The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,July 16,2020 theifp.ca With social circles and social gatherings, you now havemore options to safely see friends, family and loved ones. Visit ontario.ca/socialcircles Paid for by the Government of Ontario Social Circles • Always the same group of up to 10 people • Close contact like a hug is allowed • You can only belong to one circle Social Gatherings • Can be any group of up to 10 people • Maintain physical distance (2 metres) • You can gather with different groups of up to 10 people A Georgetown woman committed to fixing gaps in the mental health and ad- dictions system has been chosen to chair the Ontario health minister's Patient and Family Advisory Council. Betty-Lou Kristy is now tasked with guiding the council for the next three years and providing strate- gic advice to Deputy Pre- mier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott on a variety of issues related to patient-centred health care. The local bereaved mother, who lost her son Pete in 2001 to an accidental opioid overdose at the age of 25, has been in recovery herself for almost two de- cades from alcohol, multi- drug addictions, trauma and mental health issues. She's currently the di- rector of Halton's Centre for Innovation in Peer Sup- port, which works locally to integrate peer support services in the mental health and substance use/ addictions system. "I think my appoint- ment speaks volumes about this government's commitment to mental health and addiction," said Kristy. "It feels like a huge blending of lived and fami- ly experience, years of ad- vocacy, learning what the system needs and working hard to be part of the solu- tions." Elliott said she's truly inspired by Kristy's strength, resilience and bravery, both as a patient, family member and fierce advocate. "It's not often someone's experiences and their life's story shine a spotlight on gaps in care and how we can work together to build a better, more inclusive health system," said El- liott. "Every single Ontari- an will benefit immensely from Betty-Lou agreeing to take on this role." Kristy is no stranger to sharing her insights with provincial politicians and has recently been part of an Ontario COVID-19 table geared to mental health and addictions. She also consulted on the Ontario government's document entitled "Road- map to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Sys- tem." The Patient and Family Advisory Council provides advice to the health minis- ter on key priorities that have an impact on patient experience and care. The inaugural council made several contributions to provincial health care, in- cluding the development of a patient declaration of val- ues and advice on topics like mental health and ad- dictions. The council members that Kristy will serve alongside with will be es- tablished in the coming weeks as the recruitment and selection process is fi- nalized. NEWS Georgetown's Betty-Lou Kristy (right), pictured with Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott before the pandemic. Betty-Lou Kristy photo KRISTY NAMED CHAIR OF HEALTH MINISTER'S ADVISORY COUNCIL MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com "Every single Ontarian will benefit immensely from Betty-Lou agreeing to take on this role." - Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott