2016 AGM: Meet the New Board of Directors

 

Delvin (Del) Grimstad (Courtenay) – NEW DIRECTOR
Born 1956, married 36 years (wife passed); have two kids and 6 grandchildren. Diagnosed with genotype 1a in1998 on release from Canadian Armed Forces. 1st treatment in 2001: Rebetron 48 weeks but not successful. Joined Hep C Council in 2000, chaired for two years (PHCN), re-treated in 2014 with simeprevir and Sovaldi, now cured! Del now works at AVI. Del has run with the HepCBC Liver Warriors team.

Laurel Gloslee (Victoria) – NEW DIRECTOR
I have a BA in Social Work. I have lived with Hep C 25 years. I’ve had to be treated 3 times, this last treatment has worked for me! I work at AVI in the Peer Educator Position. I am very passionate about sharing up to date and correct information with the public. I hope this info helps you to get to know me a little better.

Susan Malloch, R.N. (Mill Bay) – NEW DIRECTOR
Susan is retired (sometimes part-time), an orthopedic nurse and partner of our former Board Member Allen McCulloch who died recently while on treatment for hepatitis C. Susan wants to do what she can to help prevent others from having to go through what she and Allen did. She is willing to share her experience by speaking publicly about hepatitis C and end-stage liver disease as she did on World Hepatitis Day 2015 in Victoria, and at the Ministry of Health this year.

Phillip Wilkin (Victoria) – NEW DIRECTOR
I have 30 years of experience with the Criminal Justice System.  For a number of years, I served on various committees designed to improve the health and welfare of prisoners within the Canadian Prison System. During my incarceration, I became aware that HEP C was becoming ‘the scourge’ of the prison system. I actively advocated for education, treatment, and prevention. I therefore, would like to stand for election as a member of the HepCBC Board. In addition to living with Hep. C, I also am employed at AVI, where I am often involved in discussions with clients about the risks factors of transmission, etc.

Robin Tomlin (Robson, in the Kootenays) – RETURNING DIRECTOR
Robin: It was back in the ‘90s that a few victims of Hep C got together to help all people with Hep C, through education andSupport. These brave few started what we now know as HepCBC and bonded a bunch of men and women from all over BC and from all walks of life…Over the years they pushed for a cure, offered support to those who needed it, and they never turned anyone away. They had politicians come to conferences to speak and listen to our concerns. They brought in specialists from the medical profession, drug companies, and of course the media, when needed. They are the front line troops in our fight to survive, and we lost a few brave soldiers on the way to VICTORY!!…We never thought we would see a cure, but we kept fighting for one… The original crusaders were…and still are going strong. Hopefully one day HepCBC will not be needed, but they have to take the credit with them. We were pioneers in a field we knew little about.

Rosemary Plummer, R.N. (Vancouver and Victoria – a “Ferry Grandmother”) – PRESIDENT
I am Vancouver-born with several decades of nursing experience in large cities, small towns and isolated communities.  I was living in northern BC raising my family when I met Cheryl Reitz, who introduced me later to HepCBC.  When I was working in the UK back in the early seventies, I went to a lecture on a day off  by visiting US liver specialist  and  Nobel-prize winning geneticist, Baruch Samuel Blumberg, on his then-new discovery, Hepatitis B. This year while preparing for World Hepatitis Day, I learned that it always takes place on July 28th, because it is Blumberg’s birthday. How ironic that as I sat cross-legged on the floor of that crowded hall so many years ago, I didn’t know I would be acknowledging his birthday every year, or why! I worked for years with many First Nations people in the north and treasure my years there. My growing grandchildren and parents in their nineties keep me focused further south at the moment. But I look forward to returning to rural and remote areas to do HCV outreach whenever I can.

Chaim-David (CD) Mazoff, PhD. (Victoria) – VICE-PRESIDENT
CD is one of the founding members of HepCBC.  He became very ill in 1996 and had to retire from academia and a life of active athletics.  He has been on treatment 5 times, the last with Harvoni, and we are very happy to say it was successful!  He was very active for many years as a hep C advocate and was also the Managing Editor of the HCV Advocate in the U.S.  He is HepCBC’s webmaster.

He has always taken a very strong stand against any type of compromise with government and pharmaceutical companies in order to secure funding.  He is particularly appalled by the lack of social justice with regards to  hepatitis C, and by the fact that profits are put before people, which as we know has led to the unnecessary death and illness of many.

Cheryl Reitz, M.A. (Tsawwassen) – SECRETARY / TREASURER
Brought up in the USA, I lived in the remote NW corner of BC between 1977 and 1986 with my young family, homeschooling my 3 kids. I returned to university and taught English in Canada and Asia for many years. I also started up a website translation company. Diagnosed as HCV+ in 1992, I failed my first treatment in 2009. But in 2011 I joined a 24-week trial with the new DAAs which worked very well, with no side-effects. In fact I was able to walk the half marathon in the middle of treatment. Volunteering through HepCBC and meeting so many wonderful HCV+ colleagues has been a huge part of my healing process.Now I am a grandmother of three, retired, and happy to say my liver is rapidly recovering from cirrhosis. Last year I represented HepCBC at the first World Hepatitis Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland. This year I helped manage and train staff, helped out at many outreach events, and re-started the HepCBC Facebook site. My hope is for the total eradication of this virus from the face of the earth, starting with British Columbia. I will do whatever I can to get everyone tested and make treatment affordable and accessible for all.

Cynthia Carter (Victoria) – RETURNING DIRECTOR
I was diagnosed with hep C in June 2014. It was an interesting time in the hepatitis C world because when I first received my diagnosis the standard of care for me was interferon and ribavirin. Then quickly the new direct acting anti-virals came on the scene. I was fortunate to be treated with Harvoni, one of the new medicines, and I have been cured. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride trying to stay in touch with all the rapid changes and to figure out what was going to work best for me.HepCBC was instrumental in seeing me through this difficult time and I have found myself wanting to help others as I have been helped. I have learned about patient advocacy and I have tried to apply what I have learned by encouraging people in public office to be publicly tested for hepatitis C, including Mayors, MPs and MLAs. I have also committed to public speaking whenever possible, including town hall meetings and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre. I have attended conferences and been active in our 7 City Hepatitis C Awareness Bus Campaign, World Hepatitis Day, and in manning information tables at various venues.