The month of November 2019 was very active for GrS Montreal and its staff. Several projects and announcements have emerged since the beginning of the month.
The month of November 2019 was very busy for the GrS Montreal team . We worked hard to present our current projects and to unveil the launch of other projects that had been in preparation for quite a few months.
Preparing for the CPATH (Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health) convention in early November required countless hours of work for the development team. Henri Labelle, the GrS Montreal social worker psychotherapist, teamed up with nurse clinician Daphney Prophète to present surgical services to Canadian and international professionals on site. In pre-conference, the duo presented a detailed version of the surgical services. A shortened version of 90 minutes was presented 2 days later to other professionals. Dr. Brassard and Dr. Bélanger had the pleasure of participating in the closing plenary of the convention. This plenary was under the theme of the accessibility of trans care in Canada. The opportunity was perfect to answer questions and talk about upcoming projects.
The same team took advantage of the conference to unveil the Monarch platform, a system entirely designed to facilitate exchanges between patients and GrS Montreal professionals . More than 3 years of development were needed to achieve a result that is both user-friendly and secure. This highly anticipated platform will be launched in the beginning of 2020. A video on Monarch has been produced, you can watch it here.
The CPATH conference was also the occasion to launch the Trans Avenue blog that you are currently reading! Already more than a dozen texts are there and several others are in preparation. You will find, for example, articles on vaginoplasty and phalloplasty, another on the Two-Spirit people or the 50 years anniversary of the Stonewall riots . A newsletter dedicated to readers of the blog has also been implemented. You can register by following this link.
At the beginning of November, we also launched our own Youtube channel and, for the first time, published a very touching video in which 3 of our patients shared their transition experience. A corporate video was also unveiled. Here are the two videos.
Also noteworthy is the participation of GrS Montreal in the conference of the Ordre des Infirmières et Infirmiers du Québec – Quebec Nurses Association (OIIQ). A presentation on the development of the preoperative clinic was made by two of our nurse clinicians. Our Director of Human Resources was there to inform the nurses present of the benefits of working for the Complexe chirurgical CMC. This kind of participation in conferences allows GrS Montreal to demonstrate the quality of the services offered at its establishment, but above all to share its knowledge of trans-specific health care in order to improve accessibility. It is in this spirit that the development team presented the services of GrS Montreal in community organizations and with mental health professionals.
Although November 2019 has been a very busy time for GrS Montreal, we are already working on other projects coming up soon. It’s a safe bet that you will hear about GrS Montreal in the media in January 2020.
Our goal is to continually improve care delivery and accessibility, and we work hard to remain pioneers in trans health.
