CIUSSS nets prize for poster highlighting Planetree success

Krystle North, Advisor on the Quality team; Chantal Bellerose, Coordinator responsible for overseeing Planetree across the CIUSSS; and Brigitte Lavoie, Advisor on the Quality team, celebrate the CIUSSS’s prize at the International Planetree Conference in Florida in October
Krystle North, Advisor on the Quality team; Chantal Bellerose, Coordinator responsible for overseeing Planetree across the CIUSSS; and Brigitte Lavoie, Advisor on the Quality team, celebrate the CIUSSS’s prize at the International Planetree Conference in Florida in October

A team from CIUSSS West-Central Montreal was rewarded at an international conference for a poster showcasing our progress in implementing the Planetree model of care.

For Chantal Bellerose, who is responsible for overseeing Planetree across the CIUSSS, the fourth-place prize recognizes our network’s success and vision in adopting the Planetree philosophy. The program focuses on person-centred care that places healthcare users and staff as equal partners.

“This is a celebration of what we’ve done to date, what we’re doing now, and where we’re going in the future,” Ms. Bellerose said of the prize, which was awarded in October at the Planetree International Conference on Person-Centered Care in Orlando, Fla. “It shows we’re involved in a process that is bearing fruit, and is being endorsed by experts.”

Our CIUSSS joined the international organization last year and launched the process of improving its focus on the needs of users and caregivers, as well as the requirements of staff well-being. Each directorate has named its own Planetree ambassadors.

The poster from our CIUSSS placed fourth from among 67 contenders. Each poster was judged by Planetree on content and context; advancing person-centred concepts; and outcomes and engagement of partners. The poster was overseen by our CIUSSS’s Quality Directorate with the support of many services and in partnership with the Human Resources Directorate. 

“This was saying, ‘Bravo, we encourage and congratulate you’,” says Ms. Bellerose, Coordinator of Quality, Risk Management, Accreditation, Clinical Ethics and the User Experience. “I was truly moved.”

Our delegation in Orlando was headed by Alan Maislin, President of the Board of Directors of CIUSSS West-Central Montreal.

Other people from our CIUSSS also attended the event. Diana Dima, Chief of Specialized Nurse Practitioners; Serge Cloutier, Associate Director of Nursing; and Dr. Lawrence Rudski, Director of the division of Cardiology and of the Azrieli Heart Centre, had a poster at the conference entitled: Cardiovascular Integrated Practice Unit – Acute Coronary Syndrome Trajectory.

Ms. Dima also presented at a session about early progressive mobility in Acute Cardiovascular Units, with Dr. Michael Goldfarb, Director of Quality for the Azrieli Heart Centre.

Planetree International has partnered with more than 800 healthcare organizations in 29 countries to implement person-centered quality improvement approaches. The Connecticut-based organization advocates a person-centred approach, in which all employees—including those with little or no direct contact with users—see themselves as responsible for fulfilling the needs of users and their families.