Meet the
Project ECHO® Ontario
Child and Youth Mental Health Hub
Psychiatrist: Dr. Kathleen Pajer, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Pajer is from the U.S. and has been a researcher and psychiatrist for over 30 years, spending much
of that time working in child psychiatry. She is passionate about finding better ways to deliver care to
children, youth, and families, and finding effective treatments for girls with severe behaviour problems.
Dr. Pajer spends her time outside of work writing, reading, and traveling around the U.S. visiting her five
children (an activity she shares with Co-Director Dr. Gardner – her husband).
Psychologist: Dr. Simone Kortstee, C. Psych.
Dr. Simone Kortstee is a child psychologist with special interests and experience in brain-behaviour
relationships and who thrives to empower children, youth and their families in the process of
overcoming mental health and neuropsychological challenges. She has worked as a psychologist in
various pediatric health care settings. Currently, she leads professional practice in psychology at CHEO.
Simone loves being with her family and friends, and she enjoys painting, music, sewing, and gardening.
System Navigator: Cindy Dawson, CYC (Cert.)
Cindy is a Certified Child and Youth Counsellor who works at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
as the Team Leader of Centralized Mental Health Intake. Cindy has joined Project ECHO® Ontario
CYMH as the Systems Navigator due to her extensive mental health experience in working with
community partners, families and high risk youth. Cindy is a strong advocate for self-care, balancing
family and her passion for running. Cindy has set a personal goal to complete her first marathon.
System Navigator: Ghyslaine Paquette, CYC (Cert.)
Ghyslaine is a Child & Youth Counsellor for the past 20 years with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern
Ontario. Her career exploits include in-patient mental health, the Eating Disorders Day Treatment
Program, Outreach, Mental Health Intake, Tele-Mental Health Service and Project ECHO® Ontario
CYMH. Ghyslaine is passionate in assisting families and community mental health providers’ access
services and education in their local communities across the province of Ontario. She is an avid
traveler, a fun spirit and a football mom.
Substance Use and Mental Health Social Worker: Hayley Masterson, M.S.W., RSW
Hayley is a Mental Health and Addictions Social Worker from The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. A
graduate of the University of Toronto Masters of Social Work program, Hayley specialized in mental
health practice and completed an internship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Hayley
brings three years of experience in community-based addictions counselling with the Jean Tweed
Centre in Toronto where she developed a passion for improving harm reduction approaches to
treatment and support for people with concurrent disorders.
www.cheo.on.ca/en/project-ECHO-ontario-CYMH
www.fosterpagan.com
[email protected] 613-737-7600 ext.ECHO (3246)
Operational team
Co-director: Dr. William Gardner, Ph.D.
William Gardner is co-director of Project ECHO® Ontario Child and Youth Mental Health along with Dr.
Kathleen Pajer. Dr. Gardner is a child psychologist, statistician, and mental health services researcher.
He studies children’s mental health interventions, statistical methods, psychiatric measurement, and
health system change. He is professor of epidemiology and the CHEO RI and University of Ottawa Chair
in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research at the University of Ottawa. He is a senior research scientist
at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (CHEO RI, Ottawa, ON), where he directs
the Centre for Pediatric Mental Health Services and Policy Research.
Manager: Josée Blackburn, M.S.W., RSW
Josée has spent most of her career working within the health care sector. In the last 10 years, Josée has
been dedicating her practice to mentoring, supporting and coaching health care professionals to offer
exceptional patient experience in leadership roles at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Josée is
passionate about community partnership, collaboration and system transformation. Josée loves a
challenge on the ski hills where you will most likely find her with her family on the weekends.
Administrative Assistant: Roxanne MacKay
Roxanne MacKay brings with her 15 years of experience in the private and government sectors. Not only
is she skilled at supporting and organizing her team members, she is adept at organizing large scale
local and national level events. Constantly learning, Roxanne endeavors to expand her skill set through
courses and networking. When not busy multitasking at work, she volunteers her time as a Scout Leader
with “Scouts du Canada”, winding down with a good read and creating fabric art through
cross-stitching. IT Support: Dale Hammond, MCP
Dale Hammond is a Technical Analyst / Team Lead for the Information Services Department at CHEO.
He has attended local Technical Institutes, received mastery in a skilled trade and became a Microsoft
Certified Professional. Dale has worked with technology for over 17 years, working for companies like
Compaq, HP, Dell, Mitel, and IBM. Using skills that he has learned from those companies, he has taken
those best practices carving out a unique role within CHEO working on projects to leverage technology
to provide better care in our healthcare system. He also enjoys coffee, hockey, being outdoors and did
he mention coffee?
Training and Development Specialist (on leave): Veronica Hoch, B.A.Sc.
Veronica has a background in Child, Youth and Family studies. She is passionate about adult learning
and project management and continuously pursues professional development in these areas. She is also
enthusiastic about collaboration to improve the outcomes for children and youth and that's why Project
ECHO®'s free technology-enabled knowledge sharing networks to improve the care for children and
youth mental health excites her. She is a planning, organizational and multi-tasking guru. Veronica is
also known as a former tea-lover now turned coffee enthusiast.
Training and Development Specialist (interim): Gina Hayes, CHRP
With a background in training and development at CHEO, Gina’s passion is to educate and support new hires
and to design and deliver training programs across the hospital. Gina’s training has focused on time
management, wellness and conflict. She graduated from Algonquin College with a Post-Graduate Certificate
in Human Resources Management and obtained her Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP)
designation in 2014. She enjoys spending time with her family, is an Indian tea-lover and is a Provincial
bowling champion.
www.cheo.on.ca/en/project-ECHO-ontario-CYMH
www.fosterpagan.com
[email protected] 613-737-7600 ext.ECHO (3246)