Encouraging healing in the face of serious illness

This week on Health Matters, guest host Kelly Albert speaks with Kosta Brikas, whose family is dedicated to supporting the MUHC’s social services department in memory of their late father. Misghana Kassa, one of the winners of the Fiera Capital Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care, shares how he hopes to make prosthetic joint replacement safer. Dr. Justin Sanders explains how the Centre for Relationships in Serious Illness hopes to address whole person care. And, meet hospital hero, Helen Doulos!

Cette semaine à Questions de santé, l’animatrice invitée Kelly Albert discute avec Kosta Brikas, dont la famille est déterminée à appuyer le département des services sociaux du CUSM en mémoire de leur père. Misghana Kassa, l’une des gagnantes du Prix Fiera Capital pour la diversité, l’équité et l’inclusion dans les soins de santé, raconte comment elle espère rendre le remplacement d’articulations plus sécuritaire. Le Dr Justin Sanders explique comment un centre collaboratif dédié aux maladies graves vise à offrir une prise en charge globale des patients. Et nous vous présentons Helen Doulos, héros de l’hôpital!

Transcript

Kelly Albert: 0:00

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us, Tarah Schwartz is off. I'm Kelly Albert. And this is Health Matters on CJAD 800. On today's show, we celebrate your gratitude for our hospital heroes. We'll speak with an assistant head nurse who was recognized for her dedication to her patients. And later in the show, we speak with the doctor who hopes to revolutionize palliative care here in Montreal, by making a type of treatment that is not only at the end of a patient's life, but is introduced at the beginning of their serious illness diagnosis. To begin today, there are many people who come to the MUHC- not to get treated themselves- but to support a loved one through treatments. It can be difficult to support someone going through a challenging health journey. Kosta Brikas's knows that firsthand, he knows what it's like to support a family member going through treatments at the MUHC; he and his family cared for his late father through cancer treatments. They were so grateful for the care that their father received at the MUHC, they started something called a personal fundraising page to support social services at the hospital. Kosta joins me now to discuss. Hello, Kosta.

Kosta Brikas: 1:03

Hi, Kelly.

Kelly Albert: 1:04

Thank you so much for being here. So I wanted to come off the top for you to talk about your late father. Can you tell me a little bit about him?

Kosta Brikas: 1:11

Absolutely. I mean, he was like every other child's dreams. He was a fantastic father. Very caring for his family; family was top priority as it should be for every father. Very kind-hearted and very generous if I can describe him in that short way.

Kelly Albert: 1:27

Yeah, I've heard your sister Vicky, speak about your father too. And it's just such a really beautiful story how supported you both felt throughout your whole life.

Kosta Brikas: 1:38

Absolutely. I mean, he was the traditional immigrant Greek father who came over from Greece with nothing in his pocket and managed to raise a family He sent us to private school. So this is something that we're going to be forever grateful to him, to both my parents and we're hoping to pass along that to our kids as well.

Kelly Albert: 1:57

I mentioned off the top that you and your family supported him when he was diagnosed with cancer. You know, what was that experience like for you? How challenging was that for you and your family?

Kosta Brikas: 2:11

I think everybody in today's day and age knows somebody who has been impacted by cancer or who has passed away from cancer. So it's never an easy situation. My father's has passed now for a little over five years, and we still think about him on a daily basis. But that journey, even the most difficult times, my sister and my wife, my mom, or we're always going to be forever grateful to the MUHC and how things were. And how we were all very well taken care of during that journey. It's a difficult time and every little detail matters. From the doctors, to the nurses to the support staff at the hospital, they made a very unpleasant journey. A very good one, considering the circumstances.

Kelly Albert: 2:52

Of course, we're in conversation with Kosta Brikas, he and his family started a page called Us4Them. It's a personal fundraising page. And they decided to support social services at the hospital. So tell me a little bit about why you wanted to support the social workers who helped patients at the MUHC.

