Archive for category: Important Update

The Board of Directors of the Mennonite Benevolent Society is pleased to announce Ms. Sujata Connors as our new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  Sujata is a values, faith-based leader, with over 20 years of progressive leadership experience.

Sujata was born in Halifax and raised in New Brunswick.  Having grown up in a small town of 2500 people, Sujata deeply values community and connection and very much appreciates the need of the residents at Menno. She started her career in nursing working both in the UK and Canada. She transitioned to leadership roles and has worked for a number of years within the BC Health Authorities, currently serving as a Director within the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.  Her career has been predominantly focused on supporting seniors and providing high quality health services that promote wellness, independence and choice through a person-centered approach.  Additionally, Sujata has been actively involved in collaborative partnerships to build coordinated care and streamlined systems across local and regional levels.  She has led facility redevelopment, rebuilds, capital planning and property management to support clinical services.

Sujata holds a Master of Public Administration, a Bachelor of Nursing and a Bachelor of Science. She has also had significant training in quality improvement through the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council as well as the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.

I want to extend my appreciation to the senior leadership team for providing interim leadership.  They will work closely with Sujata to ensure a seamless leadership transition to Menno over the next few months.

We are confident that Sujata will bring leadership, fresh eyes, thoughtfulness, creativity, care and devotion to the position.  She will be starting at Menno Place on February 22, 2023.

Carol Dyck, MBS Board Chair
on behalf of the MBS Board

Good Bye to the Staff – Karen Biggs’ Retirement:

As Menno enters 2023 to celebrate it’s 70^th Anniversary, the Lord has different plans for my life as I move on alone to tackle my breast cancer journey and then find a ministry in retirement.

I am truly sorry that I did not get a chance to thank each and everyone of you personally for all the wonderful things you do every day to serve our residents, their families and each other.

I experienced a taste of your love from the West 1 Home staff while they took excellent care of my darling husband, Peter for 15 months before he passed.

I was amazed over and over how thoughtful, loving and kind everyone  here is. I knew we give great care, but I didn’t really know that we give EXCEPTIONAL Care!!

I have seen many, many changes while I was here for the past almost 10 years!! I am thankful for all of you who put up with the changes and helped with them. I am disappointed that I did not get to rebuild our buildings for you but it is in God’s hands (and Fraser Health’s) as to when that gets done.

I am optimistic that Covid may have helped us move that project forward. I know that you are in great hands with the fantastic Leadership Team here at Menno and I have every confidence that the board will pick a great replacement for my position. I know that they are ready to announce my successor very soon as I had dinner with the board last night and they assure me it is forth coming.

Until they make an announcement, Kathrin McMath will be Acting CEO in my place.

I will continue to pray for all of you and the campus as I go forward. My radiation and medication pick ups are across the street at ARH so I will pop in to visit and attend Prayer Circle when I drive in from Langley if the times work.

Thank you for your prayers and your support these past 3 Covid years. It has been a tough pandemic for all of us and thanks to you we have done a great job handling it here at Menno. I wish fervently that we had not lost anyone to that disease!

Thank you for your diligence to keep our people and each other safe.

I look forward to the day that your unmasked faces will again show the smiles that I know live behind them.

All the best, may the Good Lord bless and keep you in His Loving arms.

Karen L. Biggs

 

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Thank you, Karen, for your faithful work at Menno Place over the past 9.5 years!

You have led in a way that has made us very proud of the care we give and the way you’ve improved the campus of care.

We pray that you will have a wonderful retirement as you continue to find ways to use your gifts for God’s glory and the benefit of those in need.

The Leadership Team