We are pleased to share our Executive Board and Board Directors for the upcoming term! Congratulations to those who have been elected.
Let's learn more about our Executive board and Board Directors below!
Meet our Executive Board
NEW President: Corey Heerschap, MScCH(WPC), BScN, RN, NSWOC, WOCC(C), IIWCC
Corey Heerschap, MScCH (WPC), BScN, RN, NSWOC, WOCC(C), IIWCC is the Clinical Nurse Specialist for Wound and Ostomy at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, Ontario. Corey has been working in the wound care field since he graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Laurentian University in 2012.
NEW President-Elect: Bev Smith RN, BScN, NSWOC
Bev Smith was born and raised in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia where her Indigenous Ancestors from the Miꞌkmaq First Nations of Potlotek, Cape Breton settled in the early 1900’s. After graduating high school, Bev moved to Edmonton and completed her BScN at the University of Alberta. After working in acute care for several years, an opportunity to work alongside the hospital’s only NSWOC presented itself and Bev was excited to take on the new challenge. Bev enrolled in the then CAET wound, ostomy and continence education program and graduated as a NSWOC in 2008.
NEW Secretary: Roxie Demers RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC(C)
My name is Roxie Demers. I am a Registered Nurse with the designation of Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence and I am employed by SE Health in Hamilton. I have worked there for two and a half years. Before SE Health I worked at a regional hospital as a Skin and Wound Nurse. I completed my IIWCC in 2018 and decided to continue my education and acquire my NSWOC certification in 2020. I am Wound, Ostomy and Continence certified with the Canadian Nurses Association.
Treasurer: Misty Stephens RN, MClSc(WH), BScN, NSWOC, WOCC(C)
Misty Stephens started her career as an ICU trauma nurse and then transitioned into being an NSWOC in 2013. Since then she has been working in acute care as the certified NSWOC. She is the chair of BC provincial skin and wound committee and value analysis teams. Misty is the regional NSWOC BC / Yukon director.
Past President: Marcia Leard RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC(C)
Marcia Leard is a native of Prince Edward Island and has been the NSWOC at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside, PE since 2003. She graduated from the A J McMaster School of Nursing in Moncton NB in 1989 and completed her Bachelors Degree in Nursing Science at Brandon University in 1995. Marcia has experienced a diverse career including positions in emergency, obstetrics, med- surg, peds and nursing station relief in northwestern Ontario, but was thrilled to return home in 2001 and work in her home town.
Chief Executive Officer: Catherine Harley (she/her) RN, eMBA, IIWCC
Catherine has served as the Executive Director for Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy & Continence Canada (NSWOCC) for the past 12 years and was also the first Executive Director for the Operating Room Nurses Association of Canada (ORNAC) for 5 years. Past experience includes serving as the Director of Global Strategic Marketing, Wound Care Core Business for ConvaTec division of Bristol-Myers Squibb in Skillman, New Jersey and Business Unit Manager for Wound and Skin Care based in Montreal Quebec prior to that.
Meet our Board Directors
BC & Yukon: Rochelle De Clerk BScN, NSWOC
Rochelle De Clerk's love for wound care began in nursing school at Trent University in Ontario. It was during her 2nd year practicum that she realized wound care really interested her. Rochelle moved to BC during her 4th year of nursing and began her career as a Registered Nurse in Richmond Hospital in 2009. She has worked in a few different fields of nursing including Cardiac, Medical, and Surgical. Her passion for wound care really began when she became a Community Care Nurse in Salmon Arm, B.C. in 2012.
NEW Prairies, NWT and Nunavut: Angela Koziak RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC(C)
My name is Angela Koziak and I have lived in Alberta my entire life. I live in Beaumont with my spouse Mark, my kids Noah (16), and Kailey (7). My stepson Castin (20) lives on his own now. I graduated from the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta in 2004. As a student I worked in long term care. After graduation I worked in medicine and ICU. After having my son, I became a Case Manager in Supportive Living. Soon after, I met Bev Smith who inspired in me a fascination with wound care, encouraged me to join the direct nursing team and to take the NSWOC program.
NEW Ontario: Joshua Moralejo RN, BScN, MScCH: WPC, NSWOC, WOCC(C), IIWCC
Joshua is a Registered Nurse who has developed a passion for wound and ostomy care. He completed the CAWC Levels 1-3 Series (2011), the IIWCC (2014), Advanced Ostomy Care and Management (2016) and the Master of Science in Community Health – Wound Prevention and Care (2020) at the University of Toronto, and the NSWOC Program at the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Institute (2023). In 2023, he received the Canadian Nurses Association Certification in Wound, Ostomy & Continence.
Quebec: Audray Lafortune Bsc., infirmière clinicienne, stomothérapeute, PSCC(C)
My name is Audray Lafortune. I’ve been an RN since 2010 and a NSWOC since 2018. I started my career, as many people do, working in the hospital on various medical floors. It was the switch to home care that led me to discover my interest in wound care. A switch in employment, landed me a remplacement on the NSWOC team and from there I discovered a passion. For many the work of the NSWOC team is mostly unknown, but I discovered a field of great autonomy, highly competent nurses and daily challenges to make patients' lives better.
NEW Atlantic: Denise Nicholson RN, BN, NSWOC, WOCC(C)
My passion for wound care started early in my over 20-year nursing career when I worked on a surgical unit in Fredericton, NB. I also remember my first ostomy patient. He was a quadriplegic, and I was able to see how greatly his ostomy improved his quality of life. Then military life took my family and I to ON where I began working for an agency with an ET. I learned about the role and its value and my interest in ostomy and wound care further grew. Little did I know that soon after I would have someone dear to me need an ostomy.
NEW SWAN: Sharon Hunter RPN, IIWCC, SWAN
Bio coming soon!