Kosta Brikas: 3:11

Two reasons- a, it's a way of keeping my dad's generosity and his legacy alive. We felt that we had to give back to the people who are in need. Our family was very fortunate enough that we were able to spend time with him in his last days. Not every family has that possibility. And this is why we felt it was important to give back. Just a brief example, when we were showing up to the treatments with him. There was a lot of lonely faces in the waiting room. There was a lot of people who are there going through that journey alone. And it's very sad to see it's very heartbreaking to see some of these people living a difficult time alone. So we felt if there's any way to give back to those people in need; I think it can go a long way to helping people through those difficult times and making that journey an even a pleasant one.

Kelly Albert: 3:59

Yeah, I think so. And I think many people might not know that any patient at the MUHC has access to a social worker. All you have to do is ask your nurse or your doctor to be put in touch with a social worker, and they can help with everything from organizing transportation, getting you support groups, helping with groceries, all of those things can really help a person who doesn't have a support system, like your dad did. And I think it's so special that's the project that you chose to help with.

Kosta Brikas: 4:31

Kelly, very well-said like some of the proceeds that we've raised so far, we've had feedback from the foundation. Just to give you guys an example; ultimately, we weren't exactly sure how the funds were going to be dispersed. But some examples that you never really would have thought of ahead of time. We donated for some patients' children to go to day camp because the parent was sick; he had to do treatments and wasn't able to work. Some people don't have money for Hydro and the Bell. This is a basic necessity in today's life, because they were busy getting treatments and weren't able to work. So small details like that is something that we don't necessarily think of when we see that patient waiting in the waiting room. But it's actually a reality for them on the back end. So if we were able to alleviate some of that stress for them, that is a really basic necessity driven. That's where we felt we were able to support these families and use the most.

Kelly Albert: 5:24

And it makes a world of difference. I mean, we take for granted needing to have a cell phone or heat in the winter sometimes. So I think it's such a really thoughtful initiative. And I think it really speaks to your dad's legacy that this is what you're going to be supporting going forward, you're completely paying it forward 100%. In conversation with Kosta Brikas whose family started a personal fundraising page at the MUHC Foundation, it's Us4Them. And I wanted to get to this because I think this was a really fun aspect of your fundraising is your family did a cookie drive as well over the holidays. I'm a foodie. So please tell me about the cookie drive. And what motivated you to do this.

Kosta Brikas: 6:05

So my son has my dad's name. So the Greek culture, we usually pass along our dad's name to our son. So his name is also Michael. We wanted to get my son implicated to bring it to his grandfather's cause. He never had a chance to meet him. We wanted to get him implicated. And my son has a sweet tooth. He loves cookies, like every other little child. So we thought that would be the first of many events down the road, to raise money for cancer research, and for the foundation as well. So Christmas time, we started a cookie drive where it was $25 a dozen, we would assume all the costs to bake the cookies so the full $25 was going towards the MUHC Foundation Social Services. And then we also do the same thing for Valentine's Day. So now this summer, I'm looking to organize more events along with my family. One of them will probably be a golf tournament. So we can raise the bar a bit more towards the proceeds that we're going to be generating in terms of this fundraising page, that's just going to be one of many events down the road. So we raised a bit over $10,000 so far. Our short term goal is$25,000. And then we take it above and beyond that, once we get there.

Kelly Albert: 7:19

That's incredible. And you actually came just before the holidays, around the holiday season, you brought Michael and your daughter and your wife to present the cheque to some social workers that were at the hospital as well. Can you tell me what that experience was like? It must have been so special to meet the people who are benefiting from this donation that you're making.

Kosta Brikas: 7:38

Absolutely. And we saw the look on the staff's faces. They were so grateful. That only tells me one thing that we were filling a void that they needed for their patients. And just the smile on everybody's face at the hospital. They're fantastic people to begin with. But just a smile that we were able to put on their faces meant a lot to us. And we felt we had to do even more. Because of the examples that I mentioned earlier, where there's a lot more people in need than you think. This is a challenge that I throw to everybody that goes to a hospital. If you just walk around for a minute around the cancer ward or where you see people waiting in line. Just look at the look on their faces and just ask yourself, what's stressing them and how can I help? And if we can fill that gap, I think everybody's going to be better off.

