Meet Our Staff

The Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation Board of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of Barney Ellis-Perry as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation effective August 2, 2022. The new CEO was selected after an extensive search that attracted interest from across the country and the United States.

Barney is delighted to be returning to his home province of BC, after working in the US for eight years. Barney’s most recent position was as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee, where he led a team of forty staff with annual goals of raising $17 million and engaging over 24,000 alumni. Prior to Vanderbilt, Barney was the Senior Vice President for Alumni Relations at the international fundraising consultancy GG+A, where he worked for a wide variety of not for profit and university clients throughout North America and Australia. In 2014, Barney was recruited from UBC to be the CEO of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Alumni Association where he partnered with their hospital foundation. During his 3.5 year tenure at UCI Barney worked collaboratively with campus leaders and alumni volunteers doubling alumni engagement.

Barney was born and raised in Vancouver where he worked in fundraising and constituent engagement until 2014. He has over thirty years of fundraising and constituent engagement experience spending 14 years with UBC where he held several key fundraising and alumni relations positions including Director of Alumni Engagement Campaign and Director of Alumni Relations. He served as Strategic External Relations Officer at UBC Land & Building Services where he created Canada’s first campaign for aging university infrastructure. His proudest accomplishment at UBC was successfully designing, launching, and co-leading UBC’s Start an Evolution Campaign, the world’s first dual-goal campaign for a major university with goals of raising $1.5 billion and of doubling active alumni engagement by 2015.

Prior to UBC, he worked for the Canadian Diabetes Association, and St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation in Vancouver where he created and executed the ground-breaking Lights of Hope Campaign, and developed a major gift program for the Foundation. He was a founding partner of a fundraising consultancy for three years where he consulted for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, Vancouver General Hospital Foundation, and most recently Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.

Barney works hard to balance unique and creative ideas with execution rooted in strategy backed by over 30 years of experience in alumni relations and fundraising. Barney’s expertise spans all aspects of advancement with expertise in strategic planning, board and constituent relations, campaign visioning and planning, marketing and branding, and in spearheading innovative and immersive constituent engagement and annual giving strategies across various digital, social, and in-person platforms.

Tony Harris, Board Chair of the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation, said “we are delighted to welcome Barney to the Foundation. His myriad professional accomplishments and leadership experience will be a valuable asset to us and, given we are in the strongest financial shape of our 30-year history, future campaigns can be undertaken with confidence. Fundraising to support a much needed, entirely new patient care tower in Nanaimo will define the coming decade for the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation, and we are thrilled to be working with Barney, and to support him as he embarks upon a very exciting future with the Foundation.”

Currently living in Nashville, Tennessee, Barney is eager to return to his home Province with his husband of 28 years and two cats. They will be living in Lantzville with his niece and her family until they find a home of their own.

Contact Barney at Barney.Ellis-Perry@islandhealth.ca or 250.713.1702

As the CFO for the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation, Sue is responsible for all administrative aspects of the Foundation, providing support to the Board and CEO by overseeing all aspects of financial, HR, and policy activities. She also provides financial and management oversight for two for-profit businesses, and manages Estates administration on behalf of the Foundation. Previously, Sue was the Vice President & CFO for the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health & Safety Board, and prior to that held various senior management positions with the Government of Yukon.

Susan holds both a CPA and CPHR (Chartered Professional in HR) designation, earning her Fellow CPHR in 2018. She currently serves as the Past Chair of the CPHR BC & Yukon Board, the Vice Chair of CPHR Canada, and the Vice Chair of the Credit Counselling Society of Canada. Previous Board positions include Queen Margaret’s School, CMA Canada Board, President of CMA Yukon, Institute of Public Administration of Canada Board, Kaushee’s Place Women’s Transition Home Board, and was a Founding Member of the Whitehorse Daybreak Rotary Club. She has been a presenter at the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy Canadian and International Conferences and served as an instructor for the Business Administration Program at Yukon College.

Sue is inspired every day by our donors, by our volunteers, by our staff, and by the work that we do to support the hospital. “I like to think that my work supports all staff and helps them to do their best work for the cause”.

Contact Susan at 250-755-7936 or 250-709-1271 (cell) or email

Janice is a people first senior leader known for building relationships. Born and raised on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC she has deep roots within her community. Janice holds a certificate in Community Leadership through Vancouver Island University and has received her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation. She has a combined 20 plus years’ progressive leadership experience in corporate, a national non-profit, higher education and community volunteering. Serving as the Chief Development Officer at the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation she oversees Development and Communications.

Her work with teams, volunteers and donors has earned local, provincial and national recognition. Her national contributions include representing BC in the development of a National Volunteer Engagement Strategy for over 120,000 volunteers and representing the province of BC in a National Strategy Renewal initiative for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.

Janice has served on several diverse boards and community round tables offering her natural collaborative style and ability to strategically work toward solutions with proven results. She is passionate about her community and is very proud to be a Past President of the Zonta Club of Nanaimo, and Past Policy and Advocacy Chair and Board Secretary with the Haven Society. Also a huge animal lover, she is a supporter of the SPCA, and currently serves as President of the Rotary Club of Nanaimo Daybreak, Director with the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, and Director with Nanaimo Prosperity Corporation.

Contact Janice at 250-739-5765 or email

Chelsea was born and raised in Nanaimo and has a long and proud family history on Vancouver Island. After achieving her Bachelor’s Degree from Vancouver Island University (VIU) in 2015, she remained at VIU as an employee and joined the Advancement & Alumni Relations department, where she built strong relationships with donors to VIU for the better part of a decade. During this time, she received the Community Impact Award from CUPE Local 1858 for her years spent on the CUPE Executive as First and Second Vice-President, and her volunteer work as President of the Nanaimo Women’s Resources Society.

