Chartier a ‘key example’ of OMNI’s dedication to promotion
Thursday February 21, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
In the 13 years she has been a member of the OMNI family, there haven’t been too many positions Candace Chartier hasn’t had.

Chartier, OMNI’s new chief operating officer (COO), began her career with OMNI in 1995, when she took a position as a registered nurse (RN) at Frost Manor. From there, Chartier became the Lindsay long-term care home’s clinical care co-ordinator, followed by a stint as administrator/director of care.

In 2002, she became OMNI’s operations officer. She then became the company’s project director before landing her current position.

With recruitment and retention being major focuses for OMNI, Chartier stresses the importance of internal promotion as a method of building on existing strengths within the company.

Not only is internal promotion something which benefits the company, it’s also a valuable tool for attracting new talent to OMNI, she says.

The list of positions Chartier has held at OMNI says a lot about the company, she notes.

“It says that we’re completely genuine when we talk about promoting from within,” says Chartier. “I am the key example of that. I’ve been with the company for 13 years and the opportunities that have been afforded to me are unreal.

“When I go to recruitment fairs and I tell them that I started as an RN and now I’m one of the senior executives, it just makes people stop and want to know more about our company,” she says.

In her new position, Chartier’s primary duties will be overseeing the company’s operations and helping to set OMNI’s strategic vision, which will include future acquisitions of new homes and integrating them into the OMNI culture.

Her first task in this capacity was to help bring OMNI’s newest home, Country Terrace, into the OMNI fold.

“We’ve had a real success with Country Terrace,” says Chartier. “I started going into Country Terrace (about) nine months ago and started that whole process.”

Over the next 12 months, Chartier says wants to impress people by showing the public that OMNI is an excellent place to work if you have a background in health care.

“I want to wow our people,” she says. “I want to wow our people so much that they will wow other people just by talking about it. I want them to believe that OMNI is the best place to work.”