Kelly Albert: 8:24

In conversation with Kosta Brikas whose family started Us4Them, a personal fundraising page on the MUHC Foundation. They've raised about$10,000 so far. They brought a check to the social workers at the MUHC. Kosta, it's really inspiring to speak to you about this, because I think you can really tell from your voice and when I've spoken to Vicky as well, how important it is for you to pay it forward, how important it is for you to continue this legacy. So I really just want to say thank you, because I think what you're doing is really inspiring. And I think your children will be learning very young, how important it is to give back and get to feel the good feeling of paying it forward like this.

Kosta Brikas: 9:05

It is very rewarding. I think everybody should get involved every dollar matters. So if people are not comfortable donating a larger amount, that's not what we're asking for. But even a $25 donation, it adds up quickly. It helps every $25 adds up to somebody else's need. I think for the people who are healthy and working. I think it's a very small ask compared to what that giant challenge those people have. So I think it's something that everybody should be implicated in at the right pace for them what's convenient for them, but I don't think it should be disregarded either.

Kelly Albert: 9:42

I think that's a beautiful message to end on Kosta thank you so much for joining me on the show to talk about it.

Kosta Brikas: 9:48

So we thank you so much and a challenge to everybody listening out there find a way to donate; it goes a much longer way than you think.

Kelly Albert: 9:55

Excellent point that's very well said. Kosta Brikas he started Us4Them with his family on the MUHC foundation.com. If you want to learn more about social services, you can head to our website. And if you want to see a picture of little Michael presenting the cheque that's on our social media at MUHC Foundation. Coming up on Health Matters supporting the future of health and medical research. Tarah Schwartz is off. I'm Kelly Albert, welcome back to Health Matters on CJAD 800. The best and the brightest minds in health and medical research come from diverse backgrounds. And it is important to ensure that researchers from underrepresented groups get access to the same resources to pursue their work. And that's not always the case. To address this continued lack of diversity, the assets management firm Fiera Capital and the MUHC Foundation launched the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care. Fiera Capital has committed $120,000 per year for the next three years to support these researchers. There were five awardees this year. Misghana Kassa is the Master's student in Experimental Surgery, Misghana, thank you for joining me.

Misghana Kassa: 10:59

Thank you for having me. I appreciate this opportunity.

Kelly Albert: 11:02

I appreciate you joining me. Congratulations on winning. Your area of expertise is experimental surgery. So in very general terms, can you tell me a little bit about what that means? Can you help us understand it?

Misghana Kassa: 11:14

Yes, I'd be happy to. From my understanding, and my experience so far, experimental surgery is research that focuses on identifying knowledge gaps in order to create novel needs-driven solutions for translation to clinical applications. So for example, myself, as a basic scientist, I interact with clinician-scientists or clinicians to take these new discoveries from the bench to the bedside.

Kelly Albert: 11:45

And so it's pretty much very centrally-based on innovative thought.

Misghana Kassa: 11:52

Right, exactly. So it's definitely using the foundations of what we know is basic science. And using that to innovate and build on what we already know to provide these new solutions that can address long standing issues. Because obviously, the idea of innovation is to ideate, to identify problems that exist in society, or problems that exist in processes or understandings that we already know, and to make them better to ultimately help our communities.

Kelly Albert: 12:29

And why did this area of research call to you? What was it about experimental surgery that interested you?

Misghana Kassa: 12:38

Generally speaking, I've always had an affinity to science. I mean, in my undergrad, I also did a life science degree. But in particular medicine as well, because the field constantly challenges and postulates our understanding of the human body. And we all know how complex our bodies are. And I think just looking at it from a more program overview, I think it helps you develop really strong critical thinking skills, especially because many times you can be at the precipice of or at the forefront of certain knowledge, and you may have nothing really to rely on. So you really have to be creative in a sense, but also be smart about where you source your knowledge and your resources from to ultimately contribute and carry a meaningful impact, hopefully, to benefit your communities. I really liked that I could see that my work would have some sort of tangible impact on someone or some people somewhere.

