An uncommon bond

Look below the surface, however, and you will find that a powerful bond links Bertrand and Wong. It is a bond they share not just with one another but with millions of women in Montreal and around the world. Despite their diverse backgrounds and trajectories that are poles apart, both Bertrand and Wong have experienced the heartache and challenge of having women close to them become seriously ill, and both have been fortunate to witness the positive results that high-quality woman-centred care can yield. As a result of what they have lived through, the two have agreed to act as co-chairs of the $15-million Women’s Health segment of the McGill University Health Centre’s Best Care for Life campaign.

“This is a cause that has significance for every woman, young or old, no matter her background,” says Wong. Bertrand agrees, adding, “I hope our collaboration demonstrates that women can and must work together to advocate for the kind of health care we deserve. We may each have different experiences, but the need for high-quality services aimed specifically at women is something we should all care about.”

For Bertrand and Wong, these strong feelings meant answering the call when Dr. Seang-Lin Tan, Chief of the MUHC’s Women’s Health Mission, approached them about co-leading the part of the Best Care for Life campaign that is dedicated to the redevelopment of women’s health. Wong, who had met Tan through shared connections in Montreal’s Chinese community, smiles as she describes her initial response to his request. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it,” she says. “My first thought was, ‘Why me?’ ”

Wong wondered if she was well enough equipped to represent the Women’s Health Mission, despite having abundant experience as a philanthropist through her family, which has provided generous support to McGill University’s Faculty of Dentistry. She was also a longtime fundraiser, having served for 12 years on the board of the Chinese Hospital Foundation, and a spokesperson for high-profile community causes such as low-income housing in Chinatown. “I know what it means to take responsibility for a multi-million-dollar campaign and I felt that I owed it to everyone involved to give this a lot of thought. To me, the fundamental question when considering any fundraising project has to be whether or not I really believe in the cause. After careful consideration, I realized that I care deeply about what Dr. Tan and his colleagues are doing. I’m at the age now when I know more and more women who are touched by illness. I’ve heard so many stories of women in need in my personal life and through my advocacy work that I just couldn’t refuse.” Wong adds that, as a veteran fundraiser, she knew the importance of a strong team in making an ambitious campaign a success. “I hadn’t met Maryse before we took on these roles but I was instantly impressed when we did meet. Getting to know her and the doctors, nurses, other professionals and staff associated with the Women’s Health Mission only increased my confidence that we could reach the $15-million target.”

Although Bertrand shared Wong’s initial caution, her decision to accept Tan’s challenge was informed by more personal experiences. First, the near-tragic misdiagnosis of a member of her family was a powerful reminder of why women need specialists who are particularly attuned to women’s bodies. “My aunt, who is like a second mother to me, was complaining for months of nausea and overwhelming fatigue,” she explains. “None of her doctors was able to figure out what was wrong until she went to see Dr. Sniderman at the MUHC. After exhaustive tests he diagnosed her with a potentially fatal cardiac condition.” Bertrand’s aunt had displayed none of the classic symptoms of heart disease, a circumstance that, doctors are discovering, is often the case with women. Bertrand reflects, “I was so grateful that the MUHC had women’s health specialists who knew what to look for. It really brought home to me how important it is that women be viewed differently by doctors and not just be treated as smaller men.”

Bertrand herself has benefited from the expertise of the MUHC’s Women’s Health Mission. Fifteen years ago, when Toronto had the closest world-class fertility centre, she travelled there to receive the treatments that led to the birth of her first child. Her desire for a second child was muted by the thought of undertaking another round of onerous commutes between Montreal and Toronto. When she discussed these concerns with her doctor, the MUHC’s Dr. Togas Toulandi, he told her that the MUHC had just recruited a renowned expert in reproductive therapy, the Oxford-trained Tan. When Bertrand asked whether she could have her treatments here, Toulandi explained that despite the prodigious talent of the doctors and nurses at the MUHC, they lacked the $250,000 necessary to start up a fully functioning reproductive centre.

