Celebrating Careers: Karen Parent retires after 29 years at SLMHC

Karen Parent has been a valuable member of the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre (SLMHC) team for nearly 30 years, providing services as a Laboratory Technologist and most recently as Director of Clinical Support Services. After 29 years of dedication to local healthcare, both in the lab and while overseeing and enhancing departmental teams here at SLMHC, Karen is officially saying goodbye.

Karen says she will miss the friendships, bonds, and the close team at SLMHC.

“I will definitely miss the friendships and the work relationships that we have here. It’s a nice close-knit team, and there’s some that have been here for as long as I have… It’s been almost 30 years of knowing the same people that have been involved in working in healthcare in this community, not only at SLMHC but with our external partners too.”

After working in the laboratory at the former Sioux Lookout “Zone” Hospital, and being an influential piece in amalgamating to the current SLMHC laboratory, Karen was appointed Director of Clinical Support Services in 2012. Karen says she appreciated the transition from being in the lab to then overseeing departments, helping them to work together to provide high-quality patient care at SLMHC.

“I have really enjoyed the transition from being in the Lab to overseeing a larger group of staff and departments. It’s really interesting. I really appreciated in-depth knowledge of the work in each of those areas, and how those teams contribute to the one goal of patient care. You get to see more of the forest when you branch out,” she says.

Karen has cherished the opportunity to call Sioux Lookout home. She says living in Sioux Lookout provided many unique and valuable opportunities both for her and her family.

“What I found most valuable over my time here, with being in Sioux Lookout as a whole, is the opportunities to grow and expand that you might not get in a larger city or larger organization. I found it the most valuable and the most fun because it’s always changing and it’s very dynamic… My family has also loved the opportunities that came with living here. You can ski from the front door of your house, go on the lake, you can enjoy the beautiful trails, golf, swim, go on a boat, kayak, paddle board, and blueberry pick all within five or ten minutes of where you live,” she concludes.

“Karen has been an important member of our SLMHC team for many years and we will miss her greatly. We are grateful for her dedication to providing the best possible health care both at SLMHC and across the region. We wish her all the best in retirement,” says SLMHC President and CEO Heather Lee.