Thank you for making this recognition possible.

For the third consecutive year, Medavie has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers!

This merit-based national competition determines the organizations who lead their industries in offering exceptional workplaces for their employees. As part of Medavie EXCEL, thank you for living our values – Caring, Accountable, Responsive, Innovative, Community-Minded – and delivering on our mission to improve the wellbeing of Canadians.

Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employersusing eight criteria: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement.

Every day, we see employees across the organization supporting our communities, creating change and making a meaningful difference in the lives of others. In return, we strive to provide a supportive culture that allows all of you to bring your true selves to work and to grow and thrive. Thank you to everyone.

Share your Medavie pride!
We encourage you to share your excitement and pride about this award on your social media accounts!

Nourishing healthy minds and bodies as title sponsor

From promoting active living to enhancing literacy for communities in southeast New Brunswick, it was an honour for Medavie to support these causes in partnership with Legs for Literacy as the event’s title sponsor. Legs for Literacy is Greater Moncton’s premier running event, and the largest running event in the province.

Thank you to our Medavie team and family members who participated – whether that was volunteering, cheering, walking, running, or all the above!

To get a glimpse of the event and team Medavie in action, check out this video and see some photos below:

Picture 1 (left): Brady Kitchen, Direct Sales Representative, Medavie Blue Cross, and Nancy Theriault, Senior Brand Strategist, Medavie
Picture 2 (middle): Disability Claims and Rehabilitation Specialists with Medavie Blue Cross: Murielle Lanteigne, Martine Parent, and Lise Beaulieu
Picture 3 (top right): Pooja Gupta, Business Development Analyst at Medavie Blue Cross, with her family – sons Kiaan and Ishan and husband Awanit
Picture 4 (bottom right): Pooja’s son, Kiaan, with mascot

Also check out our Legs for Literacy article on Medavie.ca featuring our very own Megan Demmings.

Running is truly a family affair for Megan, who, along with her father George, were among more than 1,300 people who went the distance in this year’s Legs for Literacy.

Megan hopes that in another year or two, her son will be ready to take part in his first event.

This year, Megan competed in her second half-marathon at this event, while it was a first for her father. In May, Megan participated in the Blue Nose Marathon with both of her parents, George and Cathy, who are recent Medavie retirees. Until June of this year, all three worked at Medavie (title sponsor of the Blue Nose half-marathon): George as an IT administrator, Cathy as a business analyst, and Megan, who is a senior analyst with the Medication Authorization Centre’s Dental Team.

Active Family

Her mother and father have always been active and served as the role models she aspires to be for her son. Running is an activity that has brought her and her father together especially. Not only do they motivate each other to train, they encourage each other to stretch their limits and take on new challenges.

We are proud to have participated in the 2023 River of Pride Festival!

As the presenting sponsor for this year’s River of Pride festival in Moncton that took place at the end of August, we are always proud to support and celebrate the communities where we live and work. With exceptional participation and enthusiasm, 34 Medavie team members took to the streets of downtown Moncton with bright colours, energy, and support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community during the River of Pride Parade.

We thank all who participated and represented Medavie in the community. In 2024, Medavie will be the presenting sponsor once again to celebrate River of Pride’s 25-year anniversary. If you missed this year, or if you would like to join us again next year, we would love to do this all over again.

A special shoutout to Susan Dugas, Manager of Operations for Medavie Health Services New Brunswick, for coordinating our Ambulance. We also want to shoutout Jeremie Duguay, our colleague and outgoing President of River of Pride for a successful 2023 festival.

To learn more about River of Pride, click here.

Check out the latest segment of Medavie Health Connect focusing on stretching your grocery budget while keeping it healthy and nutritious, featuring our very own Nanette Giswold, Registered Dietician. Medavie Health Connect is a monthly series, broadcast on CTV Morning Live Atlantic, providing health information and expert advice from a team dedicated to improving the wellbeing of Canadians.