Kelly Albert: 13:48

Absolutely. In conversation with Misghana Kassa, who is a master's student in experimental surgery, and one of the awardees of the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care. So your particular specialty within experimental surgery is you're working with orthopedic surgeons right now. So tell me a little bit about the research that you're pursuing with the orthopedic surgeons.

Misghana Kassa: 14:12

To give some background, there's 1000s, I think the number exactly is in the hundreds of 1000s of Canadians that undergo hip and knee replacement surgeries every year to reestablish the function of their joints and millions more worldwide. And in this surgical intervention, you bring a material such as metal into the body, and obviously it has some sort of effect because it's not natural to the body. But besides that effect, when you're bringing something in; you give the opportunity for bacteria to infect these implants and these implant related infections are increasingly more common. And a rising aging populations that want to maintain their activity levels means that there is an increased demand for these joint replacement surgeries. The outcome is a higher incidence of what are known as prosthetic joint infections. So our research involves establishing and validating a preclinical prosthetic joint infection model to explore different fabric, different fabrication techniques that can maintain antimicrobial properties minimize local inflammations. Because while these surface coatings and these fabrication techniques are widely-studied as antimicrobial strategies for these implant related infections; the failure to titrate these concentrations, meaning to spread these concentrations, and its inhibition of the implant to integrate with the bone has limited their successful translation to orthopedic implants themselves. So, what we want to do with establishing and validating this model is to demonstrate proof of concept, as well as testing different antimicrobial surface coatings that don't hinder this integration. And hopefully have translational applications in a clinical setting, besides just being preclinical research work, but actually have tangible results in clinical settings.

Kelly Albert: 16:45

In conversation with Misghana Kassa, a master's student in experimental surgery. So because if you have those coatings, in sort of a general understanding. If you have those coatings, really well-established on the hip replacement, and can avoid an infection, then it would avoid courses of antibiotics, perhaps antibiotics that won't work so you have to switch to a different type of antibiotics. It's preventing even more problems in the future, I imagine.

Misghana Kassa: 17:15

Correct, it's preventing you from having general quality of life issues, because obviously, it'd be very painful, but also for you to have to come back, have revision surgeries. So ultimately, it also takes some burden off the health care network, if you weren't expected to have to come back every X amount of years to have these antibiotic treatments or to have your implant removed and have a new one, which again, as much as it's relieving pain and giving mobility, it's still quite a traumatic intervention.

Kelly Albert: 17:49

Of course, it's a surgical intervention, for sure. This is really fascinating. We could keep going. But I do want to ask you about winning the Fiera Capital Award. Because you're very passionate about equity yourself. You're a part of the McGill Experimental Surgery Students' Society, your role is Health, Wellness, Equity and Diversity rep. Tell me about hearing about the Fiera Capital Awards and wanting to apply. What was going through your mind when you saw this award being possible?

Misghana Kassa: 18:21

Initially, I started the application for the studentship, and I wasn't necessarily aware or I don't think I paid attention very well to the Fiera Capital prize part. I've applied to the studentship before, so I was just focusing on that part. And then, when I looked closer, I saw this opportunity. When I was reading more, I went onto Fiera Capital's page, as well as McGill's web page. There were different articles that were publicized, and I just thought that it's a great opportunity, not only for myself, but people from the BIPOC community to have a chance to address long-standing issues of funding for these underrepresented groups. More so that I was surprised in a good way, and determined as well to apply to this. Because, when a large organization such as the RI-MUHC takes steps like this, it shows that there is a commitment to make a difference in our communities. And so for me to also have a chance to take part in this. It felt right, it felt like I also had a good chance. I felt like I could put forward a very strong application, because these are also very relevant things to my personal experience in this master's program. And ultimately, I thought that if I had the chance to also win this, that this could carry some sort of meaningful impact on my research and my young scientific career. It would continue to inspire me to want to foster inspiration, connect with and also represent other members of my community. So that, if I could be an example or I could be a helping hand, as well as learn from this experience, how to achieve certain educational and career goals and push that envelope as well personally and know that I can I can move forward in a field that obviously has certain issues, but to show that there is opportunity to move past these issues and have a chance, again, like I said, to achieve my career goals.

