​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The FNHA Office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) draws on the richness of First Nations knowledge and teachings as well as mainstream population and public health approaches to support community health and wellness.

Watchmon ​​Role

In many BC First Nations cultures, the traditional role of the Watchmon is to watch over, protect and guide their people by standing guard, observing and warning of impending danger or challenges. As an important figure, the Watchmon is depicted in carvings and atop poles in many communities.

The FNHA’s CMO holds an important role as a Watchmon. The CMO monitors and acts as a guardian and champion of the health and wellness of First Nations people, province wide. As Watchmon, the CMO’s key roles are to:

• see and hear, by observing, monitoring and gathering information and data from various sources to capture the story of health and wellness of First Nations
• report, by sharing the story of the health and wellness of First Nations people in BC to improve health and wellness
• guide (or guard), by providing “two-eyed seeing” leadership to contribute to a strategic response at various levels

“Two-eyed seeing” is inspired by the teaching of Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. It refers to learning to see Indigenous ways of knowing from one eye and Western ways of knowing from the other eye and using the strengths, gifts and insights from both to gain a well-rounded perspective.

• ​Watchmon Role (fact sheet)

Reports and Publications

The physicians and surgeons practising within the Office of the Chief Medical Officer are licensed and regulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. To learn more about the practice standards expected of College registrants by their regulatory body or to view physician or surgeon’s credentials, please contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC.

Dr. Cornelia (Nel) Wieman​

Dr. Nel Wieman, Chief Medical Officer, is the ​CMO​ at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in British Columbia, where she has worked since 2018. She is Anishinaabe (Mishi-Baawitigong First Nation, Manitoba​​​​) and lives, works and plays on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.​ 

Dr. Wieman completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University. Canada's first female Indigenous psychiatrist, Dr. Wieman has more than 20 years' clinical experience, working with Indigenous people in both rural/reserve and urban settings. Her previous activities include co-directing an Indigenous health research program in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and the National Network for Indigenous Mental Health Research, being Deputy Chair of Health Canada's Research Ethics Board, and serving on CIHR's Governing Council. She has also worked and taught in many academic settings, has chaired national advisory groups within First Nations Inuit Health Branch - Health Canada, and has served as a Director on many boards, including the Indspire Foundation and Pacific Blue Cross.  Dr. Wieman served as the President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) from 2016-2022. She was one of the 6 Indigenous physician founders of the National Consortium on Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME).  She was appointed to the BC Provincial Task Team charged with beginning implementation of the recommendations arising from the “In Plain Sight” report.​ Dr. Wieman was also presented with the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2024.​​

Specializations: Mental Health and Wellness / Addictions, Trauma-Informed Practice, Cannabis, Communications and Wellness Initiatives.

Dr. Kelsey Louie ​

Dr. Kelsey Louie, Acting Deputy Chief Medical Officer, is Coast Salish from the Tla’amin First Nation. He served as Medical Officer and Senior Medical Officer in the OCMO from 2017 to 2023 before agreeing to take on the role of Acting Deputy Chief Medical Officer. A graduate of UBC’s Indigenous Family Practice residency program, Dr. Louie also works as a primary care provider in Victoria, BC, providing both hospital-based care and virtual health services with the First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day program. He continues to promote and support FNHA’s health and wellness vision by integrating cultural safety and humility into both his clinical and non-clinical work, and aims to continue being active as a wellness champion.

Specializations: Primary Care, Injury Prevention, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Family Violence, Men's Health, Cultural Safety and Humility.

Dr. Unjali Malhotra ​

Dr. Unjali Malhotra, is from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.​
She completed her residency in Winnipeg, Manitoba, whe​​re she created and completed a women's health residency program after family residency. 

Dr. Malhotra is the founder and form​er program director of the UBC Women's Health Residency Program (for training family doctors in advanced women's health skills for delivery in rural and remote communities). She has also held the positions of Medical Director of Options for Sexual Health BC and the Chair of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of the Canadian Foundation for Women's Health. She also previously served on the board of the Federation for Medical Women. She is an author and speaker for Continuing Medical Education both provincially and nationally, In her various roles, Dr. Malhotra has co-created provincial and national guidelines and programs that are focused on advocacy, equity, community support, and education as much as clinical services. Her work spans the reproductive lifespan including being a menopause specialist and she has always been grounded in her lived experience as a woman of colour. 

Specializations: Women's Health, Menopause, HPV, Contraception.

Dr. Celeste Loewe

​Dr. Celeste Loewe, Medical Officer, Health and Wellness, ​grew up in beautiful Vancouver where she obtained h​er bachelor's degree and undergraduate medical degree. She recently completed residency in public health and preventive medicine and family medicine at Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM). After working with First Nations and Inuit Health Branch in Alberta and Ottawa under Indigenous Services Canada, she is happy to return to Vancouver to work with FNHA. 

Specializations: Communicable Disease, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Environmental Public Health, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease/Injury Prevention, Population Health Assessment, Health Policy, Program Planning and Evaluation, Health Equity​​​

Dr. Kamran Golmohamm​adi​

​Dr. Kamran Golmohammadi, Medical Officer, Public Health, completed his graduate studies and residency training at the University of Alberta. After graduating, he trained for six additional months in the St. Paul's Hospital Healthy Heart Program. He also served in the Interior Health region as a Medical Healt​h Officer for six years.

Dr. Golmohammadi is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine School of Population and Public Health. For the past three years, he has represented the UBC public health clinical faculty members and he served a two-year term as the co-chair of the BC Provincial Environmental Health Advisory Committee.

An advocate for adopting a relational approach in health care, Dr. Golmohammadi is determined to raise awareness against the misconception that health outcomes are simply due to health behaviors. He believes learning about the historical impacts of social injustice, discrimination, stigma, and structural inequities, will improve our cultural competency.

Dr. Golmohammadi is an author member of the Cochrane Collaboration and his areas of research and practice include environmental public health, injury prevention and chronic diseases prevention.

Dr. Nolan Hop Wo

Dr. Nolan Hop Wo, Medical Officer, Mental Health and Wellness, is a member of the Métis Nation of Greater Victoria. He completed his medical training at UBC’s Island Medical Program in Victoria, ​​​​​BC, and his psychiatry specialty training at Western University in London, Ontario. Prior to that, he obtained a Bachelor of Nursing Degree at the University of Calgary. 

Dr. Hop Wo has five years’ experience working as a consultant psychiatrist in Alberta at a tertiary referral centre in an area with an over-represented Indigenous patient population. He was Resident Director with the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada from 2014 to 2017; a physician member of the Alberta Medical Association Indigenous Health Committee from 2020 to 2021; and the President of the Medical Staff Association of The Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury from 2017 to 2022. He is currently a physician member of the Indigenous Health in Specialty Post Graduate Medical Education Accreditation Expert Working Group with the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada (since 2019).

Specializations: Mental Health and Wellness / Addictions.​​​​​​​​
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