We Are IH: Meet Shelley Ockenden

Raised on a remote guide outfitting guest ranch near Smithers, B.C, Nancy-Jo has always thrived in nature, feeling most at home in the mountains. She has been privileged to live in the traditional, ancestral territories of the Nez Perce, Wet'suwet'en, and Ktunaxa Nations throughout her life, and currently calls Elk Valley in the East Kootenays home.

As a teenager, Nancy-Jo had to choose between her two passions – the sport of equestrian and alpine ski racing. Her decision fostered a “previous life,” where her drive for adventure and passion for alpine skiing took her across North America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and South America as a professional high-performance coach, and Canadian Ski Coaches Federation examiner and educator.

She currently works as a clinical operations manager, shifting from critical care and intensive care unit (ICU) work to primary care. Inspired by the teams she works with daily, Nancy-Jo says,

“I have always been motivated and excited to be immersed in an environment where quality improvement and change is the basis for making performance, systems, and experiences more efficient, person centered, and enjoyable.”

As a manager and team member, she values kindness, honesty, integrity, fair play, and willingness to work. She works to create a fun, inclusive environment, saying, “I embrace change of all kinds and the potential in all of those around me! Humour and joy at work are essential.”

Driven by a natural progression of curiosity and willingness to become more informed (and motivated by her accomplished sister), Nancy-Jo completed her master’s degree in 2021. She believes that if you have the opportunity and time to commit to further education, it is a goal well worth the effort. She is also proud to have been a participant and recent graduate of the Physician Quality Improvement (PQI) program.

Nancy-Jo’s love for nature extends into her day-to-day work, as she advocates for environmental sustainability for IH and the health-care industry. She says, “I am truly hopeful that we can all help the IH initiative to make our industry less impactful on the environment and be creative with how we use what we use.”

Outside of work, you can catch Nancy-Jo exploring and adventuring the great outdoors with her partner Max, and favourite sidekicks - her Australian shepherds “Rocky Mountain” Ruby, and “Polar Peak” Pearl. Though she finds it difficult to narrow it down to one favourite outdoor activity, she is partial to a winter day spent backcountry skiing and earning fresh tracks by effort. In the summer, she loves fly fishing and hiking the Wigwam River, camping, and hiking and mountain biking the endless trails in the East Kootenays.

In both work and life, Nancy-Jo is always looking forward to the next challenge, whatever that might entail. As she says, “adventure is always calling!”

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