{"id":815505,"date":"2026-07-21T03:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T03:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/815505\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T03:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T03:16:26","slug":"sudbury-physician-dr-kona-williams-appointed-to-order-of-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/815505\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudbury physician Dr. Kona Williams appointed to Order of Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Dr. Kona Williams got an email about being appointed to the Order of Canada, her first thought was, “Is this a scam?”<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t. The governor general made the appointment official<\/a> in June, citing the renowned forensic pathologist for her leadership in the field and commitment to health equity.<\/p>\n

Dr. Williams, who is of Mohawk and Cree descent, practises at Health Sciences North hospital in Sudbury, Ont. She is also Canada\u2019s first Indigenous forensic pathologist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe honour was such a surprise,\u201d she told the OMA. \u201cIt puts a spotlight on what I do and the work that my colleagues do every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nDr. Kona Williams, right, with her mentor Dr. Mary Senterman, left, at her University of Ottawa medical school graduation in 2009. <\/p>\n

Tight-knit community<\/p>\n

Dr. Williams says she enjoyed science and problem-solving as a child and this inquisitiveness ultimately led her to forensic pathology \u2014 the study of sudden, unexpected or suspicious deaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it heavy? Absolutely,\u201d said Dr. Williams. \u201cAre there cases that stay with me? Of course. But the long training was important in giving me the skills and the abilities to be able to handle the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Williams describes forensic pathologists as a tight-knit community of dedicated and friendly medical professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever met an unhappy pathologist,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect them to be like what you see on TV. Unlike on CSI, Dr. Williams said forensic pathologists work collaboratively within a big team with coroners, pathologists, radiologists, forensic scientists, anthropologists, legal teams and police services. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge of her career has been understanding the profound responsibility and consequences of her decisions on families and the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the worst thing that\u2019s happening to families, and if I can give them answers, that will help them on their healing journey,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

An enthusiastic educator
\n\"\"
\nDr. Ella Proulx, right, with Dr. Kona Williams, left, at her Northern Ontario School of Medicine University graduation. <\/p>\n

Dr. Williams is also a sessional lecturer in the forensic program at Laurentian University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love teaching and seeing students have the “aha”\u00a0moments when they\u2019re putting things together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She emphasized that more Indigenous doctors are needed in pathology to bring cultural knowledge and sensitivity to cases involving residential school victims and missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t enough Indigenous physicians in general,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s growing, but the need is so great that any Indigenous person who goes to medical school will be helping their own people, regardless of what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Ella Proulx is Dr. Williams\u2019 former student and is now completing her residency in pathology.<\/p>\n

She described Dr. Williams as an enthusiastic educator who created a welcoming and supportive teaching environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs strange as it might sound to some people, the Sudbury morgue became a safe space for me during medical school,\u201d Dr. Proulx said. \u201cThat had nothing to do with the setting itself and everything to do with the culture Kona and her team created.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also inspired by the life Dr. Williams has built around her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching her has shown me that it\u2019s possible to be deeply committed to your work while also cultivating a rich, fulfilling life outside the hospital,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Exploding with life\u2019<\/p>\n

Keeping busy outside of work, Dr. Williams said, helps her maintain a balanced and rewarding life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see death all day long, but then I come home and I\u2019ve got gardens, a farmhouse on 100 acres, chickens, dogs \u2014 everything is just exploding with life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Williams is currently pursuing an MBA at the\u00a0Rotman School of Management<\/a> in Toronto. As for what\u2019s next in her career, she\u2019s open to whatever comes her way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of those endless opportunists. I\u2019m not quitting my day job because I love what I do, but maybe I\u2019ll start up a consulting company to help other people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Dr. Kona Williams got an email about being appointed to the Order of Canada, her first thought…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,285977,44,35536,162940,14153],"class_list":["post-815505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dr-kona-williams","tag-news","tag-oma","tag-order-of-canada","tag-pathology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}