Kelly Albert: 21:13

Well, I think that we're in good shape if we have researchers like you working behind the scenes to make sure that we're safe and that our community is safe. Misghana, unfortunately, we're out of time. But thank you so much for joining us. And we'll have you back when you get a little bit further with your research because I think it's really, really fascinating.

Misghana Kassa: 21:29

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Kelly Albert: 21:31

Thank you. That's Misghana Kassa, who is a master's student in experimental surgery, one of the five awardees of the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care. Coming up, a new center that will be dedicated to helping patients who have been diagnosed with a serious illness. Tarah Schwartz is off. I'm Kelly Albert, and this is Health Matters. Palliative care, as we know it, was founded here in Montreal by Dr. Balfour Mount. He opened the country's first comprehensive Palliative Care Centre at the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1975. There have been many evolutions since it was first created and experts are working to revolutionize the way society thinks about palliative care. Often right now it is associated in conjunction with end of life care, but the palliative care team at the MUHC is working to make this a discussion that comes earlier, even at the beginning of a diagnosis of a serious illness. Dr. Justin Sanders is the director and Kappy and Eric M. Flanders Chair in Palliative Care at McGill. He is also the Research Director, thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Sanders.

Dr. Justin Sanders: 22:30

Thank you so much for having me, Kelly.

Kelly Albert: 22:32

Can you tell me a little bit about how palliative care has evolved into a type of care that we should introduce earlier?

Dr. Justin Sanders: 22:40

Absolutely. So palliative care is a field; in its first nominal incarnation as hospice care, as it was developed in the United Kingdom by Dame Cicely Saunders, really grew out of the recognition of the needs of people who were very much at the end of life, who were dying. And the degree to which we'd failed to meet their needs around symptom control, but also to recognize the multiple forms of suffering- existential, social, spiritual, that they were encountering at the end of life. What we've learned over time, through now decades of research, is that the benefits of a whole person care approach to those affected by serious illness are really experienced by people across the entire trajectory of serious illness. And so in addition to the problem we have with lack of clarity or vagueness about the idea of when the end of life is, we've recognized that it's really helpful for anybody who has been diagnosed with a serious illness to have access to the kind of whole person care focused on symptom management, but whole person well-being that palliative care embodies.

Kelly Albert: 23:49

And I think that's interesting, because it really has to shift the focus. It really has to evolve the understanding that we have now. And do you find there's, I don't want to say stigma, but do you find that there's like a lingering belief in that it's just end of life care?

Dr. Justin Sanders: 24:07

Sure, it's a self-reinforcing problem, right? Because if clinicians believe, for instance, that palliative care is end of life care, then when they bring it up with their patients, they're going to be scared because they think it's end of life care, and so they don't bring it up and so it becomes end of life care, and it's sort of a self-reinforcing problem. I think when we can train clinicians to understand that palliative care is something from which people benefit across the trajectory of serious illness, then they start to speak about it differently to their patients in ways that make it clear that it's not just that patients aren't getting it because they're dying, but because we know that if you have a serious illness, and you're not getting access to palliative care, then you're really missing out on the best possible care.

Kelly Albert: 24:53

In conversation with Dr. Justin Sanders, who is the Research Director in palliative care at McGill. I really liked that; I've heard you speak about palliative care before. And one of the ideas that you share is that it's not going into palliative care. Because we often associated with you have treatment, treatment, treatment, and then you go into palliative care. And that's not the way that we should be thinking about it.

Dr. Justin Sanders: 25:16

That's exactly right. I mean, when a patient has end-stage renal disease, we don't say that they're going into nephrology. We just say that they have end-stage renal disease, and they're cared for by nephrologists who provide specialized care to manage their kidney disease, we should think about palliative care in exactly the same way. People have a serious illness and if they receive palliative care; we know that in general, they're going to have a better outcome, that their families are going to have better experiences, and that they're going to arrive at the end of their life whenever that time comes better prepared for what's coming.

