Member of original Obstetrical Ultrasound team says goodbye after 37 years
Linda Larin retires after a total of 45 years at the JGH
With the recent retirement of Linda Larin from the Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound, the Jewish General Hospital University Health Centre has said goodbye not only to a long‑serving ultrasound technician, but to one of the original members of staff who helped launch the division in 1989.
Members of the staff of the Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound in their previous quarters in Pavilion B in the 1990s. From left: Nurse Joyce Ross, Secretary Christina Vieira, Ultrasound Technologist Linda Larin, Ultrasound Technologist Francine Bouvier, and Dr. Louise Miner. (Click to enlarge.)
Ms. Larin is effusive in her praise for her co-workers in every decade, and her eyes light up in describing the passion she feels for work that supported the needs of nearly two generations of expectant mothers.
However, she also sighs at the memory of the earliest Obstetrical Ultrasound facility in the basement of Pavilion B, just down the hall from where mountains of foul‑smelling trash would regularly be brought from across the hospital for disposal.
“We had to keep the main door closed most of the time,” Ms. Larin recalls, “and we often had to request that fresh garbage not be brought down to the basement in the daytime when our patients were around.”
With a laugh, she adds, “We used to say that if our division had been like the Department of Urology, where the patients were mostly men, we would have been able to move out a lot sooner.
“And it wasn’t just the smell; privacy was at a minimum. Thin curtains were all that separated the three ultrasound cubicles, so in the waiting area, you could hear everything that was going on.
“But it was a new service and it was ours! We were grateful that the hospital found space for us and we loved what we were doing.”
Ms. Larin watched with pride as the three-day-a-week service gradually grew into a full‑time operation, which moved in 2009 to bright, modern quarters on the third floor Pavilion H. Currently, seven ultrasound technicians perform more than 14,000 pregnancy exams a year in the division’s six large examination rooms.
At the same time, Ms. Larin witnessed a slow but steady evolution in the sophistication of the ultrasound equipment. Today, she says, the technology can capture an enormous amount of detail—a far cry from the machines during the division’s earliest days: “We were happy if we could see the baby’s head or a femur.”
Ms. Larin joined the JGH at the age of 19 in 1981 for what was supposed to be a summer job as an x-ray technician in the Department of Radiology. That turned into a full‑time position that lasted until 1989, when she transferred to the newly formed Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound.
Until the early 1970s, JGH patients— particularly pregnant women—who needed an ultrasound scan, were sent to other hospitals. When ultrasound arrived at the JGH in 1974, it was used in more than 1,000 cases of all types in the first few months.
Obstetrical ultrasound was initially handled by a pair of radiologists, but by the late 1980s, interest was growing in having obstetricians placed in charge of the scans.
In praise of Linda Larin
Dr. Roberta Shear, Chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology:
“For more than 30 years, Linda had an uncanny ability to detect when something was wrong or worrisome with a baby, even before anyone else did or before any signs actually showed.
“We used to call her a witch, because her clinical intuition was always bang-on. She would predict what was to come in a high-risk pregnancy, and more often than not, she was right. She saved countless babies in this way.
“She was also so caring with the pregnant mothers, who were often very anxious. Linda had a way of talking to them and calming them in her most empathetic way.”
Demi Papapanagiotou, Chief of the Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound
“Linda’s warmth, empathy and calm confidence made her ideally suited to obstetrical ultrasound. She combined exceptional technical expertise with genuine compassion, putting patients at ease during some of the most meaningful moments of their lives.
“Her dedication and kindness left a lasting impression on colleagues and on the countless families she cared for.”
The service was created by Dr. Emily Hamilton, Chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (who delivered Ms. Larin’s two children), and Dr. Louise Miner, who later became the department’s Chief, as well as the hospital’s Director of Professional Services.
In 2019, Mazit Ifergan received an obstetrical ultrasound scan from Ultrasound Technician Linda Larin (seated), in consultation with Dr. Louise Miner.
When the Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound debuted, its staff consisted only of Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Miner, Ms. Larin, Ultrasound Specialist Francine Bouvier and Administrative Agent Randy Kauffman.
“It was so exciting to be there at the beginning,” Ms. Larin says. “I especially enjoyed the personal contact and the chance to speak with the patients. This was very different from Radiology in those days, where you just took a picture and the patient left.”
As time went on and Ms. Larin’s expertise grew, she became an instructor who trained dozens of medical residents to perform ultrasound scans. Some of them, including Dr. Cleve Ziegler and Dr. Stephanie Klam, are now among the most seasoned members of staff in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
After 45 years at the JGH, including 37 years in the Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound, Ms. Larin felt the time had come to bow out, due in no small part to the increasing strain of having to commute from the South Shore.
“It’s truly been wonderful,” she says. “The doctors always treated us as professionals and listened closely to what the ultrasound technicians had to say. They took our opinions into consideration whenever we brought something to their attention.
“That’s because we’ve always been like family. The patients were our top priority—and then we supported one another.”
Retirement party for Linda Larin (front row, centre), with colleagues from the Division of Obstetrical Ultrasound and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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