Board of Directors

Heather Cross RN MN MSC – Board Chair: Heather is proud to be associated with the WRNPLC in her role as Board Chair. In addition to this role, Heather provides academic leadership for the Practical Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Continuing Education Nursing programs at Conestoga College. She brings to this role experience in direct patient care in surgical nursing and both pediatric and adult critical care as well as fourteen years as nursing faculty. Research interests include youth health and wellbeing, clinical nursing education, and ethical challenges in nursing global health placements. Current leadership projects include increasing access to nursing education through expanding nursing programs and delivery options, implementing projects to strengthen the philosophical foundations of compassionate professional nursing care, and supporting safe patient care through expansion of accreditation and monitoring processes. In her board role, she is committed to supporting health care change that improves equitable access to primary health care and the resources needed for health and wellbeing. She is a graduate of Conestoga College (Diploma RN), University of Calgary (Bachelor of Nursing), University of Toronto (Master of Nursing) and University of Guelph (Master of Science).

Sandra Hett RN, BaS, BScN, MN – Vice Chair: Sandra has worked in a nursing capacity, primarily in the Emergency Department in St. Michaels Hospital and Southlake, moving to leadership roles early in her career. She experienced progressive leadership opportunities at several Toronto hospitals and continued that path at St. Mary’s General Hospital and to her current role as VP Clinical Programs and Chief Nursing Executive at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Her leadership focus and contribution has been valuing patient experience and viewing models of care with the lens of clinical outcomes, patient experience and all members of the inter-professional team practicing to achieve their full scope of practice.

Dianne Dal Bello RN BScN MScN APN – Board Secretary: Dianne is a Nursing Faculty Member with the McMaster Conestoga Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) Program. After graduating from the University of Western Ontario MScN Program, she went onto to complete the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Toronto. She worked as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in Gynecologic Oncology for 14 years before moving into her current academic role where she is teaching in Level One and Two of the BScN Program at Conestoga College. While working at the London Health Sciences Center, Dianne was a member of various committees such as Cancer Care Ontario Disease Site, Gynecologic Oncology Nursing Professional Practice. She continues to support the scholarship of teaching through her academic work and participation on committees including Faculty Development and Faculty Representative for McMaster Student Nursing Association. Dianne was born and raised in Cambridge where she currently resides with her husband and two children.

Giordano Modesto- Director: Giordano is a Community Legal Worker at Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, a community legal clinic specializing in ‘poverty law’. He focuses on direct client service, community development, public legal education, and law reform work. He has been instrumental in the implementation of the Legal Health Checkup program at WRCLS, as well as various outreach and legal education activities in Waterloo Region. Prior to this, he was a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, graduating with a B. A. in Criminology in 2015. Outside his work in the community legal clinic system, Giordano lends his talents as a bassist to three Hamilton area bands.

Karen Gehan- Treasurer: Karen has accumulated extensive experience through her work in a wide range of clinical settings and roles throughout her nursing career.  After graduating from Queen’s University School of Nursing, she spent several years working in the ICU in Toronto, the Niagara region, Hamilton, and in Bermuda. She earned a role as a Clinical Educator for the Emergency Department and ICU Programs while living in Bermuda. On return to Canada she joined St. Mary’s General Hospital as a Clinical Educator in the Surgical Program.  She subsequently gained valuable management experience as Program Manager of the Surgical Program at St. Mary’s.  After completing the Nurse Practitioner program at McMaster, Karen worked as one of the original Nurse Practitioners at the Waterloo Region NPLC and has now been at Kitchener Downtown CHC for several years as a Nurse Practitioner. Karen completed a Master of Education degree at Brock University, where her thesis focused on continuing education of nurses.  She has experience as a prenatal instructor and has taught nursing continuing education courses at several community colleges.  Karen is an enthusiastic lifelong learner, who is passionate about accessible quality health care for everyone and the importance of quality improvement initiatives in healthcare.

Zeynep Danis- Director. Zeynep serves as the Assistant Vice President, Financial Resources at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has focused her career in the broader public sector with more than 15 years in financial leadership positions. She previously worked in the local health sector as a member of the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network from 2011 to 2021. Prior to that, Zeynep held roles at Legal Aid Ontario, the Canadian Depository for Securities and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Zeynep is a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) and holds a B.Sc. in Science and Business from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from Queen’s University. Zeynep lives in Kitchener with her partner and two children.