Kelly Albert: 25:50

And, it's starting to be implemented in the last couple of years this way of thinking. Is that what you're hearing from patients and from their loved ones and caregivers, that it is a better approach?

Dr. Justin Sanders: 26:02

Well, absolutely. I mean, the research is very clear about this. This model of palliative care where palliative care is integrated at the time of diagnosis was articulated 15 years ago. I think what's been challenging is that while McGill and Montreal, were a place where palliative care took its name, and really its incarnation in a hospital. We haven't really, we've kind of been stuck in the past in some ways in terms of our collective understanding about the benefits of palliative care, and how to provide it for people across the trajectory of serious illness.

Kelly Albert: 26:37

Your goal is to create a CERES- the Centre for Relationships in Serious Illness at the MUHC with McGill. Can you take me into what you hope this this centre will be for patients and their caregivers?

Dr. Justin Sanders: 26:51

Absolutely. There are two radical ideas at the core of palliative care, philosophy and practice. The first is that the experience of pain what Cecily Saunders called total pain is a multimodal experience in which physical pain interacts with the emotional, spiritual, and existential pain that comes with realizing that we're coming to the end of our life. The second innovation that was critically important was the idea that healing is possible throughout the course of serious illness and on up until and beyond the end of life. That is that people can have an experience of transcendental growth or well-being in spite of what medicine sort of typically perceives as a degradation of the body. Critical to that experience of healing are relationships. And when in fact, you ask people what they're afraid of, at the end of life, it's sometimes it's about the physical experience of dying. But more often than not, they're concerned with the loss of the relationships of those who are most important to them. And so healing is something that takes place in the context of the relationships that we have, not just with those who are in our lives on a day to day basis, but the clinicians that we encounter. And this is something that we really don't understand well- the scope of the importance of relationships in serious illness, and the degree to which we can support them; not just between clinicians and patients. But how we can activate entire systems to support the relational well-being of people with serious illness as a way of promoting these, these positive experiences that we know are possible as people progress through their serious illness. And really, the center is about trying to understand and promote those relationships in ways that really give people the best possible outcomes as they move through their experience of serious illness.

Kelly Albert: 28:54

I think it's such a beautiful idea, because it's not necessarily a specific medical problem that this medicine or this antibiotic can fix. But it, it has a completely healing effect, if a patient at the end of their life is able to feel really comfortable about being able to go to whatever happens next. Yeah, I think that's a really lovely change in how we've always sort of thought of palliative care.

Dr. Justin Sanders: 29:28

I think what I'm excited about it, so this isn't just about palliative care. This is a really about how we build systems to support all people who experiences on this. Which is most people that die and in an aging society, this is becoming more and more important. I often hear clinicians say things like well, the patient was well-cared for and what they mean is it's the patient got care that was aligned with; for example, guidelines so that they got the right medicines at the right time. But if people don't feel well-cared for in the system which is in fact, quite unfortunately common, you know, in health care, then I would say we're not providing them the best care. And so understanding about the qualities of relationships, teaching clinicians about how to promote, what I think of as authentic healing relationships, where they bring them their authentic selves to these is a is a key to providing high quality care. And I actually think it's a key to sustainability of our health care workforce. And so, I see this as having a really broad potential mandate and trying to understand and promote what we know patients and their family members value across the entire scope of health care, but particularly in the setting of serious illness.

Kelly Albert: 30:44

In conversation with Dr. Justin Sanders, the Director and Kappy and Eric M. Flanders Chair in Palliative Care at McGill and the Research Director. So is that your ultimate goal for CERES is that what you hope to achieve with the Centre for Relationships in Serious Illness is that ultimately, this broad aspect will have a sort of transformative effect going forward?

