Vitalité Health Network welcomes its new Board of Directors
Vitalité Health Network, Thursday August 31, 2023 - Accompanied by colleagues and members of the Leadership Team, Dr. France Desrosiers, President and CEO of Vitalité Health Network, welcomed the new members of the Network’s Board of a Directors as part of an orientation session held on August 30, 2023, in Moncton.
Photo caption : Jean-Claude Pelletier, Réjean Després, Julie Cyr, Thomas Soucy, Dr. France Desrosiers, Claire Savoie, Johanne Thériault Paulin and Yves Francoeur participated in their first meeting.
This included Chairperson Thomas Soucy (Northwest Zone), Julie Cyr (Restigouche Zone), Réjean Després (Beauséjour Zone), Yves Francoeur (Acadie Bathurst Zone), Johanne Thériault Paulin (Acadie Bathurst Zone), Jean Claude Pelletier (Northwest Zone) and Claire Savoie (Acadie Bathurst Zone).
This first meeting of the Board was an opportunity for the new members to talk with each other and the organization’s leadership about major health issues as well as challenges and opportunities within Vitalité Health Network. For Chairperson Thomas Soucy, this meeting set the stage for discussions and interesting projects on the governance and advancement of the health care system.
The Board of Directors meets at least four times a year and meetings are open to the public. The date, time and location of meetings are announced in advance in the media and on the Network's website: Board of Directors Meetings | Vitalité (vitalitenb.ca).
Profile of the members of the Vitalité Health Network Board of Directors
The Board of Directors meets at least four times a year and meetings are open to the public. The dates, times, and locations of the meetings will be announced in advance in the media and on the Network’s website (Board of Directors Meetings | Vitalité (vitalitenb.ca)
Thomas Soucy, Chair
Mr. Soucy is co-owner and President and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Westco. He graduated with a degree in administration from the University of New Brunswick and joined Groupe Westco in 1995.
Among his professional experiences, Mr. Soucy helped transform Groupe Westco into one of the largest poultry farming organizations in Canada today. Through full vertical integration of the company’s activities and the diversification of its sectors, Mr. Soucy has masterfully and strategically led operations to build a company that now has $700 million in revenue and over 1,000 employees.
A tireless strategist always in search of the next project, Mr. Soucy’s success has been highlighted many times, especially by the regional Chamber of Commerce, New Brunswick’s Department of Agriculture, and the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick inc. He was also honoured for his professional success in 2016 when he received the prestigious EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award for Atlantic Canada.
Mr. Soucy contributes to his community by providing funding to projects carried out by organizations in the education and health and safety sectors.
Julie Cyr
Ms. Cyr is an eminent professional in the health sector and is currently Dean of the École Santé et Services Communautaires on the Campbellton campus of the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick. She has a wealth of experience and previously held the position of heath sciences department head on the Dieppe campus of the same institution. She began her career as a medical imaging technologist at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont Hospital.
In addition to her professional commitment, Ms. Cyr also represented New Brunswick as a member and treasurer of the board of directors the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists for many years. She is also active as a surveyor and team lead for accreditation surveys and currently works with Accreditation Canada to evaluate health education programs.
Her expertise and dedication make her an influential figure in her field.
Réjean Després, Vice-Chair
A career banker and accomplished manager in the financial services industry, Mr. Després holds a Bachelor of Finance degree from the Université de Moncton and an MBA in Financial Services from Dalhousie University.
Professionally, Mr. Després has spent most of his career working for major Canadian and international financial institutions in Atlantic Canada.
In his current role, he manages approximately 300 employees in 25 branches and four commercial banking centres. An experienced leader, he feels a great sense of accomplishment when he inspires those around him, both professionally and personally.
He is very involved in his community and sat on several committees, including the board of directors of the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre Foundation, until recently. He was an active ambassador of the Tree of Hope Campaign and proud to be able to rally his community around this cause.
Yves Francoeur
Mr. Francoeur holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the Université de Moncton. He holds the professional designations of certified professional accountant (CPA), certified general accountant (CGA) and certified management accountant (CMA). He is a retired member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of New Brunswick.
Mr. Francoeur began his career at the Treasury Board of the Government of New Brunswick in 1977. He then took a position within the Business Development Bank of Canada before being appointed as Director of Finances at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital – Mount Saint Joseph Nursing Home in 1984. During the 1990s, he worked as a public accountant and the firm Chiasson & Francoeur, certified management accountants, was founded during this time.
He then joined the firm EPR-Bathurst, certified general accountants, as a partner and manager, where he practised his profession as a public accountant for 10 years. He spent the final years of his career as a part-time comptroller with businesses located in northeastern New Brunswick.
He retired in 2015 and is currently a member of the board of directors of the Fondation du Foyer Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Johanne Thériault Paulin
Ms. Thériault Paulin has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in information and communications and a minor in sociology from the Université de Moncton, as well as a Bachelor of Laws degree from this same university. She has since added to her portfolio with public leadership training and a certificate in negotiation, both from the prestigious Harvard University.
Admitted to the Law Society of New Brunswick in 2009, she began her career in a private firm. Since 2012 (ad hoc since 2019), she has been a criminal Crown prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General of New Brunswick. In 2018, she returned to private practice so that she could also fill several roles within various administrative tribunals as well as being an agent with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
Ms. Thériault-Paulin was a member of the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Committee of the Law Society of New Brunswick and chaired the Professional Development Committee of the Canadian Bar Association, New Brunswick Branch. She also served three terms on the Law Society of New Brunswick Council as the elected representative for Gloucester County. Finally, she represented the Law Society of New Brunswick on the New Brunswick Criminal Justice Efficiencies Committee.
Jean-Claude Pelletier
Mr. Pelletier holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction in physical education, a graduate diploma in education, and a Master of Education, with specialization in guidance, all from the Université de Moncton. Over the years, he has taken a variety workshops, training programs and seminars in management, human resources, leadership and pension administration.
Mr. Pelletier began his career as the Director of Human Resources at the Edmundston Regional Hospital, from 1976 to 1992, after which he became Vice-President of Human Resources for Regional Health Authority 4 in Edmundston for 16 years. Next, he continued to contribute to the health care system as Acting Executive Director of the Chaleur Regional Hospital and the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre.
Mr. Pelletier then chaired the New Brunswick Health Council from 2011 to 2018. Throughout his career and commitments, Mr. Pelletier showed strategic leadership in a variety of management-union, public and community spheres.
From 1987 to 2008, he sat on the board of directors of Regional Health Authority 4. Since 1999, he has been a resource person for the Pension Plan for Employees of New Brunswick Hospitals Board of Directors (CUPE employees). He is also a member of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.
Claire Savoie
Ms. Savoie holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Université de Moncton, with a concentration in human resources management.
She began her career when she graduated from CCNB in 1979 with an accounting diploma. She completed a Bachelor of Commerce in 1994, an MBA in 1998, and a graduate certificate in Applied Aging Studies in 2013, all at the Université de Moncton.
She progressively climbed the ranks to become the Director of Human Resources at the Chaleur Regional Hospital, a position that she held from 1999 to 2006. In October 2015, she retired from her position as Executive Director of the Foyer Notre-Dame de Lourdes in Bathurst.
Ms. Savoie volunteers with Catholic Health International as well as the Catholic Health Association of New Brunswick. Since she retired, she has been involved in many consultations on human resources and governance, especially in relation to long-term care.
