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'Keep on trucking,' says award winning doctor (4 photos)

Physician wins Hutchinson Award for helping with community’s opioid struggle

An emergency department nurse with an empathetic personal touch, a straight-talking volunteer and two physicians, who have made their mark in infectious disease management and addictions and mental health treatment, respectively, are the winners of Sault Area Hospital’s (SAH) Dr. William Hutchinson and iCcare Awards for 2022.

The awards were presented by the SAH board of directors at the hospital’s Annual General Meeting held virtually late Monday afternoon.

Dr. Robert Maloney is the 2022 recipient of the Dr. William Hutchinson Award.

The Dr. William Hutchinson Award was established in 1982 to recognize distinguished contributions to health services in Sault Ste Marie and the District of Algoma.

Receiving his medical training at McMaster University, SAH’s Maloney has worked as a physician in Sault Ste. Marie since 1985 and became one of the first two full-time emergency department doctors in the community.

Maloney played a role in starting up the Orphaned Patient Clinic, Hospitalist Program, Addiction Medicine Consult Team, Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine Clinic (RAAM Clinic) and Post-Acute Care Program.

He is also a founding member of a musical comedy band called the Comedics. Over the past 25 years,  the band has helped raise over $2 million for a variety of good causes, mostly related to health care.

“It’s a career highlight,” Maloney said about receiving the award.

“Having been in Sault Ste. Marie, for over 35 years, I’ve seen a lot of good change with a lot of programs here in the community. Certainly, there’s a lot of reward in being involved in starting up programs and working on them.”   

“I recognize that the Hutchinson Award is a reflection of leadership, and I’m a little sheepish because I’m well aware of my own leadership limitations. I see myself more over the years as a grinder, and I suppose leadership shows itself in different faces.”

“I would say to all the rest of you leaders out there to just keep doing what you’re doing and keep on trucking,” Maloney added.

Cory Vial, a registered nurse in SAH’s emergency department, won the employee category award.

Vial was unable to give an acceptance speech at the virtual AGM as he was working his shift in SAH’s ED.

“Cory goes out of his way to help others – his patients, his colleagues – he always meets people with a smile and lets them know he’s willing to help and be there for you,” said SAH board member Brent Rankin in presenting the award.

“He is dedicated and compassionate. He is empathetic and understanding. He is knowledgeable and dependable. He is a leader and demonstrates this not only when he is the lead nurse for the day but always. His work ethic and his ability to put someone at ease, despite their emergency, are infectious, making Cory an essential part of the team in the emergency department. Cory has a calming demeanour when he speaks with patients and puts them at ease…when Cory talks to patients, you can see their anxiety and their fear transform into relief and reassurance. He identifies issues before they are problems and already has a solution or recommendation as to how the issue can be remedied,” Rankin said.

Louis Ferron was honoured in the volunteer category.

SAH described Ferron as “an inspirational member of several working groups and teams with meaningful contributions based on his extensive work experience and lived experience. Louis has participated in numerous projects in the emergency department and mental health and addictions, and his contributions are far-reaching.” 

“I’m very honoured and humbled by this award,” Ferron said.

“My experiences in life have really helped me with working here at Sault Area Hospital. I’ve been a patient in many hospitals since my heart attack almost 15 years ago, so I go back to those experiences when I’m sitting on committees for the ED department or when I’m looking at the Quality Improvement Plan and all the different committees.”

Ferron said when he first looked into becoming a SAH volunteer, he told a SAH staff member, “I don’t think I can do this because I often tell people what they don’t want to hear, and she said ‘well, they need to hear.’”

“I applied for this position, and I don’t regret it. I really enjoy what I’m doing. I feel like I’m always contributing and that people are listening,” Ferron added.

Dr. Lucas Castellani, an infectious diseases specialist at SAH, took the physician award.

Joining the SAH team in 2017, Castellani developed one of the first monoclonal therapy clinics – to stimulate a patient’s immune system to fight off bad cells – in northern Ontario at SAH and an app that can be used in the community to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing.

“There’s no way I could do what I do on a daily basis without the support of everyone else. It’s definitely a great place to learn and to deal with all of you,” Castellani told the board and staff.

In other news from Monday’s SAH Annual General Meeting, the board was told – as it was at its last regular meeting held on June 20 – the hospital ended the 2021-22 fiscal year on March 31 with a surplus of $4.6 million.

The surplus was driven primarily by some unexpected one-time provincial funding announced in April 2022 to support addressing deficits and preserving front-line services.


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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