Meet the Wellbeing Team
A Message from Frank Cantafio, MSW RSW
Hello, I’m Frank Cantafio, and it’s my privilege to lead the Provincial Wellbeing Team at Shared Health. I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for the care, compassion, and dedication you bring to your work every single day. Supporting the health and wellbeing of health-care teams like you is at the heart of what we do – and it’s deeply personal to me.
For more than 40 years, I’ve been fortunate to walk alongside individuals, families, and organizations across Manitoba in roles focused on mental health, wellness, and organizational support. Whether working in mental health, youth and family services, or Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), my focus has always been the same: to help people and organizations thrive.
Over the past 30 years my work has brought me closer to health-care workers and leaders. From coordinating EAP at St. Boniface Hospital, to leading EAP as Director for the Government of Manitoba, and overseeing the full continuum of treatment services, including trauma response for health-care workers and their families at Manitoba Blue Cross. I’ve witnessed first-hand the incredible compassion, courage, and commitment of those in health care. These experiences – through challenges like the pandemic and other significant changes – have inspired me and reaffirmed why this work matters so much.
Throughout my career journey, I’ve worked in every corner of Manitoba, from rural towns to urban centres, and northern First Nations communities. These experiences have shaped my commitment to ensuring that wellbeing services reflect the diversity of the people and communities we serve. Everyone deserves support that is accessible, culturally meaningful, and meets them where they are.
Our vision is simple but powerful: to help create a culture where caring for yourself is just as natural as caring for others. By providing services, supports, and spaces for caring for yourself, we aim to make wellbeing “just what we do around here.” Together, we can build an environment where you feel a sense of belonging, where you are valued for your authentic self, and where you are empowered to care for yourself and support one another.
I know the demands of this work are immense, and the challenges can feel endless. But I also believe that by prioritizing our own wellbeing and fostering a culture that supports it, we not only sustain ourselves – we sustain the future of health care and ensure the best possible care for our patients.
Thank you for everything you do. You inspire this work, and I am grateful to be walking this journey alongside you.
Keep well,
Frank Cantafio
Executive Director, Provincial Wellbeing, Shared Health
The Role of the Wellbeing Leaders
Wellbeing Leaders work closely with regional partners across the province to deliver direct support to staff and leaders including psychological supports, trauma-informed education, and wellbeing initiatives that are tailored to local needs. By working collaboratively across regions, they will help to increase the capacity of the entire system to deliver comprehensive wellbeing services. A key part of their role is to strengthen provincial capacity to respond to crises, promote recovery, and ensure that all staff have access to mental health resources.
Wellbeing Leaders support the delivery of the trauma-informed, Provincial Critical Incident Stress Response (CISR) program. This program provides a full continuum of CISR supports to enhance local and provincial capacity in responding to critical incidents and other psychologically challenging events. This program ensures that healthcare workers receive timely, effective support during and after incidents that impact their mental health and wellbeing to support their recovery. If you are a health-care leader in need of support for critical incident stress or potentially psychologically traumatic events please visit our Critical Incident Stress Response Support page.
Mental Wellbeing Supports
The Wellbeing Team offers dedicated support and resources to enhance the mental wellbeing of the healthcare workforce across the province of Manitoba. Here are some of the team’s offerings:
- Leadership Consultation support
- Support for organizing a response for critical incident stress or potentially psychologically traumatic events – please visit our Critical Incident Stress Response Support page
- Drop-in Wellbeing Practice Sessions for Staff
- Wellbeing Check-ins
- Mental Health Navigation
Our Wellbeing Team
Frank Cantafio
Executive Director, Provincial Wellbeing, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Frank Cantafio, and it’s my privilege to lead the Provincial Wellbeing Team at Shared Health. I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for the care, compassion, and dedic...
Frank Cantafio
Executive Director, Provincial Wellbeing, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Frank Cantafio, and it’s my privilege to lead the Provincial Wellbeing Team at Shared Health. I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for the care, compassion, and dedication you bring to your work every single day. Supporting the health and wellbeing of health-care workers like you is at the heart of what we do – and it’s deeply personal to me.
For more than 40 years, I’ve been fortunate to walk alongside individuals, families, and organizations across Manitoba in roles focused on mental health, wellness, and organizational support. Whether working in mental health, youth and family services, or Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), my focus has always been the same: to help people and organizations thrive.
To read more, please see my message above.
Anne-Marie Brown
Manager, Provincial Wellbeing, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Anne-Marie Brown. I am a nurse and began my career working in direct service positions in acute, community and emergency and crisis mental health environments. I later worked as a clinical nurs...
Anne-Marie Brown
Manager, Provincial Wellbeing, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Anne-Marie Brown. I am a nurse and began my career working in direct service positions in acute, community and emergency and crisis mental health environments. I later worked as a clinical nurse specialist in mental health, before transitioning to formal leadership roles in mental health, long term care and quality and accreditation.
I’ve spent 26 years working in the health system in Manitoba and throughout my career I’ve felt passionate about supporting the mental health and wellbeing of health system staff. I had the privilege of being a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team at the Health Sciences Centre for six years, first as a peer and team coordinator, and then later as the director of the program. This experience taught me the importance of offering support immediately following critical incidents and has motivated me to find ways to support staff proactively.
Having worked in a variety of clinical and administrative roles in Winnipeg, I understand the unique challenges faced by health system staff and have seen these challenges evolve over time. As the Manager, Provincial Wellbeing, I aim to support the team of Wellbeing Leaders as they work collaboratively with health system staff across the province.
Caprice Kehler
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Caprice Kehler (she/her). My education is in Kinesiology and for the last 20 years I’ve worked at the Norwest Co-op Community Health as a Community Facilitator. This role allowed me to focus on community de...
