It’s not often one can give people what they need, save taxpayers money and improve quality of life for individuals and a community, but that’s exactly what Sandra Coleman’s role enables her to do.
Coleman is CEO of the South West Community Care Access Centre (CCAC), an organization dedicated to working with community partners to help individuals remain in their homes with dignity and out of hospital and long-term care homes.
A gold medallist from the class of 1990, Coleman began her career at Lerners LLP, working in the areas of healthcare, human rights, employment and appellate law. She worked on appeals with Earl Cherniak and litigated in the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ontario Court of Appeal.
When she was offered a senior position at CCAC in 2001, the new career opportunity took her by surprise. It was a calling she wasn’t initially aware of, but she was drawn to the opportunity to give back.
“When you’re in healthcare leadership, every minute is exciting,” she says. “Every single day I feel like I am contributing in some small way to making the community better.”
Coleman says there are some myths surrounding private versus public service. She’s now working longer hours in public service than she ever did at a law firm. The role is more demanding but the satisfaction level is high.
“There’s no opposing counsel, the starting place is non-adversarial and everyone can gather around a shared vision and implement,” she says. “We all want to improve the quality of care and the patient experience.”
An active volunteer and board member (she has been awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Community Service Award and the Province of Ontario’s Leading Women Building Communities Award), she’s passionate about encouraging other lawyers to give of their time and skills to worthy organizations.
She describes her time at Western Law as “transformative” and says it gave her a frame of reference to understand the world.
“I think there is a real fit for lawyers and healthcare leadership,” she says. “The skills help you drive through a very complex landscape.”
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