Dr. Justin Sanders: 31:07

You know, there's always been a hope among palliative care clinicians and leaders that the lessons that we learn and teach and palliative care will have a broader impact in health care generally. There are many people who would say that good palliative care is just good medical care, because it attends to the whole person, and really is driven by the things that matter most to people. My ambition with the centre is that it would be able to help, you know lead a transformation and how we care for people, not just between clinicians and patients, but in systems in their entirety. And that we can use the what we learned in this centre to transform health care systems, so that every person with serious illness and those that are close to them feel that the health care system it's doing is doing its very best to care for them in ways that in ways that they feel cared for.

Kelly Albert: 31:58

I think that's a really lovely thought to end on. Thank you so much, Dr. Sanders. I really appreciate your time today.

Dr. Justin Sanders: 32:04

Thank you so much, Kelly. I look forward to the next time.

Kelly Albert: 32:06

Yes, absolutely. Dr. Justin Sanders is the Director and the Kappy and Eric M. Flanders Chair in palliative care McGill. He's also the Research Director and he's working on the Centre for Relationships in Serious Illness at the MUHC. Next on Health Matters, I will introduce you to one of the MUHC Foundation's incredible hospital heroes, Tarah Schwartz is off. I'm Kelly Albert and you're listening to health matters on CJAD 80. One of the campaign's that the MUHC Foundation fundraisers for is called Hospital Heroes. And this is a special program because donors like you can nominate someone that they have met at the hospital as a thank you for the care they received. Now, get this, since 2017, more than 1000 health care workers at the MUHC have been nominated by listeners like you. And one of these Hospital Heroes joins me now. Helen Doulos is the assistant head nurse for the COVID screening center. Helen, thank you so much for being here.

Helen Doulos: 32:58

Thank you for having me.

Kelly Albert: 33:00

Congratulations on being nominated as a hospital hero.

Helen Doulos: 33:04

Thank you.

Kelly Albert: 33:04

And so I want to I love getting to the origin story. So what inspired you to go into nursing?

Helen Doulos: 33:12

It was a dream of mine ever since I was a young little girl. That was it. That's what I wanted. And that's what I became.

Kelly Albert: 33:20

Oh, my goodness, I love that. So let's take our listeners behind the scenes a little bit. Can you share what your regular every day is like right now?

Helen Doulos: 33:29

Well, right now we're just testing patients for COVID at our COVID screening center. And its patients that are having surgery, and any employees with symptoms. So it's a little bit boring compared to what I was doing at the breast clinic since December for the past seven year.

Kelly Albert: 33:52

Yes, we met at the Breast Clinic. So tell me a little bit about what you did with the Breast Clinic as well.

Helen Doulos: 33:57

At the breast clinic, it's a little bit more difficult, psychologically for both patient and the staff. It's helping the patient go through initial diagnosis of breast cancer, and what the next steps will be not only for the patient but for their family as well. And we kind of guide them throughout the whole process and are with them along each and every step.

Kelly Albert: 34:23

And from my perspective, knowing you from the hospital, whenever we have a question about the breast clinic, everyone always says ask Helen. Helen knows everything.

Helen Doulos: 34:33

Yes, they still do. Thank you

Kelly Albert: 34:37

Thank you in conversation with Helen Doulos, who is currently the Assistant Head Nurse for the COVID screening Centre. So you were selected as a Hospital Hero that means a listener or a donor to the MUHC foundation voted for you; for your dedication to the care that you provide. So what does it mean to you to know that there are people who think you're a hospital hero and are celebrating your dedication?

Helen Doulos: 35:00

I'm touched beyond words for it. Not necessary, but I'm glad that the donation goes to good causes for the MUHC. What it means to me is that I'm hopefully doing my job properly, and giving the support and the care that is needed to the patients. The hospital heroes, the pins that I've received have been mainly at the breast clinic, from the breast clinic. And I am glad and I'm very happy that the funds are coming back to the MUHC for support that we have given to help other causes and patients and families along the way.

Kelly Albert: 35:43

Do you think it's special knowing that there are people who want to give back in this way and want to celebrate the workers that they interact with?

