February 26th 2020 – With the goal of providing teenage girls with exposure to a variety of careers in science, the OPG (Ontario Power Generation) hosted the 2nd annual “Women in Science Conference” for close to 300 grade nine and grade ten girls. Cornwall Community Hospital was proud to participate again this year at the event being held at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall on February 24th and 25th.

The 2-day event had guest speakers from a range of science related disciplines and backgrounds; all hoping to encourage those in attendance to think about a career in the sciences. The young women were also encouraged to broaden their horizons and expand their interests with four types of breakout sessions available; environmental sciences, trades, engineering and health sciences.

Four staff members from Cornwall Community Hospital participated as breakout speakers, all with different career paths in health sciences.

Carol Branchaud has worked for 30 years as a nurse in both Canada and in the United States, with most of that time focused on Labour and Delivery. She has also become an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant and opened a private practice for this service in 2016, helping new moms interested in breastfeeding by providing consultation in their homes.

Krista St. Jean is a Registered Nurse at CCH in the Hemodialysis Unit and has over 17 years of experience. She is the lead mentor to all new nurses on the Hemodialysis Unit and was awarded her certification in Nephrology in 2017 from the Canadian Nurses Association.

Nicole Johnston received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Laurentian University in 2011 and began working at CCH later that same year. She has been involved in numerous continuous improvement projects including Cornwall Hospital’s adoption, development and implementation of an electronic health record. Nicole’s current role as a Clinical Informatics Nurse has an emphasis on comprehensive training to new and existing staff.

Luyao Ma is a Nurse Practitioner at the Geriatric Day Hospital and the Respiratory Rehab Clinic at CCH. She is responsible for comprehensive cognitive and medical assessments for older adults living in the community and treating lung conditions for people of all ages. She is also a volunteer board member of the Glengarry Nurse Practitioner led clinic in Lancaster. Prior her work at CCH, Luyao specialized in palliative care in the community setting.

We thank our staff members for their participation in such a great community initiative.
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