The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is pleased to announce that Katie Hughes will be taking on the role of Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective October 21, 2024. She will serve in this position for the next 12 months.
Katie's focus will be to ensure continued, integrated progress on key initiatives captured in our long-term health plan. Her knowledge of our organization and relationships across the FNHA, First Nations communities, and our system partners will serve her well as we work to implement our plans and solutions, grounded in our 7 Directives. Katie will retain direction of her existing portfolio while taking key roles in areas of priority going forward.
Katie joined the FNHA in 2018 and first served as the FNHA's Executive Director, Mental Health and Wellness. In this position, she oversaw FNHA's inaugural First Nations Mental and Health and Wellness Summit, which brought together community health leaders and system partners to explore the best of western and cultural and traditional practices to support wellness. She also worked alongside communities, Nations, and federal and provincial government partners in leading the FNHA's implementation of the Tripartite Partnership to Improve Mental Health and Wellness Services and Achieve Progress on the Determinants of Health and Wellness.
More recently, Katie has served as the Vice President of Public Health Response. Katie has been a key contributor to the FNHA's emergency response structure through wildfires, floods, the overdose public health emergency and COVID-19. This experience, alongside her project management knowledge and skills, will serve her well in fostering collaborative solutions to many of our key plans as Acting COO.
Before joining the FNHA, Katie worked in progressively more senior roles related to mental health and wellness for close to 30 years in local, regional, and provincial contexts and across the social determinants of health. Katie holds a Master of Arts degree in Management, a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in psychology and is a certified Project Management Professional.