Chelsea thrives when she can advocate for others and believes in giving back. She has served as a Board Member for the Lion’s Club – Saturna Island Chapter, was a fundraising team lead for the MS Society of Canada, and lead two head shaving fundraisers in support of the BC Cancer Foundation and Locks for Love.

In addition to her degree, Chelsea holds a certification in Applied Business Technology and has an extensive background in writing for business and impact. She has held high-level customer service and hospitality roles for over 20 years; work she has always gravitated to as a details-oriented person who loves to be of service to others.

Like so many people in our community, Chelsea has a very personal connection to Island Health. Her mother benefitted from the support of Island Health’s Home Support Workers whose care allowed her to remain at home during her long battle with MS. Chelsea is grateful for the opportunity to champion Island Health’s many wonderful initiatives by joining the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation team.

Contact Chelsea at 250-740-2622 or email

Clinton King came to the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation on March 9, 2020 as the new Manager of Code Brew.

Clinton brings to the Foundation a long and varied career with extensive experience both in management and in the hospitality industry.

After five years with Home Depot, Clinton has held every position from a Department Supervisor, Manage on Duty, Night Operations Supervisor to Co-chair of the Health and Safety Committee.

Clinton was the General Manager of the Earls Restaurant for close to 20 years. He oversaw all of the business development, planning and operations of the restaurant, including the management of more than 75 restaurant staff.

Clinton’s training and education includes, his First Aid Level 2, Earls Restaurant University, Home Depot Leadership Training and his Bachelor of Arts, in Business Management.

Clinton is a long time Nanaimo resident. However, grew up on a cattle ranch in the middle of BC. To this day he still enjoys getting outdoors and working hard on the ranch. He has a real love for rescuing, fostering and rehabilitating dogs. To date, he has changed the lives for more than 20 dogs for the better.

Contact Clinton at 250-755-7691, ext 52244 or email

Christian joins the Code Brew team with extensive leadership, and management experience.

Born and raised in Nanaimo, Christian is a Francophone with a passion for sports, helping others, and of course, coffee.  He began his career as the Assistant Equipment Manager for the Nanaimo Clippers Jr A Hockey Club. After a brief hiatus in Germany, he eventually returned to Nanaimo for a final season with the Nanaimo Clippers as the Equipment Manager. After that season, he moved on to the hospitality industry, working at Earls in Nanaimo, and eventually moving to Montreal. There, he worked at Moxies as a supervisor before working at the luxurious W hotel, perfecting his espresso artistry. His eye for detail, and meticulous work became noticed by several in the industry, making him an asset to any hospitality management team.

After many years away, Christian moved home primarily to be closer to his family. Excited to be home and working at Code Brew, Christian hopes to motivate and inspire his team mates to become the best versions of themselves as ambassadors of the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation.

When away from Code Brew, Christian can be found playing soccer, watching every Montreal Canadiens games, helping others (especially dogs) and loving his family.

Contact Christian at 250-755-7691, ext 52244 or email

Tamara Paton comes to us from San Diego, California where she worked in Health Care Management and Training for 15 years. Tamara is the Executive Director of the Nanaimo Lifeline Program and while she is new to this role, she has been with the Nanaimo Lifeline Program since 2010.

Tamara is passionate about helping seniors and the medically at risk to live safely and independently in their own homes. Tamara is proud to be a part of the Foundation and providing top-of-the line medical equipment helps ensure the best health care outcomes, making a difference in the lives of many.

Contact Tamara at 250-739-5768 or email

Karen joined the Hospital Foundation in September 2020, bringing with her many years of experience in hospitality, health care and not-for-profit fields.  Karen is passionate about working with people who make a meaningful impact in the community, so the Hospital Foundation seemed a great fit!

Karen and her husband chose Nanaimo as the perfect place to raise their young family 25 years ago, and there have been no regrets!  She believes in the importance of giving back to the community, and has been actively involved in leadership roles in many community organizations, including Parent Advisory Councils, Girl Guides of Canada, and a number of local sports organizations.

Professionally, Karen has held Executive Assistant roles in a government-funded long-term care facility, and also in a small business specializing in government-funded employment contracts.  Being part of diverse Leadership Teams has given Karen a wide-range of inter-personal and administrative skills, and a keen understanding of the importance of teamwork to reach goals.

Karen’s experience in the hospitality industry has instilled a high standard for customer service and she looks forward to meeting and greeting the many generous donors and other stakeholders who help to make our hospital a better place for our communities.

Contact Karen at 250-755-7950 or email

The Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation is thrilled to welcome Brittany Roelen, who has recently joined the Foundation as the Manager of Accounting Services.  She is responsible for providing a full range of accounting functions for the Foundation and its two subsidiary businesses:  Code Brew and the Nanaimo Lifeline Program.

Brittany graduated form Conestoga College in 2017 with an advanced diploma in Business Accounting.  After graduation she pursued a career in finance in a large consulting firm in London, Ontario where she stayed for several years before moving to Nanaimo with her husband.  Working with many different clients and systems, she brings her considerable experience to the Foundation, where she is already making a positive impact.

Brittany is excited to join an organization that is passionate about providing the community and dedicated hospital staff with the best resources and medical equipment possible.  Brittany feels particularly motivated when working for organizations dedicated to a making a positive impact on the world.  The Foundation is delighted to have Brittany working with us as we strive to support our hospital with the resources they need to provide excellent healthcare to central island residents.

In her spare time, Brittany leads an active life, enjoying all that the Island has to offer.  In particular, she and her husband love to hike, kayak, and mountain bike.

Contact Brittany at 250 740-2651 or email