Our Leadership

Garry

Garry Derenoski

President & CEO

Garry is the founder of Bridges Health and has been the President and CEO since the organizations inception in 1997.  Prior to launching Bridges, Garry worked in the insurance industry as a bodily injury case manager, adjudicator and supervisor for 18 years. Throughout the duration of his career, he has excelled in the vocational rehabilitation field; attending to long and short-term disability claims, case management, return to work coordination, vocational evaluations, transferable skills analyses, labour market surveys and mental health claims. He has served on several boards, including Saskatoon Health Authority. He is the only member to serve two consecutive terms as President of VRA Canada. He also sat on the board for VRA Saskatchewan society and served on the board of Saskatchewan Association for the Rehabilitation of Brain Injured. With Garry’s diverse and extensive career history in the health and wellness sector, he has evolved Bridges Health to be one of the leading service providers in Western Canada.

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Laurie Sprung

Finance Manager

Laurie earned her BAC from the University of Saskatchewan – Edwards School of Business while raising a family and working full time.  In 2002 she chose to pursue her longtime goal and was successful in obtaining a position in the Accounting Department for a Government Agent Property Management Company.  Laurie brought 17 years’ accounting and system software experience with her when she joined the team at Bridges Health in June 2019.  With strong communication skills and personality, she acts as an excellent liaison with Bridges Health customers and partners.  She oversees all areas of the Financial Accountability and Reporting for Bridges Health.

The Business Development Team

Lilly

Lilly Sweet

Director of Business Development

Lilly Sweet earned her Bachelors Degree in Law and Society at the University of Calgary. Her speciality is Central and East European Studies. She has over 25 years of experience in sales, contracts, and sales team management. She is very goal-oriented, driven and engaged in maintaining relationships for business development. Lilly also received her financial sales insurance certification which complements her skills of multi-tasking, prioritizing, engaging customers, and sustaining those relationships.

She is fluent in two languages and enjoys taking long walks, gardening and camping. A passion that Lilly pursued is becoming certified to teach English online and meeting others from around the world. She served as Board Chair for the Local Air Cadets and is currently engaged with the Local Army Cadets.

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Kyle Anderson

Sr. Business Development Consultant

Kyle Anderson has earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counselling. By learning about the significant link between physical and mental wellness, Kyle utilizes a holistic approach towards overall health. Kyle’s professional experiences include providing individual and group counselling, working in the fields of substance use, eating disorders, crisis intervention, and mood and anxiety disorders. Working with Bridges Health has allowed Kyle to facilitate workshops with organizations and communities to increase awareness and knowledge surrounding mental health and wellness. He has worked in the field of mental health and performance psychology in Chicago and Victoria before returning to his hometown of Saskatoon.

With Bridges Health, Kyle wears multiple hats, working primarily on the business development side of the organization. He is a facilitator of mental health workshops as well as content developer in the Psychological Health and Safety Program. Kyle also performs ergonomic assessments and return-to-work assistance through Bridges’ digital ergonomic assessment program called ErgoWorks.

The Administration Team

Bani

Banipreet Kaur

Executive Assistant & PH&S Coordinator

Bani earned her degree in Business Administration-Accounting from Sheridan College Ontario. She has 2 years of experience in the retail industry, assigning tasks, auditing, and meeting production targets. Bani is goal-oriented, motivated, highly professional, skilled in prioritizing and completing tasks independently. She has extensive experience with Microsoft Office Suite. Knowledge of spreadsheets, databases, accounting, web designing and personal income tax software programs such as Sage 50, MS Access, and Profile.
Bani joined Bridges Health in March 2021 as an administrative assistant and currently works as our Executive Assistant & PH&S Coordinator. Supporting Mental Health workshop facilitators & clients. Additionally, she oversees the Bridges Health website.

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Nancy Range

Administrative Assistant

Nancy joined the Bridges Health Team in November 2022 following a thirty-one year career in the hospitality industry, in the hotel sector, primarily in Human Resources.  She has extensive experience in benefits, recruitment, facilitation and employee relations.  Nancy earned her diploma in Business Administration from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), with a focus on HR.  Nancy is the recipient of the 2016 Tourism Ambassador Award by Tourism Saskatchewan.

