Lachine Hospital ambassadors

Myriam is Associate Director of the Lachine Hospital and CHSLD Camille-Lefebvre. Her appointment was made as part of the healthcare network's drive to improve local management, and to ensure a concerted effort towards the resumption of activities and the transition to the new facilities. In this context, Myriam chairs the new Lachine Hospital Management Committee. In addition, Myriam chairs the Transition Committee for the new hospital, which coordinates all the transformations the facility is undergoing, as well as liaising with the community's citizens and elected officials.

Myriam's solid training has led her to exercise her management role in a variety of settings, at the McGill RUIS, the CIUSSS and the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux. Her exceptional leadership skills are enhanced by an undeniable relational and emotional intelligence. Her communication and interpersonal skills enable her to create collaborative and harmonious work environments. With an extensive management background, she has also demonstrated her ability to lead teams to success.

“The Lachine Hospital is undergoing a transformation and has exceptional growth potential. It's also an ideal environment for developing a whole range of cutting-edge medical services that are perfectly adapted to the needs of the community. The motivation of the teams is obvious, which makes it much easier for me to orchestrate the positive changes that will make the hospital a top-performing environment that meets the needs of the Lachine community.”
 

Recently graduated from the Nursing program at Cégep Gérald-Godin de Pierrefonds, Alamjeet Singh began his career at Lachine Hospital in July 2023. He quickly carved out a place for himself on the teams, working on the medical and palliative care floors, two very different clienteles. “Medical patients are often elderly and have various conditions associated with their age, such as dementia. For palliative care patients, we need to relieve their pain, but also bring comfort to their families. I'm happy to be able to offer my support to all these patients.” 

The young nurse, who as a child wanted to become a dentist, has no regrets about his choice. “I changed my mind along the way, because I wanted to make a bigger difference in people’s life and look after their health in a more holistic way. I'm surrounded by a team who shares the same goals and works hard to ensure patients' well-being.” 

Samia is an architect, building consultant and project planner. With the MUHC for nearly 15 years, she has been involved in the hospital modernization project since the very first design phases.

The first step was to establish the functional plan. This involved identifying the clinical needs and functioning of each hospital unit, right down to the smallest detail. “The plan includes everything, says Samia. The needs of the teams, the movements of staff for each action taken.” This plan provided the basis for meetings with the Lachine community and with the patient partner group. We reviewed what it took, studied the route a patient could take for each sector.

“The beauty of this project is really the integration of the modern with the old. It's also a golden opportunity for the Lachine community to completely overhaul the care infrastructure. Emergency, palliative care and patient rooms will all be relocated to the new section, and will benefit from brand-new equipment. One of the key elements of the project was certainly listening. Our team was open to everyone's needs, so as to provide Lachine with the best possible environment for the community. It's also very attractive for future recruits, as employees will now be able to evolve in an attractive environment with the best-adapted tools. Finally, she concludes, it's grandiose compared to what we know today.”

Nursing Professional Development Educator – Interim, for a few months now, Andreea Boiangiu welcomes and provides training to new employees with kindness. She knows what it's like to find herself in a new environment, having left her native Romania in 2012.

 Over the past eight years, Andreea has had the opportunity to work on different floors, in medicine, surgery, palliative care and ER at the Lachine Hospital. This versatility now enables her to play an active role as a trainer for nurses PABs and nursing assistants. She shows them the different facets of patient assessment, the different techniques used for venous or cutaneous access, and how to deal with a patient suffering from dementia. “There's no shortage of material! I want to train new nurses so that they can care for patients properly, that's my primary motivation,” indicates Andreaa who holds a university degree in nursing from the Université du Québec en Outaouais. 

It was through a series of personal events that Monic Deslauriers discovered new talents that make her an outstanding patient attendant: patience, compassion, great listening skills, delicacy and incomparable dedication. After a long career as an electronics welder, she took a 180-degree turn that led her to go back to school and change careers and become an orderly. Now an orderly in palliative care at Lachine Hospital, her new profession brings her great daily happiness.

The dynamic Vicky Morin has been Nurse Manager for Medicine, Surgery and Palliative Care at the Lachine Hospital for almost two years. With over 15 years' experience as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, she also spent three years working in Infection Prevention and Control at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Vicky is a welcoming manager, dedicated to her team and patients. During these two years, she witnessed the remarkable achievements of the Lachine teams.

“The Lachine teams impress me enormously with their resourcefulness. We work in collaboration with each other to find adapted and innovative solutions to accommodate each patient, with the resources available to the hospital. The team epitomizes the expression “where there's a will, there's a way”. They can truly be proud of themselves!”
 

Marie-Ève has been at Lachine Hospital for over 15 years – that shows how well she knows the ins and outs of the hospital. While she was still a student, she joined the hospital as a patient attendant and continued her career after the hospital joined the MUHC. She started as an extern in nursing for palliative care, then transitioned to roles as an emergency room nurse and a training and professional development advisor. She later returned to outpatient clinics, where she helped relaunch services post-pandemic. Today, she is a nurse manager for Lachine Hospital ambulatory services, as well as for Lachine and Glen’s dialysis services.

"Lachine is such a pleasant place to work. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone speaks with everyone. There's a unique culture in Lachine that results in a warm atmosphere that's felt in patient care." Each day, Marie-Ève actively works to improve access to ambulatory care, and involve specialists in these services.

“Lachine Hospital has the wind in its sails. It is already equipped with state-of-the-art technology and, with the modernization project, it will become a highly sought after environment for top specialists. Patients will inevitably benefit from the most advanced care in a setting that maintains its human touch,” she adds. 

Having started her career as an orderly, Carolina Ribeiro Barreto has had the chance to immerse herself in the life of the Lachine Hospital for the past 7 years. Currently an assistant head nurse in the Emergency Medicine Department, she coordinates the activities of the care teams, manages beds and ensures that all patients receive the care they need. For her, it's essential to be there for the employees, as well as the patients.

“We're a team that works closely together. We're there for each other and for the patients, to offer them quality care. Because the Lachine hospital is a smaller care center, we have more time to establish a deeper relationship with patients,” she says. At Lachine Hospital's emergency department, you'll be greeted by a competent, enthusiastic and friendly team. They'll take good care of you!