We are blessed in Canada to have the leaders who win the Lifetime Achievement Award, because they give us a sustained career long dedication to Mission that helps to build our ministry of healing over time, and that means we are able to reach more of the people who need us… and there are, as you know, always more people who need us.
On behalf of the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, I am delighted to highlight the servant leadership of Mr. Jean Piché of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The whole of Jean 30-year career has been in Catholic health care and he has dedicated himself to promoting and role modelling our values at a municipal, regional, provincial and national level.
Jean started as a young orderly at the Taché Center and St. Boniface Hospital. He was already a person with a strong sense of values and what he found in the Grey Nuns was a way to express his values through his work.
After obtaining a law degree and a Masters of Health Services Administration, he joined St. Boniface Hospital in 1991 where he went on to hold leadership roles, while also completing the Catholic Health Care Leadership Program.
He often remarks that this program gave him a solid understanding of the value of the religious congregations and the mission of Catholic health care. In 2001, Jean was appointed CEO of the Holy Family Home where he strove to be “of service to those who serve.’ He remained CEO there until he retired in last year.
Jean has served in many other ways. He became a director of the Catholic Health Association of Manitoba in 1995, serving twice as its Chair, and three times as Vice-Chair. He was one of the team members who developed a Catholic leadership formation program in Manitoba. He has also served on the board of the Catholic Health Association of Canada and the Interfaith Healthcare Association of Manitoba.
During his career, he contributed to numerous position and policy papers promoting the importance of maintaining the values of faithbased health care and the role we play in the health of our communities. One such paper led to the first Faith-based Agreement between the Province of Manitoba and four facilities in 1996. You can see why he won this award.
Throughout his career Jean carried a torch for compassionate and loving care. He lived our mission and he himself has become woven into the stories that connect our founding congregations to those of us who serve today. Jean Piché, I feel honoured to be the person who announces that you have been awarded a 2021 Catholic Health Alliance of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award.
For more, visit: https://www.chac.ca/en/annual-conference/national-awards/