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2778523

Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do within Medavie Health Services. As we recognize Canadian Patient Safety Week this week, we want to recognize those MHS employees who consistently provide exemplary patient care, are focused on improving our patient experience and who seek out potential hazards or provide solutions to reduce risk to our patients. They are our MHS Patient Safety Champions and, as we do each year, we want to thank each of them for going above and beyond when it comes to keeping our patients and communities safe.

All of our Patient Safety Champions are being personally recognized this week and some will be profiled on our MHS Facebook and LinkedIn pages. We hope you’ll join us in congratulating all of them for making patient safety a priority in everything they do. Our 2023 Patient Safety Champions are:

EHS Operations

Alexander Gore	Primary Care Paramedic
Andrew Finlay	Primary Care Paramedic
Ashley Duncanson	Primary Care Paramedic
Ben MacNeil	Advanced Care Paramedic
Bethan Hart	Primary Care Paramedic
Carl Deveau	Primary Care Paramedic
Christien Gennette	Primary Care Paramedic
Claude Comeau	Primary Care Paramedic
Cory Wittenburg	Advanced Care Paramedic
Dan Curry	Primary Care Paramedic
Dane Huntley	Primary Care Paramedic
Daniel Gee	Primary Care Paramedic
David Haase	Medical Transport Service
Emily Harris	Primary Care Paramedic
Emma Atwell	Primary Care Paramedic
Eric Poll	Advanced Care Paramedic
Graham Seymour	Primary Care Paramedic
Gregory Dunbar	Intermediate Care Paramedic
Ian MacLean	Supervisor
Iris Lavin	Telehealth Associate
Jack Cook	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jack Galley	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jamie Robert	Primary Care Paramedic
Jamie Theriault	Primary Care Paramedic
Jamie VanTassell	Advanced Care Paramedic
Janine Bell	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jenny Best	Intermediate Care Paramedic
Jim McLaren	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jody Porter	Advanced Care Paramedic
Johana Orton	Primary Care Paramedic
Jon Gray	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jonah Mann	Advanced Care Paramedic
Josh Curwin	Communications Officer
Karen Comeau	Advanced Care Paramedic
Karen Kelly	Primary Care Paramedic
Kelly Fines	Primary Care Paramedic
Kelsey Wells	Primary Care Paramedic
Kyle Fraser	Supervisor
Levi Milligan	Advanced Care Paramedic
Logan Menzies	Advanced Care Paramedic
Lorna Mastin	Advanced Care Paramedic
Lorne Pearce	Advanced Care Paramedic
Mariah Ernest	Primary Care Paramedic
Matthew MacAulay	Advanced Care Paramedic
Matthew MacDonald	Advanced Care Paramedic
Megan Best	Advanced Care Paramedic
Michael Miller	Primary Care Paramedic
Peter Maillett	Intermediate Care Paramedic
Peter Sexton	Primary Care Paramedic
PremaBae Cooper	Intermediate Care Paramedic
Robert Sweeney	Primary Care Paramedic
Robin Jensen	Clinical Transport Operator
Sabine Haggerty	Advanced Care Paramedic
Sai Sherwood	Primary Care Paramedic
Samantha Lamplugh	Advanced Care Paramedic
Samantha Weir	Advanced Care Paramedic
Shane Spicer	Medical Transport Service
Shelley Moore	Intermediate Care Paramedic
Stacie Weir	Primary Care Paramedic
Terry Leblanc	Advanced Care Paramedic
Todd Folz	Advanced Care Paramedic
Tony Sears	Fleet Manager
Whitney Young	Primary Care Paramedic

EM/ANB

Arthur Teale	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jason St-Coeur	Primary Care Paramedic
Monica Gaudet	Primary Care Paramedic

New Brunswick Extra-Mural Program

Marc Armstrong	Manager
Natasha Bone	Respiratory Therapist

Medavie Health Services New Brunswick

Cathy Cormier	Director, Air Ambulance Operations
Dana Curwen	Clinical Quality Coordinator
Edgar Goulette	Vice-President, Quality, Patient Safety and Education
Mathieu Frenette	Quality and Risk Consultant

