VON honours staff, volunteers during president's visit

Judith Shamian, VON Canada’s president and chief executive officer, was on hand for a Thursday morning event where some of the VON’s local staff and volunteers were recognized for their service.

Asked about the biggest issue or challenge facing her organization, she cited one that she acknowledged is more of an issue for Canada than for the VON itself – the need for everyone to recognize that caring for people should go beyond medical attention.

“You have to combine homecare with community and social care,” she said in an interview. “It’s not enough to change the dressing for somebody who had a knee replacement if they have no food in the fridge or they cannot pick up their medication.”

While Shamian had been to Halifax many times, until last week she hadn’t been to this end of Nova Scotia.

“This is my first opportunity to be in Yarmouth and I’m very impressed,” she said.

Of the local VON, she said, “This is a very active branch and the board is very active in supporting the VON and the community.”

Prior to joining the VON, Shamian was the federal government’s executive director of nursing policy, or the country’s chief nurse, as many people called her.

She has been with the VON for four years and is based in Ottawa.

She referred to the VON as a “national treasure” and made a point of mentioning not just the organization’s 7,000-plus paid staff but also its volunteers, who also number over 7,000, she said.

While they may not talk much about the volunteers, she said, “The lives of tens of thousands of people would be very different if not for the incredible work that volunteers do.”

Volunteers who were recognized during the Aug. 21 event included Alice Murree, Karen Amirault, Barb Rodney, Anne Taylor (all for five years’ service) and Louise Zinck (one year).

The VON also honoured the following staff members: Margaret O’Neil (five years), Johna d’Entremont, Charline Robichaud and Julie Cockerill (10 years each), Sheila D’Eon (35 years) and Barb Lutz (nurse manager who is retiring Aug. 31).

Also recognized were Rose Brennan and Karen Marr.