Leadership Team
Senior Leadership Team
Providence Living
Mark Blandford was appointed President and CEO of Providence Living in November 2022. From September 2020 to March 2025, he served as Vice President, Seniors Care, Clinical & Operations at Providence Health Care.
Mark is a Registered Occupational Therapist who also holds a Master’s degree in Leadership from Royal Roads University. Mark’s past leadership roles have included Director of Development at the non-profit Beacon Community Services, as well as senior management roles in Island Health Authority’s Long-Term Care, Seniors Health and Home & Community Care programs.
In early 2014, Mark was appointed as Deputy Seniors Advocate with the newly created provincial Office of the Seniors Advocate for British Columbia. In 2016, Mark was appointed the Director of Clinical Operations at Victoria General Hospital and subsequently became the Executive Director for Seniors Health and Primary Care for Island Health where he was the operational and strategic lead for the long-term care (LTC) COVID-19 response the 6,000 LTC beds as well as the 900 unit assisted living portfolio. Mark was also the strategic lead for the Island Health seniors care and community care strategy and its Palliative and End of Life program.
As Vice President of Capital Projects & Business Development, Scott leads Providence Living’s expansion through development of new strategic partnerships and delivery of large capital projects. This includes strategic and operational management of the contracting, procurement, financing, design, construction, and commissioning activities for all Providence Living projects. He also oversees Providence Living’s Building Services, Quality, Practice and Safety portfolios. Over his 20-year career in the Canadian healthcare system, Scott has held a number of clinical and corporate roles spanning from the bedside to the boardroom including care delivery, process improvement, project management, business analysis, strategic planning, quality management, operations management, and finance leadership.
Before joining Providence Living, Scott served as Executive Director of Capital Management and Director of Medical Imaging Operations with Island Health, where he was responsible for the health authority’s capital finance, treasury, capital planning, real estate & leasing, and public-private partnerships functions, as well as delivery of medical imaging services to the 870,000 residents of Vancouver Island.
Scott Holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science from the University of Alberta, and is a CSMLS certified Medical Laboratory Technologist. He is also a certified Lean/Six Sigma Blackbelt and a graduate of the BC Patient Safety Quality Council’s Quality Academy.
Mark was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Providence Living in August 2024 to lead the organization’s Finance, IMIT, and Human Resources departments during a pivotal period of growth in British Columbia.
He is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 25 years of financial leadership experience across several industries, including healthcare, shipping and logistics, and aviation.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University in Nova Scotia.
Jennifer has Executive oversight of all resident care quality and safety initiatives at all Providence Living care villages. An RN and clinical ethicist by training, she also holds an appointment of Adjunct Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. As an educator and a researcher, she has presented at numerous local and national conferences, and has authored and collaborated on a several peer-reviewed published works.
Jennifer earned an MSN and a PhD from the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. Her research focus included a particular sensitivity to ethical issues in hospital cultures and contexts. Jennifer also holds a Graduate Diploma in Catholic Bioethics from Saint Paul University in Ottawa.
Sharon has executive oversight of all Providence Living care village operations, including clinical, support services, HR, and activities related to community and assisted-living provincial licensing.
An RN by training, Sharon brings a wealth of experience to this role, having had the opportunity to work in many settings in addition to more than a decade’s worth of operational and strategic leadership experience. Sharon holds a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Surrey and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honours from Sheffield Hallam University.
Francis Maza was appointed Vice President, Mission, Ethics & Spirituality, effective January 4, 2022.
Francis is an experienced executive leader in clinical, organizational business ethics, mission
integration, Spiritual Care and leadership formation. He has a Doctor of Ministry from University of
Toronto’s St. Michael’s College, a Master of Theological Studies from the Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Saskatoon, a Bachelor of Science in Medical Microbiology from the University of
Saskatchewan, and has attained his Specialist in Spiritual Care designation from the Canadian
Association of Spiritual Care.
Francis is well known throughout the Canadian Catholic health care sector, and has wide-ranging experience working with Ecclesial authorities, numerous Archdiocese and other faith-based organizations and stakeholders. He leads the PHC-led Foundations in Catholic Health Leadership program and has extensive experience in strengthening organizational cultures – always ensuring that values-based decision making and ethical and moral reflection are part of organizational planning and program delivery.
Francis was born and raised in El Salvador. He immigrated to Canada in 1990 with his family due to the civil war in El Salvador. He has lived, studied and worked mostly in Western Canada ever since.
Katja has more than 25 years’ experience providing financial oversight and information technology (IT) leadership to health care organizations on Vancouver Island. In her executive role at Providence Living, Katja is responsible for accounting, operating budget preparation and performance monitoring, management information systems guidelines implementation and maintenance, external/internal reporting, and internal/external audit. She has experience in asset transfers and providing shared finance and payroll services to other not-for-profits. Katja also oversees Providence Living’s IT services, including the management of information systems and hardware, management of payroll. She holds her CPA designation as well as her MBA from Laurentian University.
James provides oversight of building, maintenance and operations for all Providence Living properties and care villages. Over the past 20 years, James has served in many building services and project-services capacities, including capital project and IT management and implementation of security and building automation systems and healthcare technologies.
James holds an Inter-provincial 4th class Power Engineering Certificate, a Facility Management Administrator Diploma, and a master’s degree in Building Science. He is passionate about improving the lives of people with disabilities, building systems’ efficiency and security, and workplace occupational hygiene.
