Leadership Team
Paula Poirier
President/Chief Operating Officer
Paula Poirier has been Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President of Emergency Medical Care Inc. (EMC) since February 2009. As COO, Paula provides leadership and direction for the day-to-day operations of the EHS Ambulance Operations system in Nova Scotia (ground/air/medical communications) as well as 811 Telecare for both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Paula has more than 35 years experience in health care, specifically in the field of emergency health services. She served as Director of the Emergency Health Services (EHS) Provincial Programs for the Department of Health and Wellness for over eight years. In this role, she was responsible for four provincial programs, with a key focus on the continual development and implementation of the Nova Scotia Trauma Program, Simulation and Training Centre, Medical First Responders Program and the day-to-day operations of EHS LifeFlight, Nova Scotia’s critical care transport program.
Paula graduated from St. Martha’s School of Nursing. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing degree and a Master of Nursing degree from Dalhousie University.
Paula began her clinical career in nursing in many areas (e.g., general surgery, orthopedics and emergency) at the Halifax Infirmary Hospital (HIH). She progressed through diverse management roles: Nurse Manager, General Surgery Unit, Medical/Surgical ICU HIH, Medical/Surgical ICU and Neuro ICU VGH, Capital District Health Authority (HIH) Medical/Surgical/Neuro ICU; Acting Director – Cardiac, Emergency and Thoracic Portfolio (QEII).
Paula’s work has positively impacted the standard of pre-hospital, trauma and critical care that patients receive in Nova Scotia today. This work has also helped to establish Nova Scotia as one of the best-in-class within Canada.
Charbel Daniel
Executive Director, Provincial Operations
With over 15 years’ experience in EMS and more than 10 years in leadership, Charbel started his journey in EMS as a frontline paramedic in the Central region.
Charbel has held progressive positions over the years starting at Medavie HealthEd with oversight over curriculum development, distance education, and business development.
Charbel then took on the role of Chief Operations Officer for MedLife, where his responsibilities included the operational management of over 1,200 frontline clinical practitioners across Massachusetts. He returned to EMC in 2017 as Scheduling Supervisor and has been in his current position as Senior Manager, System Support since 2019.
Charbel holds a Bachelor of Science (Major in Physics) and a Diploma in Primary Care Paramedicine from the Maritime School of Paramedicine.
Paula Martell
Executive Director of Health Services, Risk Management and Compliance, Telehealth & LifeFlight Operations
Paula Martell is the Executive Director of Health Services, Risk Management and Compliance, Telehealth & LifeFlight Operations
at EMC. Prior to assuming the role of Executive Director, Paula was Program Manager for EHS LifeFlight. Paula’s previous portfolio included Performance & Development; however, with recent corporate restructuring she is now responsible for a broad corporate portfolio covering clinical services and education, risk management, patient safety and compliance. As well, Paula is responsible for Health & Wellness portfolio and two operations Telehealth and LifeFlight.
Paula has over 37 years’ experience as a medical practitioner as both a registered nurse and former paramedic, highlighted with specialized training and experience in areas of critical care, pre-hospital care and air medical transport.
In addition to her comprehensive clinical training, Paula completed a Masters of Business Administration degree in 2009, which also included specialized certificates in Fundamentals of Business, Advanced Business Management, and Advanced Business Strategy.
Jan Jensen
Executive Director, Medical Communications, Patient Flow and System Performance
Jan Jensen has over 21 years of experience working in emergency medical services in Nova Scotia. She began her career working in the Central and West Regions as a Primary Care Paramedic (PCP)/Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP).
Since then, Jan has held progressive positions including Senior Operations Paramedic (SOP), Field Training Paramedic (FTP), Research Leader, Performance Manager and most recently, Senior Manager of Performance & Development. Jan received her Master’s in Applied Health Services Research from Dalhousie University in 2010.
Jan is also an Assistant Professor with Dalhousie University Division of EMS (Department of Emergency Medicine) and has been a Sessional Lecturer with the University of Prince Edward Island Paramedicine (BSc) Program (Faculty of Biology). With areas of interest in clinical decision making, evidence-based practice and health services research in EMS, Jan has over 30 peer reviewed academic publications.
Rebecca Mullowney
Executive Director of Finance
Rebecca (Becky) Mullowney joined EMC in 2016 as the Manager, Financial Planning and Reporting and was appointed as the Director, Finance in 2018. Becky is accountable for all financial functions, including leading financial management and reporting, overseeing budget preparation and support the Chief Operating Officer on matters related to financial effectiveness.
Becky spent six years with Grant Thornton LLP in Halifax working from Accountant to Manager of Assurance responsible for analyzing financial statements, planning and execution of year-end audit results, preparing and managing budgets. Becky has also been a National UFE Coordinator working to develop and teach internal preparation programs for CA candidates across Canada as well as managing marking teams for practice exams providing guidance and instruction.
Becky is an active volunteer in her community, currently as Treasurer and Executive Director of the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia. Becky has her Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Accounting from Saint Mary’s University. Becky is also a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Professional Accountant graduate of the Atlantic School of Chartered Accountancy (ASCA) in Halifax.
Dale Bartlett
Executive Director of System Support, Safety, Communications & Public Relations
Dale Bartlett has over 42 years of experience in Emergency Medical Service (EMS). Since he began his career in 1979, he has held many progressive positions. He started as a paramedic and ambulance service co-owner with Bartlett’s Ambulance Service, Truro. In 1995, as part of an EHS Regional Pilot Program (first centralized EMS Dispatch Centre), Dale also served as Communications Manager Northern EMS. He joined Emergency Medical Care Inc. (EMC) during its inception in 1997 and since then, has served as Operation Supervisor and Regional Manager and Director as part of the Nova Scotia Emergency Health Services (EHS) system.
In 2008, as part of the Medavie EMS team, Dale led transition of the Prince Edward Island ambulance services system from privately owned services to a provincial system and served as the General Manager of Island EMS during this period.
In 2009/10 also under Medavie EMS, he was part of the transition/amalgamation project team transitioning the private, municipal and hospital based ambulance services in New Brunswick into a provincial system. He was involved in acquisition, employee recruitment and training. He was the Operations Team Lead and Acting Director of Clinical Operations during the transition.
In 2010, Dale was the Operation lead for the Medavie EMS Muskoka EMS service transition in Muskoka Ontario.
Dale is currently the Director of System Support with provincial responsibility for Fleet Services, Facilities, Procurement, the EHS Medical First Responder Program, the EHS AED Registry, Communications and Public Relations, Information Technology, Business Continuity and Provincial Scheduling.
In 2009/10 also under Medavie EMS, he was part of the transition/amalgamation project team transitioning the private, municipal and hospital based ambulance services in New Brunswick into a provincial system. He was involved in acquisition, employee recruitment and training. He was the Operations Team Lead and Acting Director of Clinical Operations during the transition.
In 2010, Dale was the Operation lead for the Medavie EMS Muskoka EMS service transition in Muskoka Ontario.
Dale is currently the Director of System Support with provincial responsibility for Fleet Services, Facilities, Procurement, the EHS Medical First Responder Program, the EHS AED Registry, Communications and Public Relations, Information Technology, Business Continuity and Provincial Scheduling.