THE MARY CLINCKETT ALUMNI AWARD

2007  Frances Allan

The Mary Clinkett Alumni Award for 2007 goes to Frances Allan who has been working with the Hypertension Unit since 1993 managing its outpatient program. She now teaches other nurses, medical students and family doctors; she has gained regional and national recognition as an outstanding speaker and trainer. She was promoted last year to Clinical Nurse Manager.

2006  Joanne Morin

Joanne Morin is a Registered Nurse and a long-time staff member at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Since 2001, she has been Nurse Coordinator of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinic at the Institute, playing a key role in the development of the Clinic.

Her dedication and excellence in patient care and teaching, team building, research, liaison with other centers, database development and office management have made Joanne the central pillar of the Clinic. With the expansion of the Clinic and increases in patient volume and the array of services provided, the quality of care has not only been maintained but it has reached new levels of excellence, very much credits to Joanne's sustained dedication, quality of work and a strong work ethic.

Joanne has also played important roles in the field of congenital heart disease at the provincial and national levels, helping to raise the profile of the Institute. Her hard work and professionalism exemplify many of the core qualities that make the Ottawa Heart Institute such an outstanding establishment.

2005  Christine Bohan

Christine Bohan has worked at the Heart Institute for 25 years, initially as a ward clerk, then as the booking clerk for Cardiology, scheduling patients awaiting cardiac angiogrophy. For the past ten years, she has worked with the Regional Cardiac Care Coordinators in the Wait List Management Office as the Cath Lab Booking Officer, scheduling elective coronary angiography and all interventional procedures.

Scheduling, and often rescheduling, apprehensive patients who have had long waits and may have had their procedures postponed because other patients more urgently required procedures, requires daily contact with the patients and their families. Dealing with a disappointed patient or family member requires a compassionate and positive attitude, which Christine presents by always being polite, caring and good-humored. Her success in communicating effectively is demonstrated by the frequent visits she has from patients who, when they have their procedures, drop by her office to say hi and to thank her.

Christine has interacted with many others: doctors and staff from referring hospitals and the Heart Institute; staff in the nursing units, the Cath Labs, the Pre-admission Unit, the Admitting Department and many others. Her excellent communication and organizational skills enabled her to manage changes in the doctors and the lab schedules, often on very short notice. She has been a dedicated team player and a leader who passionately pursues patient and staff satisfaction.

2004  Christine Struthers

Christine Struthers has been a long-time, hard-working, innovative, Advance Practice Nurse, Christine has consistently demonstrated her clinical expertise and commitment to improving patient services throughout her 20 years at the Heart Institute.

The common thread of her work has been in ensuring the needs of patients and their families are met in numerous applications or roles. Christine built the Transplant and Heart Failure Programs and created patient support groups for both. She has embraced the challenge of improving the UOHI's role in Telehealth. She has successfully obtained funding, built and rekindled relationships with 28 partner hospitals, and developed the E-Health Centre.

Aside from her clinical expertise, Christine has always been willing to go the extra mile. For many years she was the conduit between transplant patients, their families and the Heart Institute. She was always keenly aware of the sensitivities and needs of both. For many years Christine organized the Annual volleyball match between staff and organ recipients to generate awareness and interest in organ donation. Many Telethon stories or background interviews were founded on her guidance and expertise. Despite the challenge of live television, she has agreed to host an hour of the (2005) Telethon.

Christine has proven herself as a pioneer, being one of the first at the Heart Institute to achieve the Advanced Practice Nurse designation and the one who can be relied on to develop, create, refine and deliver any service or program put before her for the benefit of her patients and also of the Heart Institute.

2003  Sheila Beck and Jack Gurney

Because of the naming of the Award to remember Mary Clinckett and because the Award Committee could not choose between them, the Board accepted the recommendation that, for 2003, awards be made to an outstanding Heart Institute staff member and to an exemplary volunteer.