“At first I was shocked,” Bertrand recalls. “I mean, the only thing preventing thousands of Montreal women like me from getting fertility treatments in our own city was – not billions, not millions – but $250,000? And then I thought, ‘Well, why don’t I ask around and see if I can find that money somewhere?’ ” That is exactly what she did, helping to raise the funds needed to found what has now become the internationally acclaimed McGill Reproductive Centre (MRC) of the MUHC.

“That was only my second fundraising experience,” Bertrand says, adding with a smile, “I’m not an expert like Pierrette!” Although she continued to work as a fundraiser for the MRC after it opened its doors in 1996, Tan’s request still came as a surprise. Like Wong, Bertrand was cognizant of the responsibility that goes with co-chairing a $15-million campaign. “I really had to think about it when Dr. Tan approached. me. But I was also incredibly impressed with Pierrette, [Nursing Director] Susan Drouin and the rest of the team. At the end of the day, I realized that I had received so much from the MUHC and its Women’s Health Mission that there was no question in my mind of what I had to do.”

As Wong and Bertrand are quick to explain, their commitment to the cause was bolstered by their wholehearted enthusiasm for Tan’s vision of Women’s Health at the MUHC. That vision encompasses a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to health issues that addresses every aspect of a women’s physical and emotional well-being in a manner sensitive not just to her medical diagnosis but to her domestic, political and socio-economic circumstances. In practice, this means bringing together a world-class multidisciplinary team representing specialties as diverse as obstetrics and gynecology, endocrinology, cardiology, psychiatry and geriatrics, and providing them with facilities that encourage collaboration and can accommodate the very latest biomedical technologies.

Tan has succeeded in bringing together such an accomplished coterie of experts, despite aging facilities at the MUHC’s Royal Victoria Hospital site. These professionals have logged an impressive list of international accomplishments, including delivering the first babies in Canada to both hemo- and peritoneal dialysis patients, delivering Canada’s first baby born after egg freezing, and pioneering the use of in-vitro egg maturation and egg freezing to preserve fertility in patients undergoing chemotherapy. As these examples suggest, the MUHC’s Women’s Health specialists have developed a particular expertise in the treatment of infertility, but they are also well known for their achievements in managing high-risk pregnancies, obstetrical ultrasound and prenatal genetic diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and gynecological oncology.

The new Women’s Health Centre at the Glen will contain specialty clinics not only for a wide range of traditional ob-gyn and reproductive issues, but also for such non-traditional specialties as cardiology in women, endocrinology, psychiatry and non-reproductive cancers. All of the facilities will be designed to optimally accommodate teaching and research, as well as to provide a compassionate environment for patients. Wong is visibly excited as she describes what the new centre will mean to women in Montreal and across the province. “Dr. Tan really is a visionary. When he describes his plans for the new facility you can’t help but believe that this will happen. For me, my friends, my daughters and every woman in need of specialized health care, I think this is extremely important.” Bertrand adds, “It’s an incredible gift that we can give to future generations. I feel lucky to be involved.”

Listening to Wong and Bertrand describe their enthusiasm for the Women’s Health Mission and the Best Care for Life campaign, their superficial differences begin to seem far less significant than the cause that unites them. “Our health is priceless,” Wong says, although she and Bertrand agree that if a price tag had to be affixed to women’s health care, $15 million is a good place to start.

< If you are interested in finding out more about how you can support the Women’s Health Mission through the Best Care for Life campaign, please contact Dolly Shinhat-Ross at the MUHC Foundation at 514-931-5656.

The Women’s Health Centre will include:

• specialty clinics for obstetrics and gynecology, chronic pelvic pain, menopause and preserving fertility in women suffering from cancer
• clinics for heart disease in women, renal disorders in pregnancy and psychological disorders in women’s health
• facilities for well women, recurrent miscarriage, breast and ovarian cancer screening, vulval disorders, endometriosis and contraception in high-risk women
• a diagnostic centre
• a reproductive centre
• an antenatal centre
• in-patient wards
• postpartum care rooms
• a nursery for healthy newborns
• an in-patient and outpatient gynecology/oncology ward
• adjacent access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
• teaching and research facilities