CEO, Sujata Connors Announces Bas Kervel as Director, Support Services

Bas Kervel to assume the role of Director, Support Services

When I think about our people who serve at Menno Place I’m overwhelmed by the compassion and commitment of our team providing exceptional care to residents, and families who live here.

As we turn the page on nearly three years of a global pandemic, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for the tremendous contributions you have made to managing COVID-19 and continuing to provide the best care possible to our residents, families, and each other. I am truly thankful for a team that represents our core values of stewardship, excellence, respect, sanctity of life, innovation, compassion, and encouragement in all aspects of our work.

I would also like to thank our Executive and senior Leadership Team for providing steadfast leadership throughout the pandemic and continuing their support as we understand our new normal in collaboration with the Board of Directors, I am pleased to share this update on the senior executive structure and the following appointment:

Bas Kervel will assume the role of Director, Support Services.

Bas grew up in Abbotsford with a short stint in England from the age of 9 until 12 when his family moved back to Abbotsford. 24 years ago he married his high school sweet heart and moved to Chilliwack where they raised two boys who are now 20 and 23 years old.

Bas started his Menno Place career in 2000. After doing various construction projects as a contractor at Menno Hospital he then became a regular Menno Hospital employee as a maintenance worker and then worked in a variety of roles starting in 2003. After this Bas took on more leadership roles from Maintenance Coordinator (Menno Hospital) in 2003 and Facilities Manager (Menno Home & Hospital) in 2005. In 2015 Bas moved on to support high performing team across our campus where he was the Manager of Maintenance, Housekeeping & Materiel Management and then in 2017 became the Manager of Environmental Services & Materiel Management.

When Bas is not working hard to support Menno Place he is fishing, camping and playing soccer. He began playing soccer in England and now plays on the Chilliwack men’s team. He has also had the pleasure of playing with his family on a coed team in 2019.

Known for his warm, compassionate leadership, Bas applies our core value of if it matters to you, it matters to me in service to our vulnerable residents while leading with curiosity and innovation. Bas is looking forward to his new role and shared the following with me recently, “I truly feel that God has gifted me this journey of serving the residents at Menno Place and I’m truly grateful”.

We will be adding the role of Executive Director of Care to support the clinical portfolio and have begun the recruitment process. This role will support our collaborative way of working and ensure we continue to provide quality care across all care pathways throughout our campus.

I also share my sincere appreciation with Ron (Director of Finance) and Sharon (Director of Community Enrichment) who will continue to oversee their own portfolios as well as supporting other services as we recruit over the next few months.

I am so proud of all that Menno has accomplished together and, in particular, the way we continue to support one another. I’m confident this new executive team structure will provide integrated and collaborative leadership across our campus, focused on delivering exceptional care, and creating a great place to work.

Please join me in congratulating Bas on his appointment.

Sujata Connors, CEO, March 16, 2023

Click to view a video update from Sujata Connor, our CEO – an HR Director Search update and her thoughts after 3 weeks at Menno Place!