New Brunswick Health Link

Martine DesRoches

Vice-President, NB Health Link

 Chatham-Kent EMS

David Desmarais	Senior Operating Paramedic
Michael Scott	Primary Care Paramedic
Paul St. Germain	Primary Care Paramedic
Ron Thomson	Primary Care Paramedic
Stephane Hebert	Primary Care Paramedic

 Perth County EMS

Andrew Lucas	Acting Commander
Bradley Everett	Primary Care Paramedic
Brian Stoeser	Acting Commander
Dana Lake	Primary Care Paramedic
Jacqueline Ussher	Primary Care Paramedic
Jenna Desjardine	Acting Commander
Kyle LeSouder	Primary Care Paramedic

 Elgin EMS

Chris McCallum	Primary Care Paramedic
Alexis Steinke	Primary Care Paramedic
Dean Casement	Operations Manager

 MHS West – Saskatoon

Chad Sander	Intermediate Care Paramedic
Taylor Steinacher	Advanced Care Paramedic
Tom Barbier	Primary Care Paramedic

 MHS West – Moose Jaw

Chloe Dearsley

Primary Care Paramedic

 MHS West – Central

Calvin Zibell	Advanced Care Paramedic
Jaret Matthews	Primary Care Paramedic
Jordan Mulder	Primary Care Paramedic
Robyn Bayliss	Supervisor

 MHS West – North East

Alex Fisher	Primary Care Paramedic
Brendon Dlouhy	Primary Care Paramedic
Carrisa Maksymec	Primary Care Paramedic
Cindy Bredin	Primary Care Paramedic

Island EMS

Brent MacDonald	Advanced Care Paramedic
David White	Advanced Care Paramedic
John Ellsworth	Advanced Care Paramedic
Justin Pollard	Primary Care Paramedic
Reilly MacKenzie	Fleet Support Technician

Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition and to our three randomly-chosen Patient Safety Champions, who will each receive a $150 Medavie Boutique card!

• Jody Porter – ACP, EHS Operations
• Calvin Zibell – ACP, MHS West – Central
• John Ellsworth – ACP, Island EMS

We are shortlisted for Insurance Business Canada Awards in three categories:

1. Life & Health Insurer of the Year
   This award of excellence is presented to the outstanding life and health insurance company in Canada providing top-tier life and health insurance products to consumers and businesses with an exemplary level of client service. This is the fourth consecutive year Medavie Blue Cross has been a finalist in this category and was the winner of the title in 2021.
   
   
2. Outstanding Customer Service
   This award acknowledges insurances companies, offices and independent adjusting firms with a proven track record of providing their clients with superior support. Last year, Medavie Blue Cross was a finalist for the Excellence in Claims Service Award, as well as Excellence in Digital Innovation (those categories are not included in this year’s program).
   
   
3. Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
   This award recognizes an organization in the insurance space that has diversity and inclusion at the heart of its business, providing programs for employees from five groups including women, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples and the LGBTI community.

In June, Anita Swamy, Medavie Blue Cross’s Senior Vice President of Operations was honoured by Insurance Business Canada as one of its “Elite Women” for 2023 for breaking barriers and mentoring the next generation of female leaders.

Medavie was shortlisted for the Canadian HR Award for Excellence in Financial, Physical & Mental Wellness, which recognizes organizations that excel in the provision of overall employee wellbeing.  

Earlier this year, Medavie was one of eight companies named Atlantic Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for having instituted measurable benchmarks to increase the diversity of our corporate culture.

Blue Cross Life was chosen as Canada’s Most Respected Life Insurance Company for the second consecutive based on the highest RESPECT SCORE tabulated in a national survey of nearly 3,000 Canadian consumers.

Medavie is one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2023 as an organization leads our industries in offering an exceptional workplace to our employees.

Additionally, Medavie is one of Canada’s Most Admired Cultures, which honours best-in-class Canadian organizations for having cultures that enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage.

