Meet Chantal Souligny: our new Associate Director of Nursing

Chantal Souligny walks down the hospital’s F-wing every morning with a big smile on her face. She is excited and ready for the busy year ahead.

Chantal Souligny walks down the hospital’s F-wing every morning with a big smile on her face. She is excited and ready for the busy year ahead. As the Montreal Children’s Hospital’s new Associate Director of Nursing, Chantal’s knowledge of this institution, both present and future, will be invaluable as we prepare for our last sprint towards the Glen.

As an active member of the McGill University Health Centre for the last 30 years, Chantal has worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Montreal Chest Institute and now the Children’s. Since 2006, Chantal has acted as the nursing coordinator of Respiratory Services of the MUHC. Her main responsibilities included managing the nursing department at the Chest and overseeing hospital operations as a whole. She also helped implement important health initiatives and is the project leader of a smoking cessation program for MUHC patients called IMPACT. “I’m hoping to adapt this model for the Children’s by expanding this program to help parents stop smoking,” she says. “Our model has proven to be very successful and I’d like to see it evolve.”

Besides her daily responsibilities as an administrator, Chantal also served as a clinical advisor for the construction and organization of adult Respiratory Services at the Glen. “I learned very early on that if you work together, you can get a lot more done,” she says. “As an administrator it is important to stay connected to the people on the ground and make sure they participate in the decisions that will affect our future at the Glen.”

Her interdisciplinary approach towards healthcare, innovative spirit and compassion towards patients and families will make her a perfect fit for the Children’s. As a clinical leader at the Chest, she credits her team for always delivering the highest standards of care, amid ups and downs, and plans to oversee this new responsibility with the same outlook. “The Children’s plays a major role in promoting the wellbeing of its community and I will make sure that our patients and families have a positive experience every time they walk through our doors,” she says.

Even though she’s still getting used to the different units and wings of the hospital, she already feels at home. “Over the last week I’ve heard so many stories of why the Children’s is special,” she says. “I’ve talked to people who have spent their entire careers here, people who have left and come back, and there was one word that kept coming up: compassion.” Compassion – a word Chantal can definitely relate to. Our nursing department is in very good hands. 

Chantal Souligny stands next to her ‘Breathing is life” sign. A former patient painted it before receiving a double-lung transplant. After a life long struggle with a severe lung condition, she now enjoys every day to its fullest. It was showcased in the garden at the Chest Institute and Chantal says it’s one thing she wanted to bring with her to the MCH. “This sign truly connects my previous world to my new world,” she says. “It means so much to me.”

The Montreal Children’s Hospital would also like to take this moment to thank Barbara Izzard for her many years of dedication and hard work. As Associate Director of Nursing, she led our nurses for the last six years and will continue to guide us as the senior advisor for MCH Redevelopment. She will now be working full-time on preparing us for our transition and transfer to the new Montreal Children’s Hospital.