The Logic of Logistics

For Frank Vieira, being part of the McGill University Health Centre was only logical. His father, a Portuguese immigrant who began work as a sterilization attendant at the Royal Victoria Hospital in the 1960s, first brought him here as a boy and introduced him to the ins and outs of hospital work. Remembers Vieira, “he would bring me in during the off days when there wasn't any school. The earliest must have been when I was 11. I've been in the hospital sector for longer than what my seniority would actually say!”

Vieira’s work at the hospital started with a part-time job when he was 16. “My first night on the job was with my father,” Vieira recalls nostalgically. “As a 16-year-old, I was sterilizing trays, stocking the unit, distributing supplies.” Although he didn’t know it then, Vieira was working in an area which he now oversees. “It’s ironic,” he reflects: “my first job was here but I never thought that this would be a career for me. My father still says it's because of him.” His father, who retired in 1993, not only helped him get his first job, but also encouraged Vieira to go farther than he had. Throughout high school, CEGEP, and university, Vieira stayed with the hospital, working evening shifts and weekends. He graduated from Concordia with a B.A. in political science and then went on to receive a Master's degree in public policy administration. Now the father of two young children, Vieira knows how his father felt: “As a parent, the only thing you would want is for your son or daughter to do better than you did.”

With his years of hands-on experience and academic background, it was only logical that Vieira would continue seeking challenging work within the MUHC. When the five founding hospitals merged in 2000, Vieira was appointed Stores & Distribution Manager for the MUHC. In 2006, he moved to his current position as Coordinator of Logistics Services, which has him overseeing warehousing and distribution, internal and external transport for patients and staff, and document management. Logistics represents a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes on at the MUHC and employs approximately 800 people across the five sites. Of his team, Vieira proudly says, “we're a group that's considered your go-to guy.”

Vieira is excited by the redevelopment project and is very involved in the planning process. Logistics, he says is “a major player in terms of contributing to what the MUHC will look like at the Glen and Mountain campuses. We’re laying out what needs we foresee at the new site as we submit all our concerns and specifications to the groups involved in the PPP and the Redvelopment project. It’s a process that involves everyone because no one understands the needs of the hospital better than the people who work here every day.”

Regardless of the large-scale changes that are in the works through the redevelopment project, Vieira knows that it’s only logical for one thing to stay the same: the level and quality of care provided at the MUHC. “Our priority, he says, “will always be patient care. Our goal is to try and improve the patient experience at the hospital, be it through stores or transport or document management. There's a level of care right now that people are living for and that people identify with. When you talk to patients about the MUHC staff they’ve interacted with, whether it be a nurse or a transport attendant or a housekeeper, they always emphasize the quality of care they've received. The sites may change but that attitude won’t.”