Further, Medavie is certified by Imagine Canada as one of Canada’s Caring Companies, a designation that places our not-for-profit organization among the nation’s leaders in community service and corporate philanthropy.

Medavie accredited as a Rainbow Registered organization for having met the initiative’s stringent standards for inclusive policies and practices, training, commitment to inclusive leadership, working towards building a culture of that ensures 2SLGBTQIA+ clients, plan members, patients, and visitors to our benefits and wellness resource centre locations feel safe, welcomed, and accepted.

We are thrilled to announce that Medavie has received the Rainbow Registered accreditation as a 2SLGBTQIA+ friendly organization.

This special national designation is a testament to our ongoing efforts to uphold diversity and inclusion as a priority at Medavie, ensuring that everyone we employ and serve feels valued, respected and supported.

Rainbow Registered decals will be placed at entrances to our public-facing locations, beginning with our Medavie Benefits+ customer service centres in Moncton, Halifax and St. John’s.

To be Rainbow Registered, means that Medavie has been determined to offer supportive spaces for members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, having met the national program’s standards for inclusive policies and practices, training, and commitment to inclusive leadership.

You can learn more about Rainbow Registered at rainbowregistered.ca.

Jennifer Taylor (she/her)

Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Medavie

In this month’s edition of Canadian Paramedicine Magazine (see page 10), Matthew Crosmman, Vice President, Operation for Medavie Health Services, explains how Mobile Integrated Health or MIH programs are helping to ensure access to timely, appropriate care in people’s homes and/or communities. Having proven its effectiveness during the pandemic, MIH is introducing new ways to bring care to people, when and where they need it most.

Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do within Medavie Health Services. Everyone at all levels of our organization – including paramedics, nurses, communications officers, fleet and administrative staff – is dedicated to our patients’ safety and wellbeing.

As we do each year during Canadian Patient Safety Week, which runs October 23-27, we want to recognize those MHS employees who have gone above and beyond in their commitment to patient safety.   It’s also a week to inspire and remind one another that, when it comes to safety, everyone has a role to play. 

We’re looking to you to nominate your coworkers and colleagues who exemplify what it means to be committed to patient safety in any of the following ways: 

• Consistently providing exemplary patient care
• Being a strong patient advocate 
• Participating on patient safety related committees
• Dedicated to improving the patient experience and environment 
• Seeking out potential hazards and/or provides solutions to reduce risks to patients

To nominate an MHS employee as a Patient Safety Champion, submit that person’s name, department/base/station and their immediate supervisor(s) in an email with the subject line “PSW Nomination” to your company’s Patient Safety Working Group member:

• EMC: Michelle Young
• MHSNB: Eric Landry
• IEMS/Medacom: Claude Gavin
• Chatham-Kent:  Matthew Gaudette
• Elgin: Gord Mathers
• Perth: Ian Brown
• MHS West (Saskatoon): Carla Roy
• MHS West (Central): Kenn Eglauer
• MHS West (North-East): Jeff Dolejsi
• MHS West (Moose Jaw): Corey McNeice
• MHS/Medavie HealthEd: Tim Winchester

Please describe exactly why they should be recognized as a Patient Safety Champion, with enough information for us to make our consideration. 

The Patient Safety Champion submission deadline is Friday, October 6^th. It is open to all employees, union and non-union, as well as management, across the MHS group of companies.

We will be announcing our Patient Safety Champions during Patient Safety Week and personally presenting each Patient Safety Champion with a certificate of recognition, Patient Safety challenge coin and a $15 Tim Hortons gift card. We’ll also randomly draw three nominees who will each receive a $150 credit to the Medavie Boutique. If you know of someone who deserves to be recognized, please don’t hesitate to nominate them! 

Patient Safety Working Group

Check out the latest segment of Medavie Health Connect focusing on mental resilience and featuring our very own Donna Galloway and Grant Atkinson-Hardy. Medavie Health Connect is a monthly series, broadcast on CTV Morning Live Atlantic, providing health information and expert advice from a team dedicated to improving the wellbeing of Canadians. 

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2760597