The Consulting Team

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Daryn Willis

Sr. Case Manager

Mr. Willis has ten (10) years’ experience in human resources, risk management, disability management, and adjudication of short-term and long-term disability claims. Mr. Willis has conducted multiple assessments of injured/ill employees and has assessed and evaluated claims for benefit entitlement by reviewing contractual, objective medical, functional, and occupational information. Mr. Willis has extensive experience reviewing and assessing appeals for assigned policies, determining and evaluating both medical and non-medical influencing factors that affect the duration of claims, developing and maintaining outcome-focused case management plans.  Mr. Willis has expertise in engaging claimants throughout the claim process by communicating in a sensitive, tactful and respectful manner to further understand the medical, social and personal aspects of their absence.

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Stephanie Hernandez

Sr. Health Services Consultant

Stephanie has over eight years of experience in the fields of disability management and vocational rehabilitation. Additionally, she has experience working in a management, leadership and quality assurance role. Stephanie’s experience as a Consultant has included managing STD, LTD, absence management and injury management files. In her role, she has assisted individuals with functional, cognitive, psychological and developmental impairments and health conditions to overcome barriers to return to employment and/or quality of life. Stephanie holds her Registered Rehabilitation Professional (RRP) designation through the Vocational Rehabilitation Association (VRA) of Canada. She has a 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan.

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Russ Warner

Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant

Russ has been with Bridges Health since 1999, specializing in administering vocational testing, conducting Transferable Skills Analysis and Labour Market Surveys.  He is a member of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association of Canada (VRAC) and has attained his RRP designation (Registered Rehabilitation Professional). He assists clients with job coaching, interview techniques, and job placement. Russ has 6.5 years experience as an Employment Counselor, assisting social assistance recipients to find suitable employment. Russ has extensive experience in resume creation, teaching job search techniques, conducting mock interviews, and job placement. 

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Lesley McIntyre

Vocational Trainer, Educator and Quality Assurance

As a veteran consultant with Bridges Health, Lesley has extensive experience working with individuals who suffer from mental health, acquired brain, and physical injuries.  Completing her degree in Psychology, and minoring in Indian Studies, she also possesses the Registered Rehabilitation Professional designation through VRA Canada where she spent two terms as President.  Most recently, Lesley completed her Cognitive Behavior Therapy Certificate and is currently working toward certification with the Canadian Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists.  Areas of expertise include vocational testing, job search and interview skills, labour market studies, and returns to work.

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Lisa Lepage

Physical Therapist, Health Services Consultant

Lisa is a physiotherapist who graduated from the School of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine at the  University of Saskatchewan in 2000. In her 23 years, she has worked primarily in multidisciplinary settings, performing multidisciplinary assessments, managing occupational rehab programs at secondary and tertiary levels, managing long term disability files, working in mental health programming, and has special designation for pelvic floor therapy, having worked extensively in Women’s Health. She is a certified Matheson Functional Capacity Evaluator and has her Level III Orthopedic Manual and Manipulative Therapy Certification. She has extensive training and experience in managing chronic pain conditions. She is certified in Mental Health First Aid and has training in cognitive behavioural therapy for allied professionals.

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Catherine Young

Vocational Rehabilitation & Health Service Consultant

Catherine has 6 years of experience in the fields of disability management and rehabilitation consulting with both STD and LTD files. Additionally, she has a combined 6 years’ experience working in medical education and health and fitness training and consulting. Proficient in solution-focused and motivational interviewing skills, critical and creative problem-solving, and vocational goal setting, Catherine has successfully supported individuals with physical, psychological, cognitive, and functional impairments, illnesses, and injuries in their recovery and return to work. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in Psychology from Athabasca University, and a Diploma in Human Kinetics from Langara College.



