WAHA CEO Lynne Innes receives Premier’s Award in health sciences

Weeneebayko Area Health Authority President and CEO Lynne Innes received a Premier’s Award in the health sciences category on Feb. 18, according to a WAHA statement posted Feb. 19.

The Premier’s Awards, run through Ontario’s college system, recognize college graduates across seven categories. WAHA provides health services in Moose Factory, Moosonee, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Peawanuck.

WAHA said Innes received the award for her work to improve the quality of care and access to care in the western James Bay and Hudson Bay region of Ontario.

Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities Nolan Quinn and Colleges Ontario interim president and CEO Maureen Adamson presented the award, WAHA said.

Innes, a nursing graduate of Northern College, is a member of Moose Cree First Nation. WAHA said she is the first Indigenous woman to serve as president and CEO of a large health authority in Canada.

WAHA credited Innes with helping bring the region’s first CAT scan machine and first portable MRI, along with cardiologists and optometrists to provide care.

WAHA also said Innes organized 200 vaccine clinics in remote Indigenous communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health authority said she teaches courses to medical professionals in remote areas and serves as a board director for the Ontario Hospital Association.