Dr. Éric Gagnon about the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont

See the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont of Dr. Éric Gagnon

As you know, the emergency room at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) is regularly in the news, and not always for the right reasons. Let Dr. Éric Gagnon take you behind the media show, far from the figures and stats.

“I arrived at HMR in January 1990. I’ve spent 32 years in the heart of this ER on Assomption Boulevard, a “theatre” in which the life and history of Montreal’s east end have played out. Call it love or call it loyalty—I’m not really sure what it is.

Thrombolysis, scans, MRIs and computers didn’t exist back then. Chemotherapy was in its infancy and bone marrow transplants were still a dream at that point. That’s the world my career began in. It’s mind-boggling to see all the advances in technology and knowledge we’ve made since then!

Between the walls of this theatre waft the smells of life and death, disease and healing, and the showers taken by the care teams as they arrive for their shifts. Suffering rubs shoulders with compassion, fear and anxiety, impromptu human encounters, the birth of strong friendships and tender moments laid bare.

Give

I remember a girl in her mother’s arms in the middle of the corridor, saved from the brink of death, and not a moment too soon. I remember the words of thanks and the kiss I received from that girl who, 15 years on, had recognized me in the very same corridor.

I regularly revisit in my mind that dignified elderly man who came to us with tears in his eyes to entrust us with the care of his wife, who suffered from dementia, because he could no longer care for her himself. As soon as I left the room, I cried.

And then there was the man who burst into traditional Indigenous song as he stood next to the stretcher on which his brother had just died. It was beautiful and powerful. That time as well, we cried.

The HMR emergency room is home to caring people whose only goal is to welcome, treat and reach out to those who come through the door. The drive to do better as I work with these professionals, for you, your loved ones and the entire population of Montreal’s east end, has never left me.

Thank you for being here with us and for trusting us.” – D^r Éric Gagnon, urgentologue à l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont

Your generosity gives us and all the caregivers at our hospital the support we need.

Give