Caprice Kehler
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Caprice Kehler (she/her). My education is in Kinesiology and for the last 20 years I’ve worked at the Norwest Co-op Community Health as a Community Facilitator. This role allowed me to focus on community development, partnership development, and facilitate capacity building projects with the community, and for the last 10 years in that role, I built and led the Community Trauma Response Team.
My experience in trauma response, facilitating training, and providing psychosocial supports to health-care providers during the pandemic, has allowed me to gain an understanding of the complex and often unique challenges our health system staff face every day. As a Wellbeing Leader I aim to support the development and implementation of wellbeing initiatives, prevention strategies, and policies that will promote the holistic wellbeing of our health system staff.
Chelsea McClelland
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Chelsea McClelland. My background is in social work and I have spent the last 12 years working in community health and post-secondary education. I have extensive experience in mental health, addiction suppo...
Chelsea McClelland
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Chelsea McClelland. My background is in social work and I have spent the last 12 years working in community health and post-secondary education. I have extensive experience in mental health, addiction support, and health promotion, with expertise in critical incident response and debriefing. Additionally, I have a strong background in facilitating, training, and coaching.
Throughout my career, I’ve felt passionate about outreach work, building meaningful relationships, capacity building, and promoting harm reduction and safer spaces. My experience in community health has given me a deep understanding of the unique challenges our health system staff face. As a Wellbeing Leader I aim to collaborate with teams to create a positive, supportive environment where people can thrive, making sure our health system staff have a voice in the development of policies and resources.
Christa Veitch
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Christa Veitch. My background is in health promotion, health and wellness education, and resource development. I’ve spent 11 years working as a health promotion coordinator in Prairie Mountain Health and re...
Christa Veitch
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Christa Veitch. My background is in health promotion, health and wellness education, and resource development. I’ve spent 11 years working as a health promotion coordinator in Prairie Mountain Health and recently finished a one-year term as a Mental Wellness Program Facilitator, focusing on employee wellness and enhancing workplace culture.
Throughout my career I’ve felt passionate about helping people find ways to improve their physical and mental health; providing education on effective wellbeing strategies; working with communities to increase their population health; and bringing people together to work towards common goals.
Having collaborated with various departments within our health system, I have a solid understanding of the unique challenges faced by health system staff. As a Wellbeing Leader I aim to connect with staff on a deeper level to better understand their challenges and work together on sustainable solutions.
Claire McCannell
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Claire McCannell. My background is in psychiatric nursing with a Master of Science in Counselling Studies. I’ve spent 17 years working in the mental health field. Throughout my career I’ve felt passionate a...
Claire McCannell
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Claire McCannell. My background is in psychiatric nursing with a Master of Science in Counselling Studies. I’ve spent 17 years working in the mental health field. Throughout my career I’ve felt passionate about critical incident stress response and trauma-informed care.
Having worked in clinical education and various front-line positions, including psychiatric emergency nursing, crisis services, and community mental health, I know how fulfilling – yet challenging – it can be to work within the health system. In my role as a Wellbeing Leader, I strive to ensure health system staff have access to the resources and support they need to thrive, both personally and professionally.
Jessica Morgan
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Jess Morgan. I hold a Master’s degree in Education and spent six years teaching in high schools and post-secondary institutions, both in Canada and internationally. Following that, I trained as a Primary Ca...
Jessica Morgan
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Jess Morgan. I hold a Master’s degree in Education and spent six years teaching in high schools and post-secondary institutions, both in Canada and internationally. Following that, I trained as a Primary Care Paramedic and have dedicated the past 12 years to emergency medical services (EMS), serving as both a Paramedic and a Quality Officer.
Throughout my career I’ve felt passionate about wellness and have advocated for systemic improvements that better support emergency response services (ERS) personnel. Co-chairing the ERS Wellness Committee has broadened my understanding of our workplace’s complex and diverse needs. Additionally, supporting East Zone paramedics as a Wellness Designate has provided invaluable insights into the unique challenges faced by our first responder teams.
As a Wellbeing Leader I aim to build sustainable, equitable resources that strengthen and empower all employees holistically, fostering growth and resilience both personally and professionally.
Ogai Sherzoi
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Ogai Sherzoi (here you can learn how to pronounce my name). My background is in social work and I’ve spent over 17 years working in the social services field, the health system and in health research—with a...
Ogai Sherzoi
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Ogai Sherzoi (here you can learn how to pronounce my name). My background is in social work and I’ve spent over 17 years working in the social services field, the health system and in health research—with a focus in the areas of mental health and addictions and trauma-informed care.
Throughout my career I’ve felt passionate about promoting holistic wellbeing that meets the diverse needs of individuals, groups and communities; using strength-based, solution-focused, and culturally safe approaches. As a Wellbeing Leader I aim to provide wellbeing supports that are congruent with each individuals’ values and hopes, so our health system staff can continue to thrive personally and professionally.
Terry Johnston
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Terry Johnston (she/her). My background is in Marriage and Family Therapy and Executive Coaching. For the past 10 years I’ve been semi-retired with a private practice, including significant Employee Assista...
Terry Johnston
Wellbeing Leader, Shared Health
Hello, I’m Terry Johnston (she/her). My background is in Marriage and Family Therapy and Executive Coaching. For the past 10 years I’ve been semi-retired with a private practice, including significant Employee Assistance Program (EAP) work through Manitoba Blue Cross. Prior to this, I worked as an EAP Program Manager for several federal government departments, and worked in Organizational Development with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA).
As a Wellbeing Leader I aim to provide support to front-line staff through critical incident program development and debriefings, and by supporting leaders and managers to excel in the people management side of their roles.