On Thursday night, NDP MPP France Gélinas received an award from the Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC) recognizing her efforts in building and nurturing the community health movement.
"France Gélinas was chosen by AOHC members partly because she was bringing many years of frontline and management experience to her new calling, partly because of the innovations she had lead and partly because she had a passion - completing the Second Stage of Medicare," said Adrianna Tetley, AOHC Executive Director.
Gélinas is a trained and licensed physiotherapist. She started her career in Sudbury at the  Laurentian Hospital, which is now part of Sudbury Regional Hospital. After graduating from Laurentian University with a masters in business administration, she became a health care administrator.
For eleven years, Gélinas worked as the executive director of the Community Health Centre in Sudbury. Under her leadership, the Centre expanded to many small and rural communities in the northeast, opened the Corner Clinic serving the homeless population and became the lead agency for the Sudbury Homelessness Network.
Gélinas was on the board of AOHC for five years and became President under the banner of Taking Action on the Social Determinants of Health. She was AOHC's first Francophone president.  
For Gélinas, today's mission is to use her new position as MPP for Nickel Belt and NDP Critic for Health and Long-Term Care to spread the word about the Second Stage of Medicare and community-based health care.
"It's worth fighting for a province-wide network of community governed, not-for-profit primary health centres that adheres to the hard-won AOHC principles and the Tommy Douglas vision for the Second Stage of Medicare," said Gélinas.
As former AOHC President Denise Brooks said "France Gélinas entered the arena running, and she shows no sign of slowing down. We can help realize Tommy Douglas' original vision. With people like her as our champion, I think we will."
