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2025 Dr. Charles Jago Awards – Recognizing Northern Health staff and medical staff who live our values

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2025 Jago awards recipients
From left to right: Heather Ouellette, Team Lead, Specialized Services, Beth Ann Derksen, Executive Lead, Critical Care Program, Darren Ditto, Director, Clinical Information Systems Operations, Annette Weger, Health Services Administrator. 

Northern Health (NH) strives to make our values – empathy, respect, collaboration, and innovation – the core of what we do every day. The Dr. Charles Jago Awards, named after our former Board Chair, acknowledge and celebrate those who have made outstanding contributions to NH’s organizational goals, reflecting our values in the process.

Northern Health’s values are defined as:

  • Empathy – Seek to understand each individual’s experience.
  • Respect – Value each person’s unique perspective and contribution.
  • Collaboration – Work together to build partnerships.
  • Innovation – Seek creative and practical solutions.

On May 7, 2025, NH celebrated the teams and individuals that embody these values with a virtual awards ceremony at the spring Leadership Forum. Lesley Ash, Executive Director Total Rewards and Recognition, opened the ceremony with a reminder of our organizational values and the importance of providing meaningful recognition to our peers and colleagues. NH President and CEO Ciro Panessa presented the awards and acknowledged the contributions of both nominees and recipients. Testimonials from the nominations were also shared, highlighting the incredible work of this year’s recipients.

The recipients and nominees for this year are:

2025 Jago Award recipients:

  • Empathy: Annette Weger
  • Respect: Heather Ouellette
  • Collaboration: Beth Ann Derksen
  • Innovation: Darren Ditto

2025 Jago Award nominees:

Empathy:

  • Annette Weger

Respect:

  • Dori Pears
  • Heather Ouellette
  • Marcia Day
  • Marie Gendron
  • Richelle Maser
  • Team – Rotary Manor

Collaboration:

  • Beth Ann Derksen
  • Dr. Charles Larson
  • Kailey Miller
  • Nathan Riley
  • Shirley Webb
  • Team – HEMBC Ft. Nelson General Hospital
  • Team – Indigenous Health Collaboration
  • Team – PG Early Psychosis Intervention
  • Team – UHNBC Pain Clinic

Innovation:

  • Andrea Lorette
  • Darren Ditto
  • Jennifer Macphee
  • Venice Aspi
  • Lexie Gordon
  • Team – Fort Nelson EOC
  • Team – MRI FSJ Hospital
  • Team – Virtual Clinical Pharmacy Service (VCPS)

Congratulations to all our recipients and nominees! We’ll be sharing individual stories on the awards soon – stay tuned!