What is your current position/role? I am the Vice President of Corporate Services and am currently honoured to be also serving as the Interim CEO for the Hotel Dieu Shaver.
How long have you been with HDS? I have been with HDS since September of 1999 – joining the Hotel Dieu Hospital on Ontario Street and then moving to the HDS site in August of 2005. Previously, I had worked with the Niagara Regional Police, the former Welland Separate School Board and Domtar.
What is the best part of your job? The best part of my job is interacting with the great team that works here and being made to feel a part of the dedicated, committed, and enthusiastic family at Hotel Dieu Shaver.
What advice would you give someone who is newly joining the HDS team? Know that this is an exceptional place to work – that all team members are respected, supported and encouraged to engage in innovative, creative and best practice measures to best meet the needs and enhance the experience of our patients in any and every role we play at this Hospital. It is an environment that cannot be taken for granted and needs all of our time and attention to ensure that we extend the same care, compassion and hope to each other, as we do to the patients we serve. We are all blessed to be in the company of each other.
When you aren’t working at HDS, what do you like to do in your spare time? When not suffering through another tortuous game with my beloved Buffalo Bills, I like to spend time with my extended family and friends and travel about the Niagara region and elsewhere. I majored in Canadian labour and social history and love to learn more about the history and chronicles and contributions of all peoples that have brought us to where we are today. Including the long standing and significant contribution of our own Sisters of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph of the Hotel Dieu – who helped first bring healthcare to our country -- and our proud role in helping to continue their legacy of meeting the unmet needs of the community.
If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see? Canada’s Confederation in the company of our founding fathers (and mothers!). I would have liked to have been at the Charlottetown Conference when negotiations first took place to bring the Maritime and present day Ontario and Quebec provinces together – I love the metaphor that Canadian Confederation was sailed in on a sea of champagne and general good cheer, as opposed to Revolution and violence as was the case with many other countries. Good Canadian traditions at work!
What is your favourite family tradition? Christmas – we say our home is like the Statue of Liberty – all of my relatives converge at our home. It is a lot of work but well worth it for the fun, good food and comraderie.
What is your favourite quote/saying? Well – my mother was from the Maritimes and she and my aunts and grandmother "shared" many great sayings with us throughout the years. My favourite has to be "It’s better than a kick in the (butt) with a frozen boot". Good saying – comes in handy often and helps to keep things in perspective!
If you were stuck on an island, what 3 items would you bring? I don’t like this question – I would want to bring my husband, two adult children and my grand cat, who is grouchy at the best of times. I don’t feel it is fair to drag them all to the island – unless it is Merritt Island for a hike, in which case crabby grandcat can’t come. So I will exercise my right to pass and call a friend.