When every second counts – We are the MUHC

We’re proud to launch the fourth edition of our Professional Days Campaign, a tradition that celebrates the people who make the MUHC extraordinary.  

September 1 to 7 is National Clinical Nurse Specialist Week.  The MUHC is honoured to have more than twenty Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs). All APNs have advanced nursing degrees (Master’s degrees), caring for our most vulnerable patients, leading quality-improvement projects, and ensuring our teams deliver the highest standard of care.  

This year, as we celebrate the 50+ professional days, we’re getting to know the We in We are the MUHC. 

Sophia Kapellas is an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) with the Women’s Health Mission. She’s been with the MUHC for 25 years, starting her career on the liver/kidney transplant floor. She left briefly to work with Médecins Sans Frontières in the Republic of Congo, then returned to join the Birthing Centre – and the rest is history. 

“The Women’s Health Mission is a part of the Montreal Children’s Hospital,” she explains. “Most of our patients are adults and require the expertise of adult specialists. However, the baby they carry sometimes requires care while in utero, and specialized care after it’s born.”  

A recent high-risk pregnancy highlights the collaboration between adult and pediatric teams. “We planned this delivery weeks in advance to give the mother and baby the best possible care,” says Sophia. “On delivery day, obstetrics, gynecology, neonatology, urology, vascular surgery, and interventional radiology were all ready. Everything went smoothly.” 

For Sophia, We Are the MUHC means more than a workplace — it’s a place where collaboration, compassion, and expertise meet. “Patients have access to multidisciplinary care from experts within minutes,” she says.  

It’s also about innovation, like her work on the award-winning Indigenous Safe Birth Project, which is improving culturally safe care and helping train the first Inuit student midwife for her community in the North. “We aren’t done working on ensuring culturally safe care for our Indigenous families,” she adds. “This fall, we are planning a film where Indigenous mothers share their birth experiences with us.” 

As we launch this campaign, let’s take a moment to thank every APN and every MUHC professional who brings skill and heart to their work. You are the MUHC. 

 Wondering where you can find APNs at the MUHC? Here’s the full list. 

At the Montreal Children’s Hospital  

• Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Pediatric Neurology
• Pediatric Oncology
• Pediatric Mental Health 
• Pediatric Ambulatory Services
• Obstetrics 

 From adult care: 

• Adult Emergency Medicine
• Adult Oncology
• Adult Respirology
• Obstetrics
• Adult Surgery - Gynecology Oncology
• Adult Renal Program
• Adult Neurology
• Adult Emergency Medicine
• Adult Internal Medicine
• Adult Oncology
• Adult Mental Health
• Adult Surgery
• Adult Surgery
• Adult Surgery
• Adult Transplant
• Adult Neurosurgery
• Adult Mental Health
• Adult Cardiology
• Adult Surgery
• Adult Mental Health
• Adult Geriatrics
• Adult MAiD