When we asked Julie about her work, she emphasized the importance of balance and versatility: “My entire career has revolved around striking the right balance between the various factors I deal with as the surgical wing coordinator. I’m like a pendulum, always looking for the right equilibrium between the need to care for patients and the need to make sure our teams are not overworked,” she said. 

As part of her daily tasks, Julie plans and coordinates the surgeries while deploying the resources required to carry them out efficiently. She also supports the surgical wing’s teams of specialists. These include perfusionists, respiratory therapists, nurses, orderlies, medical device reprocessing unit attendants, and the surgical anesthesiology research team. 

Julie is also in charge of the annual surgery calendar. “I schedule the surgeries for the coming year in line with the resources we have and our needs. I work with the team responsible for managing the list of patients in the preoperative phase and we try to optimize every time slot using various indicators. The head of surgery also provides a vital contribution. As a result, this year we’ve been able to schedule 2,000 operations. My goal is to increase this figure to 2,500 per year before I retire. That would require us to continue streamlining the flow of care we provide,” said Julie.

What do 24 hours in the shoes of a surgical wing coordinator look like? “It starts very early in the morning… and ends very late at night!” she said with a smile. “At 4 or 5 a.m., I’m already planning and managing incoming messages to ensure we maximize our time slots for the upcoming day. We want to perform as many surgeries as possible and cancel as few as possible. I then visit the various teams in the surgical wing to support them in their work,” she said.

Julie spent 20 years as a respiratory therapist in the surgical wing before deciding to focus her efforts on improving work methods. Her goal was to effect positive change in the team’s approach to care. For the past nine years, she’s helped to improve the systems developed to support patients. “I became a manager because I felt we weren’t always putting the patient at the core of our activities and decisions. I believe that when we put them at the heart of our approach, we can make the best decisions. We can bypass optional steps and make the process more organic and efficient,” she said.

The AJC project is due in part to Julie. Its goal is to have patients arrive at the hospital the day of their surgery. “The patient no longer needs to stay overnight before their procedure. Same-day hospital admissions allow us to improve the flow of our care. This also represents a gain in terms of finances and human resources. As a result, we can increase the number of people we treat every day.”

Julie also helped to implement the Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERACS) program, which aims to transform the patient’s journey in the hospital. “It’s a way for the patient to become a partner in their surgery, to feel involved in the process. They’re better prepared thanks to virtual classes and videos they can access before their surgery. We want to optimize their recovery by making them an active participant in the process, such as having them walk to the operating room. In the postoperative phase, we motivate them by setting hospital discharge dates and encouraging them to maintain their muscle mass and energy. These are only a few examples, and each patient’s journey is supported at every step. It’s a comprehensive approach based on education, inclusion and empowerment.”

Julie knows just how important the Foundation and its donors are to the Montreal Heart Institute. “The Foundation is a very precious ally in raising the funds missing from government budgets, funds we need to provide cutting-edge care. The money raised not only allows us to benefit from technology developed in other countries, but it also gives us the means to create new ways to save lives,” she said.

If Julie’s heart could speak, here’s what it would say:

I’ve dedicated a huge part of my career to taking care of patients, but also to supporting the people who care for these patients. It’s a life of self-giving. That’s what it takes to do what I do. It’s understanding the importance of empathy.