Sihem Djoudi Appointed Executive Director of the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team
Ottawa, August 19, 2026 — The Board of Directors of the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team appointed Sihem Djoudi as its first executive director. She took up her duties on August 17, 2026.
As a physician by training and experienced professional, Ms. Djoudi’s career has followed various paths in health and post-secondary education. Most notably, she has contributed to the development and improvement of health training programs, led transformation projects, coordinated inter-institutional initiatives, and guided teams in change management.
Until recently, Ms. Djoudi served as project manager for Colleges Ontario and coordinator of learning development at Collège La Cité. She is also a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa and was interim coordinator and manager of the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS), volet La Cité.
With a doctorate in medicine from Badji Mokhtar – Annaba University, in Algeria, as well as a master’s in educational technology and a specialized graduate diploma from Université Laval, Ms. Djoudi is recognized for her collaborative and rallying leadership, her capacity to build lasting partnerships, and her commitment to accessibility, quality of services, and continuous improvement.
Announced in April 2026, the goal of the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team is to gradually assume the care of 6,725 patients by December 31, 2027, through an annual provincial investment of $2.4 million allocated under Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan.
The team is presently recruiting a multidisciplinary team of some 15 professionals, including physicians and nursing staff. People wishing to be served by the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team are invited to register for the Health Care Connect program.
The Board of Directors thanks Jocelyn Veillard, clinical director at Hôpital Montfort, for serving as interim executive director over the last few months.
Quotes
“It’s a privilege to contribute to building this new organization and to participate concretely in improving access to French-language primary care in Ottawa West. Working alongside the team, partners and the community, I want to build an accessible, collaborative and sustainable clinic, where patient needs are at the heart of our decisions and where each person receives compassionate, high-quality care.” – Sihem Djoudi, Executive Director of the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team
“The Board of Directors was unanimous: Ms. Djoudi knows the clinical field, has led complex projects with multiple partners, and has the ability to mobilize people around a shared objective. That’s what it takes to launch a new organization and deliver on the promise made to the Francophone community of Ottawa West.” – Roger Farley, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team
“Opening French-language frontline services in Ottawa West is one of the target outcomes under Montfort’s strategic plan for 2024–2028. With the appointment of Ms. Djoudi, we’re taking a decisive step towards opening the clinic.” – Dominic Giroux, President and CEO of Hôpital Montfort
Biographical notes
A physician by training, Sihem Djoudi has more than 18 years’ experience at the crossroads of health, post-secondary education, and organizational development. Over the course of her career, she has worked in clinical settings, taught health sciences and nursing, contributed to the development and improvement of health training programs, and led and coordinated transformation projects involving multiple institutional and sectoral partners.
Since 2025, she was running the delivery of the French-language component of the vast provincial Nursing Program Transformation Initiative (NPTI), a project led by Colleges Ontario. She coordinated institutional and sectoral partners, including Collège La Cité, Collège Boréal, and various English-language colleges.
She was also interim coordinator of the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS), La Cité unit, where she supervised human resources, the annual budget plan, and reporting to national funders, while deploying recruitment and retention strategies in French-language health programs. Coordinator of learning development at the same institution since 2018, she led program transformation projects in the context of major restructuring, guided teams in change management, and contributed to accreditation processes.
Since 2007, she has been a part-time professor at University of Ottawa, where she teaches several courses at the Faculty of Health Sciences, in particular within the framework of the Ontario Nurse Practitioner Education Consortium.
Committed to the institutional life and collective wellbeing of her workplace, Sihem Djoudi contributed to awareness-raising and the integration of the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as well as achieving progress in the Truth and Reconciliation process. She also sat on the strategic council of Collège La Cité and was elected vice-president of its college council.
Her commitment to excellence in teaching and innovation has been recognized many times. In 2016, she received an award in recognition of her excellence as a professor at the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, as well as a Mérite collegial award of distinction from La Cité for excellence and innovation in 2023.
She holds a doctorate in medicine from Badji Mokhtar – Annaba University, in Algeria, a master’s in educational technology from Université Laval, and a specialized graduate diploma in digital learning environments and networking from the same university. She also attended the training program of the Leadership Institute for Managers of Colleges & Institutes Canada (CICan). Her career testifies to her sustained commitment to quality, accessibility of French-language services, continuous improvement, and collaboration for the benefit of communities. She speaks French, English and Arabic.
About the Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team
The Montfort Ottawa West Community Family Health Team will offer French-language primary care to the Ottawa West population. It will gradually take on the care of 6,725 patients, first prioritizing Francophones without a primary care provider registered in the Health Care Connect program and residing in Ottawa West.
A new corporation created by Hôpital Montfort, the Coopérative multiservices francophone de l’Ouest d’Ottawa (CMFO) and the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO), it is governed by its own board of directors and consolidated with Hôpital Montfort, like the Institut du Savoir Montfort and Santé Montfort.
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