Dalhousie University. Since 1977, Jim has worked as a teacher in nearly every elementary grade- including Kindergarten. He also was a teacher counsellor, learning assistance, and special education teacher. He got involved in the Burns Lake District Teachers' Union, the first year of teaching. His local bargaining team negotiated the first three contracts between 1988 and 1994. He was also a member of the first provincial bargaining committee in 1995 and subsequent teams in 1998, 2006, 2011 and 2013. He was chief negotiator for the 2011 and 2013 teams. First elected to the BCTF Executive in 2002 as a member-at-large and served for five years before becoming BCTF Vice President and then President. He continues his teaching career that spans 40 years working for School District #91 (Nechako Lakes).
Matthew O'Rae is currently the Chief Financial Officer for the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia (BC), an infrastructure bank for local governments in BC. Matthew is responsible for overseeing all finance functions including financial reporting, cash management, investing and debt issuance in the capital markets. Previously, Matthew held the position of Executive Director, Capital Management and Finance Projects at Vancouver Island Health Authority and worked with his team to provide centralized capital asset management, real estate and treasury services. From 2008 to 2016, Matthew worked for the Province of BC where he held various director roles including Executive Director of the Debt Management Branch where he and his team delivered centralized borrowing and liability management services.
Matthew holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Calgary and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).
Lee has an extensive background as a director on multiple boards and as a fiduciary. Lee has also served on the Board of Concert Properties and Concert Infrastructure Ltd. as a Director. Lee was also a founding director at Castle 1 Investments and served on the Investment Committee at ACM Advisors.
Lee brings pension, benefit, investment, and labour union experience to Pacific Blue Cross. He has a completed his Master of Trust Management from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans as well as the University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business, Responsible Trustee Program.
Dr. Cornelia (Nel) Wieman works for the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in Vancouver, BC in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
Nel is Canada’s first female Indigenous psychiatrist (Anishinaabe Nation – Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba). She completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
She provided psychiatric services at a community mental health clinic based on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory for eight years. She was a member of the Advisory Group on Suicide Prevention that developed a national framework document for the Assembly of First Nations and First Nations and Inuit Health Branch addressing the issue of First Nations youth suicide. She was the Co-Director of the Indigenous Health Research Development Program and an Assistant Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She has been a co-investigator on several initiatives funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aboriginal Peoples Health including the National Network of Aboriginal Mental Health Research. She has also served on the CIHR Governing Council and the Indspire Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Nel previously worked as a staff psychiatrist at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health. She was the Faculty Advisor to the Indigenous Students Health Sciences Office at McMaster University. She served as President of the Indigenous Physicians Association in Canada for two three-year terms (2016-22).
She is an Indspire Achievement Award Laureate (1998), recognized for career achievement in the category of medicine. She was the inaugural recipient of the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Alumni Achievement Award. In 2013, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Nel’s clinical, academic, and advocacy work has always been focused on improving the health and mental health status of Indigenous peoples, especially Indigenous youth, across Canada.