On Friday, September 19, 2025, Anita Gagnon, former Associate Dean and Director, Ingram School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 9I制作厂免费, returned to the School for a special presentation by students who had completed the Summer Research Bursary Program, and for the official unveiling of her portrait which now hangs on the Wall of Honour beside the other distinguished leaders of the School since its establishment in 1920. We sat down with Prof. Gagnon, who retired in October of last year, to discuss the defining moments of her career and the strengths of the School.
What was it like being back at the Ingram School of Nursing?
It was great to be back! I arrived early so I had the time to go around to visit faculty and staff who were in their offices and hear a bit about their professional and personal news. Such a great group of people!
You鈥檝e been retired for a little over a year. Looking back over the arc of your career, what are the highlights for you?
This is a challenging question to answer. I offer three of the most salient experiences.
Creating a public health program in a mountainous region of Haiti, including training a local project director, village health workers, and traditional birth attendants; delivering healthcare alongside village health workers at weekly rural health 'posts'; occasionally supervising lay midwives and midhusbands as they attended births; and organizing and accompanying dental care teams to the mountainous communities. This resulted in vaccinations being given to children and pregnant women for the first time in the history of these communities and the creation of a team of healthcare workers. When I left the community, this team was averting cases of infant deaths and easing the impact of other common illnesses.
Founding, in conjunction with an Australian colleague, an international collaboration of researchers and health care providers from 20+ countries focused on the perinatal health and care of internationally migrant women. This collaboration brought a broad range of viewpoints and expertise to bear on key health concerns of migrant women and facilitated international comparisons on health care policies and approaches to care delivery.
During my nine-year tenure as Director, I effectively demonstrated the many contributions and strengths of the Ingram School of Nursing to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the University, philanthropists, and the Quebec government, resulting in large increases of resources to the School. Faculty and staff numbers increased fourfold. In 2017, the School was moved from Wilson Hall to three floors at 680 Sherbrooke West - with greater surface area, renovated to suit the School's needs, including the establishment of the Satoko Shibata Clinical Nursing Laboratories, equipped with the latest technology. The Office of Social Accountability in Nursing, Continuing Nursing Education, and Clinical Partnerships were created, the number of academic programs, specialties, and modes of curriculum delivery offered were expanded, and the number of students in all programs rose to 1000.
What do you see as the Ingram School of Nursing鈥檚 greatest strengths?
ISON's strengths are many but top among them is its faculty. Time and again, faculty members have gone beyond any reasonable expectations to provide students with the best possible educational experiences. The level of collegiality is high among faculty and staff, with continued efforts to improve communication, streamline business processes, and respond to students鈥� needs. ISON鈥檚 teaching, learning, and relaxing facilities offer excellent environments for classroom, small group, and independent thinking and development. Together with its many other strengths, ISON is an amazing place to work and study. I am privileged to have been a part of it for more than a quarter of a century.
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