Christine Kouri

Christine Kouri has over 30 years of experience in the Canadian healthcare system and is known for her initiatives and expertise in equitable health care across socioculturally diverse and marginalized populations. A graduate of McGill University, she worked at the Montreal Children's Hospital as a nurse for 8 years. Upon obtaining her Master's in Health Administration, she was recruited to CHEO to lead the development of their Patient Experience department.

As the Manager for that department, she led CHEO's efforts to ensure an optimal experience for the Syrian Refugees that were welcomed to Ottawa starting in early 2016. Christine developed the role of a Newcomer Navigator position to better support the unprecedented number of newcomer families and the multidisciplinary staff that were providing them with care. Based on that experience, her team was approached by the federal government to develop a website to assist other healthcare organizations in managing the challenges of providing culturally safe newcomer navigation services as other cities also welcomed increased numbers of newcomers.

In 2019, CHEO received a three-year federal fund to further that work; developing a national platform to facilitate health and social inter-sectoral collaboration regarding newcomer navigation. In addition to oversight of the N4 project, Christine continues to lead CHEO's health equity efforts for their most vulnerable patients and families, including newcomers.