Hospital’s 90th-anniversary celebration climaxes with City Hall ceremony
Mayor Valérie Plante praises JGH as “a cornerstone of our city”
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante (right) addresses guests before the signing of the Golden Book to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the JGH. (Click on this or any photo to enlarge it.)
The celebration of the JGH’s 90th anniversary reached its high point on October 10 in a ceremony at Montreal City Hall, where the city’s prestigious Golden Book was signed in the presence of Mayor Valérie Plante, leading civic dignitaries and top officials from the hospital, CIUSSS West-Central Montreal and the JGH Foundation.
The Golden Book awaits the signature of Dr. Morty Yalovsky.
“The Jewish General Hospital is truly a cornerstone of our city and your reputation is known world-wide,” said Mayor Plante, adding that the JGH is noteworthy not only as an institution, but for “the people inside it and your culture of giving and openness to the community.”
On a personal note, the Mayor said she especially appreciates the care she received when she gave birth to her second son at the JGH. “Thank you for the passion and the devotion within those walls.”
Lucie Tremblay and Gary Stoopler
Representing the hospital to sign the Golden Book was Dr. Morty Yalovsky, who earlier this year became President of the Board of Directors of the CIUSSS, in which the JGH plays a pivotal role.
His name was added to the many who had been asked to sign the book in appreciation for their outstanding contribution to the growth, vitality and unique character of Montreal and its people.
As the signing took place, guests beheld a scenic panorama of the Montreal skyline through towering floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the room. Meanwhile, along the rear wall, a series of eight easels displayed poster-sized, black-and-white photos that showcased scenes from the hospital’s earliest years.
Lucie Tremblay, the CIUSSS’s Associate CEO, recounted the hospital’s many successes in research, education and digital innovation, noting that the emphasis has always been on fulfilling the needs of patients with both the latest technology and “the comfort of a human touch.”
Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa
She said if anyone who had attended the hospital’s inauguration on October 8, 1934 were alive today, that person would be staggered by the changes evident in 2024. Nevertheless, those same spectators would easily identify the JGH as the same place “where people of all backgrounds can still count on receiving exemplary care that heals the body and comforts the soul.”
Gary Stoopler, Associate Executive Director of the CIUSSS, said the JGH’s enormous potential was recognized as far back as 1929, when efforts began in earnest to raise funds to build the hospital.
Mr. Stoopler quoted from a letter from that same year, in which Montreal Mayor Camillien Houde told the JGH’s founders that their decision “to keep the hospital, when built, entirely free from all racial, religious and sectarian distinctions, shows the true Montreal spirit of mutual race tolerance and inter-racial amity.”
Bram Freedman
Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, Mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, spoke from personal experience, having worked at the hospital as a Nurse Clinician from 2009 to 2020.
During that time, she said, she acquired many valuable skills and qualities, notably professional independence, which is highly prized at the JGH.
Mayor Katahwa added that during her years at the JGH, she was extremely impressed by the racial, religious, ethnic and linguistic diversity of staff, which is why she continues to feel “a close link” to the hospital.
Bram Freedman, President and CEO of the JGH Foundation, expressed his gratitude to the hospital’s countless current and past donors, without whose continuous support the hospital would not have climbed so high.
That loyalty, Mr. Freedman said, is due in large part to “a sense of community, at the JGH, which is something you don’t see or necessarily feel at other large institutions.”
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