The Atlantic Canada Oncology Drug Access Navigators Association (ACODANA) is run by a group of volunteer directors.
Sandra Messer-Crain
President, Executive Director
Sandra Messer-Crain, part of the founding members of ACODANA, has been working as a Drug Access Navigator in the Oncology Department of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital for many years. Sandra’s background is in nursing as a licensed practical nurse.
She is very excited to be part of ACODANA and it is always in her best interest to make sure patients have access to the medication they need at little or no cost to them. “Helping one person might not change the world but it could change the world for one person”
Natalie Lethbridge
Vice President, Director of Operation and Events
Natalie Lethbridge has been working in the pharmacy field for 21 years and counting. She started her career as a pharmacy technician in the community pharmacy setting when she graduated from Community college in 2001.
In 2008, she began a career as a pharmacy technician with Eastern Health and has worked in 3 different hospital settings before she took a full-time position at the Health Science Centre in Newfoundland. In this new position, she specialized in hazardous and non-hazardous sterile preparations which is where her passion for oncology developed.
In 2017, she became a registered pharmacy technician expanding her scope of practice.
In 2021, she became a part time medical oncology Drug Access Navigator for the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre alongside their clinical pharmacist and Medical Oncology team. Natalie finds this role extremely fulfilling by helping oncology patients in a different way.
Josee Zunic
Vice President, Director of Operation and Events
Josée Zunic graduated from the Pharmacy Technician program at the Nova Scotia Community College in 2015. She started out in the community pharmacy setting but then joined the Nova Scotia Health Authority team, starting off in the sterile department mixing IV and Chemo drugs.
She joined the Drug Access Navigators role in Hematology and then transitioned to a full-time position with Medical Oncology, along with Radiation Oncology and Gynecology.
She is a strong advocate for her patients, as she goes above and beyond to make sure she can get the best possible coverage for her patients in the timeliest manner. She does everything she can to take the financial stress away from the patient so they can focus solely on their treatment and their health.
Kayla Ross
Director of Education
Kayla Ross is an experienced Oncology Drug Access Navigator in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is a Registered Pharmacy Technician who started her pharmacy career in a retail pharmacy setting and soon after began working as a sterile technician mixing IVs, including chemotherapy, where her true passion for oncology was discovered.
Awarded The Commitment to Care Service Award from the Canadian Healthcare Network in 2016, Kayla has been published in both the Canadian Healthcare Network Magazine as well on the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia website to recognize her role as a Navigator and Sterile Pharmacy Technician.
Being a cancer survivor herself, Kayla values her career as a Drug Access Navigator and makes it her mission to eliminate as much additional financial and navigation stress, as possible, for patients so they can focus on their health and treatment. Kayla is a strong advocate for patients and will not give up until she has obtained the coverage and access they need. “You can never beat a person who doesn’t give up!”
Ashley Schouten
Director of Education
Ashley Schouten is a Registered Pharmacy Technician who started her career in retail. For many years, retail was her home until she realized there was more to pharmacy and wanted to make a difference. Soon after, she began work as a sterile technician at The Victoria General while working part time in retail. A posting for a Drug Access Navigator In Hematology came up and she has never looked back.
As a Drug Access Navigator, Ashley is a determined, ambitious person who doesn’t give up until everything has been exhausted. Patients have many things to worry about, this isn’t one of them.
Director of Media
Hold on… Our Leadership team is growing
Janice Thériault
Director of Treasury
Graduating from the pharmacy assistant program at La Cité Collégiale in Ottawa in 1999, Janice began her career in pharmacy.
As time went by, the pharmacy world began to change with the regulation of Pharmacy Technicians. Her employer, the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Center, has helped her fulfill the requirements to become a Registered Pharmacy Technician that she achieved in 2019. Also in 2019, she started her current role as Drug Access Navigator. Her intention is to help as many patients as possible to get the best treatment available for them and to help these patients alleviate some of the burden associated with their treatment.
Hailey Hill
Registrar
Hailey Hill is an experienced Hematology/ Oncology Drug Access Navigator in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She started her pharmacy career in the retail pharmacy setting at age 16 and later went on to pursue education and licensing as a Registered Pharmacy Technician.
Before settling into her position as a Drug Access Navigator, she started her career in hospital pharmacy by working in areas of sterile compounding, chemotherapy preparation, and hematology clinical trials. Hailey found her true passion for hematology in 2018 when a dear friend’s partner was diagnosed with ALL.
Hailey is very passionate about the role of Registered Pharmacy Technicians in clinical practice and has since added that passion to advocating for equal access and coverage for cancer patients. Hailey continues to work retail pharmacy to maintain her license and keep up to date with retail pharmacy resources to better assist cancer patients.
As of July 2023, Hailey will be taking a leave of absence from her DAN position to explore an opportunity with Cancer Care IMIT!