Helen Doulos: 35:52

It is extremely special. And I feel that we could perhaps do more and gain more this way if everybody would just go that extra step. We're not all perfect, but sometimes that extra step is all it takes to be acknowledged. But that's not why we're doing it. We're doing it because we love our job.

Kelly Albert: 36:20

Yeah, I think that's a great point in conversation with Helen Doulos, who's an Assistant Head Nurse for the COVID screening centre at the MUHC. I think it shows... it's a thank you. And I think everything that health care workers like yourself have been through in the last three years in general health care is a difficult field to be in. But through the course of the pandemic, it was even harder, long hours, difficult circumstances, the unknown of COVID-19 and what it brought to our society. Is it even more meaningful to know that this is a really simple way for someone to say thank you?

Helen Doulos: 36:58

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Kelly Albert: 37:02

What do you hear from other health care workers? Because we've given 1000s of these health care pins away their little hospital hero pin. So if you see a worker at the MUHC with a little H pin, they were nominated for hospital hero. What does it feel like to see these pins around the hospital on yourself and on other health care workers?

Helen Doulos: 37:24

It means that we're all going the extra step and we're being thanked. And the MUHC is doing something right. And health care givers.

Kelly Albert: 37:38

Yeah. And Helen, what would you want our listeners to know about how health care workers are doing right now? What would you like them to know?

Helen Doulos: 37:45

Well, I think we all struggle in different ways. And that's the reason exactly why I chose to move on from the Breast Clinic even though I love that position. It became difficult. There are cutbacks everywhere throughout the hospital. And while we're very lucky in nursing, that we can choose where to go with, there's a position available and apply on it. So when it gets too difficult where we are, we can change. I think everybody is going through a difficult time. And I mean, everybody in health care, from receptionist to the workers, and the physicians of course; we all contribute a lot to making the hospital work. Everybody should be patient. We've noticed that there's less patience out there from the public, and we understand but we're trying our best on our end, too.

Kelly Albert: 38:50

Yeah, and I think you're doing a really incredible job under very difficult circumstances, Helen.

Helen Doulos: 38:56

Thank you.

Kelly Albert: 38:57

And so you listening at home can nominate a Hospital Hero, you can go to MUHCFoundation.com. Click on Ways to Give and click on Hospital Heroes. This is a really special part of it. Until March 31, if you donate Beneva, it will actually match all donations to the Hospital Heroes program, up to $25,000. So your donation has twice the impact this month. And you can really highlight the achievements of people like Helen who work at the hospital every day. And it could be receptionists, it could be PABS, caregivers; anyone at the hospital...

Helen Doulos: 39:30

Or housekeepers; they're so forgotten. But they're so important with COVID these days.

Kelly Albert: 39:38

I mean, you're all important with COVID these days.

Helen Doulos: 39:40

Yes, but they have to keep our places clean, otherwise, we can recontaminate. It's super important.

Kelly Albert: 39:47

Yeah, I'm so grateful to get to meet really dedicated health care workers like you, Helen. I think you're doing an exceptional job and I just salute you for being a hospital hero because I think you're doing incredible work.

Helen Doulos: 39:58

Thank you and thank you for what you do.

Kelly Albert: 40:01

Thank you so much.

Helen Doulos: 40:01

You're informing everybody. It's very important. Thank you.

Kelly Albert: 40:04

Thank you. That is Helen Doulos. She is a Hospital Hero and assistant head nurse for the COVID screening centre at the MUHC. As I mentioned, you can vote for a hospital hero. If you've met someone at the MUHC, who really inspired you and you are grateful for them. Go to MUHCFoundation.com and click on Ways to Give and Hospital Heroes. I'm Kelly Albert, thank you for tuning in. What would you like to hear about on the show? You can write to me at healthmatters at MUHCFoundation.com. You can also follow the MUHC Foundation on social media or sign up for our newsletter at our website muhcfoundation.com. I hope you'll join me again next Sunday. Thank you for listening to Health Matters and stay healthy.