The MUHC Director General’s awards 2009

"On this night—our first MUHC Director General’s Awards Gala—it is my distinct pleasure to honour the exceptional contributions of our ten award winners, and to also salute the more than two hundred nominees whose meritorious efforts compelled their peers to single them out for consideration." The Hon. Arthur T. Porter, P.C. MD

	Pierre started at the MGH in 1990 as a Patient Attendant. “I was there for 14 years then decided to move from PAB to Housekeeping so I could have my weekends free to spend with my wife and son, who has muscular dystrophy.”
	When Santa’s mother fell ill and she had to help care for her, she discovered her calling in life: to help others. For years, Santa worked in the call centre of the MUHC in front of a computer but in June 2006 when a job as Unit Coordinator of 13 East, Geriatrics, was posted, she knew she had to apply.
	Upon graduating from Université de Montréal, Isabelle immediately came to work for the MUHC, but one summer she spread her wings and decided to do a stage at a community health clinic in Northern Quebec. “The main thing I learned that summer was cross-cultural care and how to help make health care accessible to everyone.”
	Dr. Angle considers himself to be a ‘lifer’. After completing medical school at McGill in 1976, he left Montreal for a brief stint as a  small-town GP in Ontario. He returned two years later to train in Internal Medicine, then left again to do fellowships in Critical Care in Winnipeg and Respiratory Medicine in Baltimore.
	Dr. Yuka Asai has always been focussed on academic achievement and started to think about her professional career at a young age. In fact, it was during a summer job working for a friend’s father, a dermatologist, that she decided she wanted to pursue dermatology.
	Linda has been volunteering for 15 years. “I started with the Look Good, Feel Better program and then I was with Gilda’s Club and now I am with Cedars CanSupport at the MUHC,” she says. “Oncology is an area that I have always felt I could make a difference because everyone is touched by cancer in some way.”
	“I went back to school at 40!” says Franceen with a chuckle. “I was always working in offices and I wanted a change so I decided to pursue Respiratory Therapy. But when I graduated, I was too nervous to apply for a job!”   A lot has changed since those early days that were actually not so long ago. Fortunately, she was able to slowly integrate into her profession by applying for a job at the MCI working evenings. “It was a great place for me to start because I was able to gradually build up my confidence as an RT,” says Franceen.
	Before coming to the MUHC almost three years ago, Ronna worked at the Lakeshore General Hospital for two decades with inpatients and outpatients in the community who struggled with mental health issues. “In this capacity I saw all levels of recovery,” she says. “This greatly influenced my understanding about how mental health services could be delivered. I realized that it is possible for patients to get better.”
	Mitra has been working with traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients at the MGH for 15 years. During this time she founded the Traumatic Brain Injury Program. Her experience as a neuro psychologist—her profession by training—working in the Constance Lethbridge Rehabilitation Centre, was instrumental in getting the program off the ground. “In this role I really saw how families cope with the problems that accompany neurotrauma,” says Mitra. “So when I came to the MGH, I was able to leverage this knowledge.”
	"We started to push newborn hearing screening in the Well Baby Nursery at the RVH three years ago." says Anne-Marie Hurteau, audiologist and professional coordinator of the MCH Audiology Department. "Then with the help of the MCH and RVH foundations, we were able to implement the Universal Newborn Screening Program within the MUHC over the last year. This cross-site team effort between the MCH and the RVH has proved to be successful. "It is a very rewarding experience to work in this manner," says Jill Harrison, manager of speech pathology and audiology at the RVH.