French Language Services are alive and well in the Catholic Health Corporation of Manitoba’s (CHCM) Network. In March, St.Amant will be the second CHCM organization to sign the Ottawa declaration and in April, both St.Amant and ActionMarguerite will be will be hosting an innovative pilot project, Café de Paris, in partnership with Santé en Francais.
Café de Paris started in a New Brunswick Hospital to provide an opportunity for healthcare workers to gain confidence in their French language skills and be able to, comfortably, provide the active offer to patients. They created a safe space for staff to practice their language skills with a trained facilitator.
“For some, it’s simple as wanting to learn a sentence or two and for others it’s having in-depth clinical conversations. We’re following a very successful model and we’re excited to have Actionmarguerite and St.Amant as part of the pilot project.” Said Lynne Lemoine
Staff at both organizations can schedule a visit for as little as fifteen minutes to as long as an hour with a trained facilitator. The facilitators and learners will have access to a wide variety of resources and teaching materials.
Each of the locations will have a dedicated space in the building where staff can spend one on one time with the facilitator. As time goes on, St.Amant hopes to grow the group and create additional activities in French.
“We jumped on this incredible opportunity to provide free training for staff on site at 440 River Road. To have people feel comfortable to offer services in French and to provide the active offer, will really, in the end, benefit the people we support” Said Colette Brodeur, French Language Services Manager at St.Amant.
Ottawa Declaration
St.Amant’s Board Chair Francine DeRoche and acting CEO Shirley Labossiere will be signing the Ottawa declaration, an oath which includes 13 commitments that the organization will undertake, to provide the best possible services in both official languages. St. Boniface Hospital signed the oath on March 25, 2019, “The signing of this declaration by our President and CEO, as well as our Board Chair, is such an incredible vote of confidence for French Language Services at St. Boniface Hospital, we’re very grateful to have leadership that is so engaged in this important service.” Said Nicole Cazemayor, French Language Services coordinator for St. Boniface Hospital.
The Catholic Health Corporation of Manitoba is proud to be a bilingual organization and we are excited to share the innovative efforts of French Language Services staff in our Network. They’re work helps create a more inclusive society, where the people we support can have access to quality care in the official language of their choice.
For more information on The Ottawa Declaration please click here
For more information on Santé en français please visit this site
