Meet Your Care Team

If your child is coming to Shriners Hospital, know that you are going to get the best care anywhere. We have a dedicated team of professionals who truly care about you and your child, and want to help you as best as they possibly can for your child to achieve their dreams, to achieve their optimal functioning, to achieve everything that they have wanted in life.

I've been in this industry for a long time, but I've been here only for two years at the Shriners. And it's incredible what I see because there's something that we don't necessarily see elsewhere. Everything is geared about the family and about the child, and it's all about their experience and their journey through the hospital.

So whether it's preparing them for the surgery, whether it's at the surgery level, whether it's after surgery level, and if it's just knowing them. They're not a patient, they're part of our family. So I think those are the keys. It's the culture. It's the way of everybody wanting to be around the patient and making that patient feel that experience as easy in a difficult moment that they go through.

It allows these kids to come here and feel special. Because the amount of funding that the Shriners provides us, and everybody else, allows us to give patients that extra special care. It's like a holistic approach. We don't just look at a foot. If we see the child's in trouble, we'll look at something else. We'll ask about their social history. And we can do that because we don't feel pressure. We have that luxury of taking our time, seeing these patients. That's ideal. And who benefits? The patients benefit because they get that special care and that quick care and access.

Here we are eight pediatric orthopedic surgeon. We all do general pediatrics, but each one of us has a focus, a subspecialty. So my special areas are children with osteogenesis imperfecta, which is a metabolic condition of various severity, but they are born with brittle bone disease. So they can develop very severe deformities, multiple fractures all along their life. And many of them, if severe, they are unable to stand or walk. And just seeing a child before the surgery not able to stand and walk. After the surgery, they walk in front of you. And their smile, it's a huge motivation, and the self-satisfaction and the gratitude from these people is just amazing.

We have three different profession involved at the motion lab for the patient and the analysis. So basically when the patient comes in the motion lab, they will be greeted by the engineer who's in the lab, but also the physical therapist. But then physical therapist will take charge of that patient. So asking questions for the history of the patient, and then they will guide the patients throughout the motion analysis. So it takes time to put the markers on the patient because you need to find the exact spot where to put that. They're really the cornerstone of the motion lab, although everyone is very important in the motion lab, but they will do more of the clinical work once a patient is there.

I love what I do here because it targets really the two things that I like to do. Seeing patients, and at the same time, doing research about that. And that combination is very special here. For me personally, I don't just want to sit in the lab. So I do go and see the patients with bone diseases and other conditions here in the hospital. If you can tell people what you found about them and what are the next steps based on your findings, that's very inspiring.

I love what I do because it makes a difference for all these families. And I feel that I can contribute in working with a team that provides excellent care.

I love what I do because I'm making a true difference in our patients' and family life. And that's really what drives me to run the motion lab is how can we better help those patient that comes visit us? And it's a never-ending process, and that's really what motivates me to do my job.

I will never leave this place. I'm very happy where I am, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity and the privilege that I'm working here. So yes, I love my job.

I love what I do because almost all the time my kids do better. Almost all the time I have somewhat, somehow changed their life for a better path.

[Hopitaux Shriners por enfants®; Shriners Hospitals for Children® Canada]