Building on the momentum of St. Mary’s Centennial anniversary, the Foundation is proud to launch our $100 million Next Century of Care campaign, which will play a key role in safeguarding our Hospital’s legacy for future generations.
As the world undergoes profound social, demographic, and technological changes, we are committed to ensuring that St. Mary’s remains at the leading edge of medicine and community care. But to make this happen, significant investments will be needed to preserve St. Mary’s ability to evolve and provide the utmost quality of care to our patients in the years to come.
We invite you to join us as we carry out this mission together.
Here are the “pillars” that will define St. Mary’s Next Century of Care.
The health of any hospital depends on the proper functioning of its Emergency Department, and St. Mary’s is no exception. Our ER handles over 35,000 visits a year, is consistently singled out for accolades, and prides itself in offering the highest quality of care on the frontlines.
But preserving this standard of excellence will require a number of renovations and upgrades, including the acquisition of an ER-specific CT scan, the creation of much-needed isolation rooms, as well as the reconfiguration and expansion of our Hospital’s outpatient clinics.
These improvements will guarantee a more efficient ER referral and patient follow-up process, ensuring that ER personnel can swiftly answer any call to action that comes their way.
At St. Mary’s Emergency Department, we proudly see the patient before the illness. Our hospital community is truly special, and although we don’t wish to meet you in the ER, we are here for you.
-Dr. Jason Freder, MDCM, MBA, Site Chief of Emergency
Modernizing St. Mary’s operating rooms is an essential first step to reach our goal of limiting extended hospital stays when day surgeries are possible – an objective that is aligned with our “whole-person care” ethos.
To achieve this, our Surgery wing will be undergoing a full renovation, which will result in an expanded and optimized OR arena containing 8 fully-functioning rooms. This will improve the patient experience, chiefly by reducing waiting times (as of today, 3,395 people are waitlisted for surgery at St. Mary’s, though 88% of them will be operated on in less than six months, on average).
Robotics technology will be a major asset for clinical teams in the coming years, and possessing an extra surgical robot will allow us to directly serve our patients instead of having to refer them to tertiary centres. A training program in robotic surgery will help raise the profile of St. Mary’s OR by positioning it at the leading edge of medical technology and education.
General surgery is the backbone of any hospital and this is especially true of a community hospital such as St. Mary’s.
-Dr. Sebastian Demyttenaere, Director, Div. General Surgery
With a legacy of excellence in geriatric care, St. Mary’s strives to meet the growing needs of the aging population and continue to stand out as a beacon in the field in the coming years.
Our holistic approach to the well-being of older adults is reflected in our plans to completely renovate our geriatric inpatient care unit, create a standalone geriatric outpatient clinic, and become one of the most “senior-friendly” hospitals in Québec. Our Geriatric Department has already made great strides towards this goal by launching the Geriatric Multidisciplinary Team (“Geri MDT”) in the ER, which has been able to avoid multiple hospitalizations by coordinating complex discharges. In its first quarter, the Geri MDT yielded astounding results, with annual cost savings estimated at $10 million.
St. Mary’s is also actively pursuing the creation of a Research Chair in Older Adult Care – a promising initiative that will develop new pathways of care and integrate cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality, sensors, real-time biometrics, and more.
Dr. Peter McCracken, a previous Physician-in-Chief at St. Mary’s, was one of the pioneers of Geriatric Medicine in Canada. We are determined to carry his legacy into the Next Century of Care with a fully established, comprehensive geriatric team at St. Mary’s.
-Dr. Julia Chabot, Chief of Geriatrics
St. Mary’s is committed to answering the complex and ever-evolving needs of our patients. As Montréal’s preeminent community hospital, this means reinforcing and expanding the broad range of medical services we provide.
Departments such as ICU and CCU will require substantive improvements to better meet the growing needs of our diverse clientele. Preserving the quality of the patient experience at St. Mary’s and enhancing our institution’s attractiveness to staff, students, and research talent will be top-of-mind priorities.
Significant investments – whether relating to clinical care, education, or research – will therefore be essential to uphold our Hospital’s legacy of excellence in “whole-person care” during the coming decades.
Our Coronary Care Unit is run by a dynamic team of cardiologists, nurses, and allied health personnel who take pride in delivering state-of-the-art care with a human touch.
-Dr. Mathieu Walker, Chief of Cardiology
As one of Montréal’s largest birthing centres, St. Mary’s is especially well known for its Obstetrics Department. However, we stand out as a beacon in Women’s Health more broadly, offering the full spectrum of care, from birth to end of life with dignity.
This commitment to comprehensive healthcare throughout life’s journey will be reinforced through the modernization of our Women’s Clinic, Post-Partum Unit, and Neo-Natal Care Unit, the creation of an Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic and a Breast Cancer screening centre, as well as the acquisition of a mammogram machine, among other significant upgrades.
In terms of research, our Urogynecology and Pelvic Floor Reconstructive Surgery fellowship program was designed to provide comprehensive understanding of female pelvic medicine, while our Perinatal Mental Health Research project is investigating the emotional well-being of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Women’s Health at St. Mary’s is centered on compassion, safety, and comprehensive support, ensuring that every patient receives personalized care alongside the highest medical standards.
-Dr. Hélène Weibel, Chief, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
As a McGill University affiliated teaching hospital hosting several residencies, internships, fellowships, and two McGill Research Chairs (in Family & Community Medicine and in Community Oncology), St. Mary’s plays a vital role in advancing the science of clinical care and training the healthcare professionals and researchers of tomorrow.
St. Mary’s Research Centre completes hundreds of knowledge transfers annually through an extensive list of publications, presentations, and community outreach initiatives, while our state-of-the-art Simulation Centre expertly prepares staff for medical scenarios they could face in real life. Our Transitional Mentorship program for new nursing graduates provides crucial peer-to-peer support to novice nurses entering the profession – thereby honouring our Nursing School’s foundational values of “healing with hand and heart.”
Fulfilling our academic mission in the years to come will require creating new teaching spaces equipped with the latest technology, funding various research projects and fellowships, and renovating several facilities to better accommodate our students and staff.
We bring scientific innovation directly to the bedside, allowing our patients and their families to receive the best care possible.
-Sylvie Lambert, Associate Professor, Ingram School of Nursing (McGill); Researcher, SMHC
As we enter this historic new era, we encourage you to follow us on social media (@stmarysMTL) and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on Hospital news.
We would also be most grateful if you considered making a donation below. Every gift – no matter how big or small – is a meaningful investment in St. Mary’s Next Century of Care.
