Board Meeting Highlights

Executive Directors’ Meeting

On October 4, Executive Directors met and discussed a number of key topics including Healthy and Respectful Workplace, communication strategies/opportunities, professional development, provincial advocacy and roundtable updates.

Provincial President’s Meeting

On October 4, Provincial Presidents, Executive Directors and CDHA Board held a meeting on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Each president presented on their vision of the ‘Future of the profession’ from their provincial lens. This was followed by information sharing between provinces.

Annual General Meeting

CDHA’s president introduced a video that showcased the highlights of the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Financial Statements and Appointment of Auditor
The chair of the audit committee, Tiffany Ludwicki, presented the 2018-2019 audited financial statements. KPMG was appointed as auditor for 2019-2020.

CDHA’s Board of Directors
Sophia Baltzis, Director from Quebec and Mandy Hayre, Director from BC, completed their terms on the Board at this meeting. Both also served as president: Sophia (2017-2018) and Mandy (2014-2015).

CDHA welcomed three new Directors:

Leanne Huvenaars installed as the new president of CDHA.

The presentation of the new CDHA Board of Directors for 2019-2020:

Awards Luncheon

Prior to the Awards presentation, CDHA hosted a panel of visionary dental hygiene leaders to share perspectives on the future of dental hygiene. Panelists included Wanda Fedora, president-elect of the International Federation of Dental Hygiene, Ann Battrell, CEO of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, Sharon Compton, Director of the Dental Hygiene program at University of Alberta and Dianna Major, Canada’s 2019 Dental Hygiene Superhero.

CDHA Partners’ Circle Awards
At CDHA’s Awards Luncheon, the following awards were presented:

The Canadian Journal of Dental Hygiene (CJDH) Research Award is presented in two categories: Best Original Research Article and Best Literature Review. Dr. Salme Lavigne, scientific editor of the journal, presented these awards.

The 2018 CJDH Research Award winners for best original research article was presented to: Joanna Asadoorian, Dani Botbyl, and Marilyn Goulding for their article entitled "Ultrasonic instrumentation in Canadian dental hygiene programs: Perspectives of program directors on curricular elements".

The 2019 CJDH Research Award winners for best original research article was presented to: Salima Thawer, Congshi Shi, Cynthia Weijs, and Lindsay McLaren for their article entitled "Exploring reported dental hygiene practice adaptations in response to water fluoridation status".

The 2018 CJDH Research Award for best literature review award was presented to Jacqueline VanMalsen and Sharon Compton for their literature review, "Effectiveness of pediatric dental homes: A scoping review".

The 2019 award winners in this same category were Dana E. Belinski and Zul Kanji for their article entitled "Intersections between clinical dental hygiene education and perceived practice barriers".

Three years ago, the editorial board of the CJDH launched an essay award competition for dental hygiene students in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of a diploma or baccalaureate program. This competition, proudly sponsored by PHILIPS Sonicare, encourages students to develop a love for writing and research and with it, the potential for personal and professional growth.

The winner of the 2018 CJDH Student Essay Award was Alison Ashworth for her essay, "Understanding the factors influencing the Aboriginal health care experience".

The Oh Canada! Readers' Choice Award celebrates the important role that Oh Canada! authors play in the knowledge translation of best practices in dental hygiene.

Five articles from Oh Canada! are selected annually as finalists by the editor. CDHA members then vote on their favourite to determine the winner.

The winner of the 2019 Oh Canada! Readers’ Choice award is Christine Fambely for her article "Paying it Forward, Part two: Special Olympics".

CDHA’s Life Membership Award is designed to recognize a dental hygienist who has been an active member for at least 15 years, involved at the national level for a minimum of 10 years, and has made a significant contribution to the growth and achievement of the CDHA.

The 2019 Life Membership Award was presented to Dr. Sharon Compton.

CDHA’s Distinguished Service Award recognizes a dental hygienist who has made a significant contribution over a minimum four-year period to the advancement of the dental hygiene profession. The winner of the 2019 Distinguished Service Award, Cindy Fletcher, was recognized.

With 856 amazing entries, our second dental hygiene superhero competition, sponsored by Sensodyne, was an incredible success, surpassing last year’s total.

An impressive field of nominees was narrowed to 20 finalists from whom the grand prize winner and two honourable mentions were selected.

GSK/Sensodyne representatives Monique Swain and Thomas O’Sullivan presented the awards:

Grand prize winner: Dianna Major.
Honourable Mentions: Bev Woods and Shivvon Hayles.

CDHA honoured our loyal, longstanding members.

A total of 454 members were recognized this year for having maintained membership in the Association for 25 years (since 1994). Seven of those members were in attendance and each received a congratulatory 25th anniversary pin and certificate.

Ownership Linkage

Another key role of the Board of Directors is connecting with the owners (who are the members) of CDHA.

The Board hosted an Ownership Linkage session in advance of the Annual General Meeting. This session sought feedback on the future vision of the profession.

Key highlights from this meeting include:

• Board members are the fiduciaries who steer CDHA towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies, as well as ensuring we have adequate resources to advance our mission. This was informed through the CEO’s presentation on an environmental scan and an update on the strategic plan, as they support the Board Ends (goals).
• One of the key roles of a Board of Directors is its fiduciary responsibility. To ensure ongoing competency in this regard, the Board had a short education session on reading financial statements.
• The Chair of the Audit Committee, Tiffany Ludwicki, presented an Audit Committee report.
• The Chair of the Ownership Linkage Committee, Sophia Baltzis, presented a report.
• The Board directs, controls and inspires CDHA through the careful establishment of broad written policies reflecting the Board's values and perspectives. Thus, one of the key roles of the Board is monitoring and assessing Board policies and executive limitations at each Board meeting. The Board reviewed and accepted the CEO Monitoring Reports.
• The CDHA Board has two representatives to the International Federation of Dental Hygiene (IFDH)- Tracy Bowser and Beth Ryerse. The board reviewed the report from the IFDH delegates.
• The Federation of Dental Hygiene Regulators of Canada presented to the Board on their role, mission and strategic direction.
• The Board transitioned the presidency from Tracy Bowser to Leanne Huvenaars.
• The Board coach provided an orientation session on the Principle of Board Holism and the CDHA Practice of Group Responsibility.