Hospital waves goodbye to dietician
Chantal Haddad (middle, white shirt) with Dietary Services staff and Valerie Diabo. Courtesy Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre
After 37 years working for the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre (KMHC), dietician Chantal Haddad will retire in September.
“I feel happy for her. Retirement is the next step once you finish your career. I’m sad, though. She serviced our community for 37 years. She was really out in the community, she was very creative, and innovative in her ways,” said Valerie Diabo, executive director of the KMHC. “It is a loss for KMHC, but in the next breath, I’m very happy that she’s retiring and going on to the next chapter of her life.”
Haddad has appreciated the people she’s gotten to know in her role at the hospital.
“When I step out of this building, I’m not a stranger,” she said. “Whenever I go anywhere in the community, I bump into people I know. People greet me. People ask how is your family? This and that. I think that’s what I’ll miss the most.”
She said it didn’t take long to become attached to the community.
“People are just very down to Earth and genuine, and they talk to you as the person you are without any judgment or prejudice,” said Haddad.
She has loved going for walks on Tekakwitha Island. It gave her comfort during her breaks for lunch that she couldn’t find anywhere else.
“I feel we will be missing Chantal in the community. Everybody knows her in the community, she’s worked in the schools, she’s worked with KSCS (Kahnawà:ke Shakotiia’takéhnhas Community Services), and done a lot of workshops within the community,” said Diabo.
In nearly four decades working at the hospital, Haddad has seen the institution evolve.
“We have more people and people who have more specific needs, which changes things. We accommodate people’s individual needs. That makes it just a little bit more complicated, and that’s how it’s changed,” she said.
Haddad explained that over the years, as people become older, more health issues arise. “We have a lot of people who can’t chew food, or they can’t swallow the food, or they can’t have mixed textures, or they have allergies, or they have intolerances, or they’re not able to use cutlery,” Haddad said.
It’s been her job to help all these older people through their individual needs.
After her retirement in September, Haddad plans to continue to be a dietician, but not to the scale she is now. She plans to take smaller contracts.
“I want to be more available and more free to spend more time with my four grandchildren,” said Haddad.
She encouraged community members to considering the same career path.
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“It’s a very rewarding career for someone who has a passion for food and health. The community really needs their own professionals, so it would be great if the community had all its own health professionals. It’s very relevant for young people from Kahnawake,” said Haddad.
“The hospital is a great place to work. People are very nice. There’s a very familiar atmosphere. People are very supportive, very friendly. The work conditions are fantastic,” she added.
“I would never have stayed 37 years if it wasn’t great.”
