Dr. Denis Roy Awards for Excellence: nurturing passion and dedication to cardiovascular care

The Dr. Denis Roy Awards for Excellence in Cardiovascular Care were presented at the fifth award ceremony on October 17, 2024. During this colourful and emotional event, senior counsellor Sophie Baelen, nutritionist Émilie Raymond and specialist nurse practitioner working in adult health Jessica Van Tassel were recognized for their admirable work and commitment. 

Underlining the contribution of professionals making advances in their field 

Since 2020, the Dr. Denis Roy Awards for Excellence have honoured the exceptional work of care staff at the MHI. The Awards celebrate initiatives in innovation, improved practice and quality of care, rewarding nurses and health care professionals who are especially outstanding in their field. 

“These awards are special because they honour excellence. What differentiates them from other recognitions is that they shine a spotlight on investment in the profession and in clients, contributions to concrete improvements in care and sharing knowledge with peers along with partners in the health and social services networks. The award honours professionals who are actively involved in the development of their practice, beyond the Institute. The winners, who were the unanimous choice of the committee, are all experienced professionals who enhance the MHI’s outreach by imagining impactful solutions that move practice forward and improve the quality of care,” explained Anie Brisebois, director of Nursing and member of the selection committee. 

Portrait of Sophie Baelen: To better understand complex cases  

After starting her nursing career in France, Sophie Baelen settled in Québec in 2017 and received her Master of Nursing degree. Since February 2023, she has held a brand-new position at the MHI, an advanced practice role where she is a patient navigator for vulnerable clients with complex needs. As a senior counsellor, she performs multidimensional assessments and coordinates all the needs and services these clients need. She works closely with internal and external professionals to devise an individual action plan for patients and their families and monitors patient satisfaction. 

“The results are amazing: since she started her job, we’ve observed an 84% decrease in the number of patients having visited the ER more than 10 times in a year. Thanks to overall assessments, better understanding of complex cases and the implementation of adequate resources to support them, we’ve limited unnecessary readmissions,” Ms. Brisebois summed up. 

Invited to share her expertise with various partners in the network as well as internationally, Sophie Baelen also works with the Ministry of Health on the clinical aspect of developing a centralized information-gathering tool to identify vulnerable clients. “Her thoroughness, perfectionism and vision are excellent qualities guiding the teams. When we need a new perspective on a situation, we call Sophie!” said the Director of Nursing. 

Sophie Baelen: “This recognition represents the end of a professional and personal journey. It validates my commitment to improve care to vulnerable people. My inspiration is seeking out innovative solutions to improve patients’ quality of life while reducing the pressure on services. I believe in a health care system that is inclusive, efficient and able to meet the specific needs of each individual. This award will motivate me to keep on innovating and developing strategies to advance treatment for major users of care.” 

Portrait of Émilie Raymond: Inspiring the whole team and patients 

Nutritionist Émilie Raymond, described by her peers as a “passionate nutritional encyclopedia, mistress of the art of the motivational interview,” has been inspiring her colleagues since 2011. She balances the roles of coordinating the team, representing the department on various internal and external committees and serving as a clinical nutritionist in the diabetes and genetic clinics. She’s also been part of several innovative projects, including rolling out the Enhanced Recovery after Cardiac Surgery Programme (ERACS), creating an interdisciplinary protocol for treating dysphagia and setting up nutrition prescriptions for patients. 

Benefitting from her exceptional engagement, the MHI is one of the first centres in Canada to have integrated nutrition with cardiac surgery. Émilie Raymond is involved in the Instigateurs de pratiques optimales en nutrition (IPON) (instigators of optimal nutrition practices) committee in Montréal and the Table d’échange provinciale pour l’amélioration des pratiques en nutrition clinique (provincial round table for the improvement of clinical nutrition practices), as well as collaborating in various research projects outside the MHI. 

“She mentors a team of young professionals, gently supporting the development of their practices and keeping a balance while always exceeding expectations. Her humanity toward patients is just as remarkable. She understands their challenges and knows how to inspire them to better control their health. She’s also regularly been invited to lead practical workshops on motivational interviews at the Université de Montréal,” Ms. Brisebois added. 

Émilie Raymond: “This honour is a privilege that I’m accepting wholeheartedly. I’m spoiled by being part of a team of nutritionists and of the greater MHI family, because they let me advocate for the values I cherish, including respect, collaboration, positivity and kindness. Having a chance to occupy a profession that matches my values can only give me wings to fully develop myself professionally and personally. This recognition will boost my confidence and my pride in being part of this wonderful family.” 

Portrait of Jessica Van Tassel: Improving care through training 

Since 2009, Jessica Van Tassel has worked as a specialist nurse practitioner (SNP) in adult care at the MHI. She is very involved in everything relating to training for care staff, including the following in recent years: patient care, development of new activity sectors to meet clients’ needs, coaching interns and organizing conferences on cardiac nursing care. The selection committee described her dedication as exceptional. 

This time, the recent establishment of a project that is unique in scope is what highlighted the extent of her contribution to the field. By developing a training that employs simulations to train specialist nurse practitioners to use targeted pulmonary ultrasound, Jessica Van Tassel has directly contributed to improving patient treatment by making clinical exams more efficient and speeding access to targeted care. 

“Since she developed this training, we’re receiving a huge number of requests from across the province, and I think it will have many spin-offs for care. Jessica was even invited to present this innovative project to the national round table on nursing care and services. A number of care directors have mentioned that they’d like to offer this training to all the SNP in their establishments – I feel that this is a great illustration of the importance of the project,” noted Anie Brisebois. 

Jessica Van Tassel: “What keeps me going day by day is the strong desire to offer high-quality, innovative care in a constantly evolving environment. I believe that you have to see challenges as opportunities for improvement and respond to them with concrete actions. As Albert Einstein said, life is like riding a bicycle: you have to keep moving or you lose your balance. I also feel that we need to emphasize teamwork. Our collective intelligence has the potential to offer better solutions, and that’s why knowledge transmission is so important to me.” 

Essential Donors Who Keep the Awards Alive 

In June 2018, when he received the Persiller-Lachapelle Award in recognition of his remarkable contribution to the health care network, Dr. Denis Roy decided to reinvest the monetary award by setting up a fund to mark excellence in care by the Institute’s staff. With the assistance of valued donors, the Dr. Denis Roy Awards for Excellence in Cardiovascular Care saw the light.  

For the past five years, thanks to the generosity of people for whom the idea of giving back is important, award winners have been encouraged in turn to pursue their abiding passion: to do more and more for those facing cardiovascular disease. 

Thank you to our dedicated donors, without whom the Dr. Denis Roy Awards for Excellence could not exist: 

Rosaire Archambault, Jean Aucoin, Laurent Beaudoin, Marie-Ève Boisvert, Pierre Cloutier, Yvan Dupont, François Fréchette, Pierre H. Lessard, Pierre Michaud, Maurice Pinsonnault and Rémi Racine.