On January 4, 2021, Centre de santé Saint-Boniface welcomed their new Executive Director, Stéphanie Roy. When asked how she feels about her new role, Stéphanie didn’t miss a beat. “I’m very excited,” she said.
Seeking French health services is a daily struggle for many francophones. Stéphanie aims to play her part in changing that. “I want to make French health services available, accessible and prominent,” said Stéphanie. The new Executive Director understands that Centre de santé Saint-Boniface can’t answer every single healthcare need in the francophone community, but she believes partnerships might help. “In order to complement our services and to fill the gaps in the list of services we provide, Centre de santé Saint-Boniface has built some exceptional partnerships with organizations like Youville, St-Boniface Hospital, Actionmarguerite, and My Health Teams. My goal is to maintain those partnerships and build new ones so that we can respond efficiently to the needs in the French-speaking community.”
Positioning Centre de santé Saint-Boniface as a leader in healthcare is part of her vision for the organization. “When the community thinks about primary care I want them to think about us,” said Stéphanie. Given that she used to work as a Manager at Centre de santé Saint-Boniface, she has seen firsthand the constant pause the staff takes to evaluate the needs in the French community and the capacity as well as the flexibility it has to respond to those needs. “Everyone, from admin to doctors, does such incredible work and they do it with so much dedication and optimism,” said Stéphanie. “When the community is experiencing difficulties in primary health, I want Centre de santé Saint-Boniface to be the place they turn to first.”
Stéphanie has worked at a number of bilingual organizations including Université de Saint-Boniface, Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain, and St-Boniface Hospital. Before becoming Executive Director of Centre de santé Saint-Boniface she was the Manager at Access Winnipeg West on the Grace Campus. The job opening for a new Executive Director came exactly when Stéphanie wished to take on strategic, higher-level responsibilities in a bilingual work environment. “I was ready for the next challenge in my career,” said Stéphanie. “I was also very ready to start working in French again. I missed it.” Laughing, Stéphanie said, “I’m a francophone, so I think in French and when I have a conversation in English I need to translate my thoughts.”
