St. Mary’s Welcomes Elizabeth Witmer to its Board of Trustees
St. Mary’s General Hospital is proud to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Witmer to its Board of Trustees.
Witmer brings a deep knowledge of the healthcare system, having served from 1990-2012 as a Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo and holding posts such as Minister of Health, Long-Term Care, Labour, Environment and Education, and notably the Deputy Premier of Ontario. As a strong community champion, Witmer was instrumental in her role as MPP to introducing Telehealth Ontario and bringing the Regional Cardiac Care Centre to St. Mary’s Hospital, and the Regional Cancer Centre to Grand River Hospital. Most recently, Witmer served as Chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)—a post she held until retirement.
“We are delighted to welcome Elizabeth Witmer to St. Mary’s Board of Trustees,” says Marion Thomson Howell, Chair of St. Mary’s Board of Trustees. “The next decade will be transformative for St. Mary’s and our community as we plan to build the future of care, together, with Grand River Hospital and our regional health partners. St. Mary’s and our community are fortunate to continue to benefit from the expertise and skills that Elizabeth brings to our Board of Trustees, leveraging her first-hand experiences and unique knowledge of the healthcare sector,” says Thomson Howell.
With deep roots in the community both professionally and personally, Witmer continues to be a tireless volunteer and leader in Waterloo Region. Over the years, she has been recognized for this work receiving awards such as the Paul Harris Fellowship Award from Rotary, the Social Work Doctors Award for her strong commitment to a just and caring society, the 2013 Kitchener-Waterloo Citizen of the Year Award and in 2014, was the first recipient of the Asthma Society of Canada Innovation in Public Policy Award for her role in beginning Ontario’s coal phase-out.
Witmer also sits as a member of The Global Health Advisory Board, overseeing the partnership of universities that participate in the MSc Global Health and provides the program’s strategic direction through McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences. Witmer is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Althouse College of Education, and the ICD Rotman Program.
She joins St. Mary’s dedicated Board of Trustees comprised of volunteers from the local community advancing the mission, vision and values of the organization serving over 1,000,000 residents locally and beyond each year.
Learn More: St. Mary’s Board of Trustees