Meet the Hop Lachine Team : Julie Marcil, “The Lachine Hospital, it’s part of me”

Julie Marcil has worked at the Lachine Hospital since 1995 and doesn't hesitate to call it her second home. "I'm a local girl, I don't live far away. I've never felt the need to go downtown to work. There's a special energy here, you get attached to the hospital and then you can’t go anywhere else. It's as if it’s part of me." 

As head nurse of the Lachine Hospital Operating Room since 2015, Julie has every intention of being there to inaugurate the five new operating rooms when they are ready in 2026, following the expansion phase of the HOP LACHINE modernization project: “There is no question that I will be in the new unit, along with my team. We've worked so hard, I can't imagine that I wouldn’t step foot into the new building.  Impossible!  I should mention that I’m also in charge of the move.” 

The rooms will be modern with the latest standards in infection prevention and control, among other things. Employees will be working in new spaces; everything has been rethought. "The teams were consulted about the plans, were asked to give ideas, do in-room simulations to see how to position the different care teams during surgery, for example, how to position the ceiling lights, the screens, the articulated arms. Everything has to be right logistically and safe for the patient.  

The best team in the world 

Julie is full of praise for her colleagues who are dedicated to running the OR in the best way possible. “I can count on the nurses.  They are very resourceful and they know that I am here too. There are people who have 30 years seniority. They have Lachine Hospital tattooed all over them. I call them pure Lachine.” 

She wraps-up on this humourous note. "It happens sometimes that I leave the hospital after work and I’m eager to return.  People find it incredible that I say such silly things, but I mean it - and with the new facilities, it will be even better!