Sheila Beck is the full-time clerk for the Heart Institute Pre-Admissions Unit. Her responsibilities include reception for outpatients and other personnel, registration of outpatients and clerical/office management duties. In her coordination of nine Cardiac Surgeons, she gives exceptional effort, using her extensive network of contacts throughout the region to obtain needed information on referred patients, as well as making arrangements for patient testing that accommodates both the patients' schedules and availability of test facilities at the Ottawa Hospital. Of course, because of frequent cancellations of patient surgeries, she must also adjust and update patients' records for the changes in surgery schedules. Sheila presents a professional, kind and considerate manner to staff, patients and families. She has assisted out of town patients by arranging accommodation and recommending restaurants, shopping malls and other local sites and even provides hand-drawn maps. She is instrumental in organizing various staff events, the functions that foster camaraderie. As her nomination by her colleagues demonstrates, Sheila is clearly one of our "outstanding Heart Institute staff members".

Jack Gurney is a member of both the Heart Institute Auxiliary and the Alumni. As a volunteer, Jack has been at the first floor desk every Tuesday for over 11 years. As an Alumnus, he understands the concerns that patients have when coming to the Institute. As he assists them in finding their way to clinics, pre-admissions or admissions, Jack does what he can to put them at ease and to provide comfort. In the past year, Jack has assisted the Foundation by agreeing to be their "poster boy" for the Legacy Society campaign. He also provided a testimonial in a letter campaign to Heart Institute donors, to which the Foundation is receiving a record response. He is always willing to help and he and his wife are supportive of all Heart Institute endeavours. As the nomination letter from the Foundation demonstrates, Jack Gurney is a fine representative of the many volunteers who contribute so much to the Heart Institute in so many ways.

The Alumni Award

2002  Mrs. Janice Flewelling, RN

According to the co-workers in the Cardiac Operating Room and Cardiac Catheterization Labs who nominated her, Janice Flewelling "exemplifies the compassion and dedication that this award was created to recognize". She is very compassionate and supportive of patients, going the extra step to ensure their physical and emotional comfort. Janice willingly takes on additional tasks and is active in improving patient care: the count policy team to update forms and procedures; reviewing standards of practice and their application in the department; and the Clinical Practice Committee. She provides patience, guidance and sound judgement to new staff, helping them to understand the complexities of the work, coupled with the inter-personal relationships among patients, medical and other staff, which are so critical to keeping it all in perspective. Janice also contributes to the family atmosphere of the team with her sense of humour and by organizing and taking part in extra-curricular activities. The Alumni is pleased to recognize another member of the team that makes the Heart Institute the wonderful place that it is.

2001  Mrs. Susan Menzies

Susan Menzies lives and breathes the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Her unique blend of clinical, organizational and fundraising expertise has enabled her to work with Dr. Keon to build the Heart Institute. Over the past twenty years, she has built the Heart Institute Foundation from the ground up, has initiated a $50 million campaign and is pivotal in the day-to-day operation of the Institute. Susan attends and works at most Heart Institute fundraising and special events, not just directing but, with her sleeves rolled up, doing the work. Her enthusiasm and energy are unmatched and the Alumni are proud to be able to recognize her value to the Heart Institute.

2000  Mr. Earl Snider

Earl Snider works in Housekeeping at the Ottawa Heart Institute. Those who nominated Earl describe him as "one of those quiet people one never sees, but who contributes an awful lot to our operation". Earl is notable for saving the Heart Institute a great deal of money by repairing lead aprons used in X-ray and making positioning sponges for the Operating Rooms. His most recent achievement was the manufacture of a custom mattress for the X-ray table in the E.P. lab. Because patients may be required to lie on the table for as long as eight hours at a time, they often complained of sore backs and hips. Since the mattress was placed on the table, no complaints have been heard. As well, it fully achieves one of the Alumni's main objectives - improving patient comfort.

1999  Mrs. Cecilia McKenna

Cec McKenna joined the Ottawa Heart Institute as a staff nurse in 1976 when it opened as the Cardiac Unit in the Civic Hospital. She dedicated herself to patient care and became a source of counsel and guidance to new staff and student nurses. The esteem with which her colleagues hold Cec is demonstrated by her nomination for the first Alumni Award by "all nurses in the Cardiac Recovery Room/Cardiac Surgical Unit". Cec retired in October 1999.

(The Wilbert J. Keon Award)