Danyae

Danyae Wright

Rehabilitation Consultant

Danyae is a vocational rehabilitation professional with over 15-years of experience in the private and public sector.  She holds a Bachelors Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Lethbridge.  Over the years she have had the opportunity to work directly with major insurance companies as well as contracted to a variety of insurers as a vendor in the space of disability management.  She has previous work experience in heavily unionized environments managing all employees occupational and non-occupational medical leave of absences, experience creating a robust absence awareness programs, and supported Human Resources in rolling out several health and wellness initiatives. Additionally, she is Matheson trained in FCE (advanced) and Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluations. She currently in pursuit of obtaining certification in Cost of Future Life Care Planning. She is also trained and experienced in delivering Progressive Goal Attainment Programs.

With the experience that she has outlined over the course of her career she has well-honed skills to support individuals with exposure therapy, behavioral activation programs, transferable skills analysis/job search services and labour market research, cognitive rehabilitation, work-site evaluations, ergonomic assessments (both office and industrial), and physical demands analysis.

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Tennille Walker

Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant and Certified Ergonomist

Tennille is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist (CCPE) with a master’s degree in human kinetics. She has experience in disability management as a case manager and rehabilitation consultant. Tennille has provided vocational support in both the public and private sectors, assisting a wide variety of populations in returning to work. Trained in Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP), she uses motivational interviewing to maintain a collaborative solution-focused approach to vocational goal setting.

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Brooke Craig

Health Services Consultant/Physiotherapist

Brooke graduated from the University of Otago (New Zealand) with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Hons). She has since completed specialisation in the Hand and Upper limb and health and post-graduate  education in health ergonomics at Auckland University of Technology. Brooke has worked throughout New Zealand, Australia and Canada in the treatment and management of injuries/disabilities working alongside clients in post-operative settings, high performance athletes and in return-to-work and/or stay-at-work needs. Brooke believes in a multi-factorial approach to rehabilitation to work alongside her clients to achieve success.

The Occupational Therapy Team

C. Kaytor

Christa Kaytor

Occupational Therapist

Christa completed her Bachelor of Medical Rehabilitation in Occupational Therapy at the University of Manitoba. She has worked in community mental health, acute care, and long-term care settings.  She has experience working with adult learners at SIAST, University of Regina, and University of Saskatchewan. 

 

She grew up in rural Saskatchewan and is now living the city life. Her varied experience helps her to provide services on a contract basis – providing occupational therapy assessments for a variety of clients.

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Corey Kooy

Occupational Therapist

Corey has a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan before completing his Bachelor of Medical Rehabilitation in Occupational Therapy at the University of Manitoba in 2000.  Corey joined Bridges Health in 2003. He is a certified Matheson Functional Capacity Evaluator, and has extensive experience in performing home and personal care assessments and farm assessments to identify potential barriers and make recommendations for clients returning to pre-disability home activities or employments.

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Ellen Nespor

Occupational Therapist

Ellen is an occupational therapist who joined the Bridges Health team in 2016. Ellen completed a 4-year Psychology Degree at the University of Winnipeg, before graduating with her Masters in Occupational Therapy from the University of Manitoba in 2016. Ellen has since completed additional training in the areas of ergonomics, mental health, low vision and pediatric practice. Ellen has more recently ventured into pediatric occupational therapy service provision with a school board in Calgary, Alberta. However, Ellen continues to enjoy working alongside Bridges Health colleagues in a consultant role, completing home assessments, work-site assessments and providing return to work support.

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Erin Rissling

Occupational Therapist

Erin is a licensed Occupational Therapist with Bridge’s Health in Regina, where she is responsible for completing home and worksite assessments, as well as office ergonomics and job site monitoring. She also works for the Saskatchewan Health Authority in a community mental health role. She received her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Regina in 2014, and a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of  British Columbia in 2016. She has experience working in acute care, in a community setting in mental health, as well as working with automobile insurance, and office ergonomics in a private setting. 

 

Erin has been working with Bridges Health over the last 5 years, beginning with full-time and moving into a casual position. Erin is interested in helping clients function at their highest level to achieve a better quality of life, both inside and outside the home. She uses a holistic and client-centered view when working with clients and understands that there are multiple areas of life that contribute to overall wellbeing.