Announcing the new MUHC Central Users’ Committee

Dear colleagues,

I am very pleased to announce that, after an internal and external call for candidates, our independent election president (Me Mathilde Crépeau) has confirmed by acclamation a new MUHC Central Users’ Committee (MUHC CUC), which meets the minimum number of members required under the Act respecting health services and social services.

Seven users stood for election: one withdrew, one failed to submit a complete file and five met the election criteria, which included being a patient or representative of a patient in the past two years at one or more sites of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). The elected members are:

• Ingrid Kovitch (multi-site user of the Montreal Neurological, Montreal General and Royal Victoria hospitals)
• Amanda Bercovitch (mother of a young patient of the Montreal Children’s Hospital)
• Sahra Cohen (user of the Montreal General Hospital)
• Deborah Radcliffe-Branch (user of the Cedars Cancer Centre)
• Eligio Joe Ojeda (user of the Royal Victoria Hospital)

Please allow the committee a little time to settle in. To support the new members, we have already organized a meeting to discuss immediate next steps and needs such as training, the naming of the committee’s officers and representative on the Board of Directors of the MUHC, and the running of the MUHC CUC’s office(s).

Should you wish to join the MUHC CUC, let me remind everyone that we are still seeking another multi-site user and single-site users for the Lachine Hospital, Montreal Chest Institute and Montreal Neurological Hospital. Once a new Residents’ Committee for the CHSLD Camille-Lefebvre Pavilion is formed, one of its members will also be designated to the MUHC CUC, bringing the committee to its full composition of ten members.

Once again, I am delighted that we have recruited representatives of our patient population who wish to use their experiences, backgrounds and skills to make a difference in the MUHC. We look forward to their bringing fresh ideas to our institution and thereby helping our teams improve the quality and safety of care and services offered to our patients and their families.

Pierre Gfeller, MD CM MBA

President and Executive Director, MUHC