Misericordia Place’s resident violist Leonard Carlson, 81, would like nothing better than a night out at the symphony! Unfortunately, COVID restrictions and personal care home guidelines dictate otherwise. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s acting principal violist, Elise Lavallee, offered a creative solution until a trip to the symphony is possible: have Leonard join her 90-minute viola Zoom class for mature advanced students aged 70-77! Leonard more than fit right in: playing along with four other students. Bach, Kreisler, Rachmaninov, Glinka and more! Even better, the students all knew Leonard! “Is that Len Carlson?” an on-screen message popped up. Turns out the students had all played in orchestras and string quartets with Leonard and had very fond memories of him as far back as 50 years ago! A Zoom reunion! Music has always been in Leonard’s blood, infused by “musical parents” who immigrated to Canada from Finland. And he’s clearly passed his love of music down to his children, who grew up playing a variety of instruments. Daughter Andrea played piano and harp. His daughter Karen, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Waterloo, plays the cello and composes. When Karen’s able to visit Winnipeg she brings her cello and plays duets at Misericordia Place with her dad. And son Ian plays the violin. “Dad is a much better player than I am,” says Ian. “The last time we played together he put me to shame.” “My Dad’s timing in music is steady and consistent,” shares Andrea, “An amazing skill he has never lost. He started playing the violin at age six and later switched to viola.” Leonard’s always been interested in dabbling in writing music as well, including writing his high school theme song. Interestingly, Leonard’s younger brother Bruce is an accomplished composer. These days Leonard serenades (indoors!) his fellow Misericordia residents on their birthdays and is frequently found accompanying pianists in activity rooms.
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Elizabeth has always loved dogs! The 93-year-old Misericordia Place resident recently expressed a wish to visit the Winnipeg Humane Society when day trips are available again. The WHS’s Animal Companionship Program did one better: handler Kendra and her dog Joey made a special trip to visit Elizabeth at Misericordia Place on a cold winter’s day. We’re not sure who enjoyed the visit more: Elizabeth or Joey. Elizabeth embraced the doggie snuggles, saying they brought back memories of her precious “singing” dog, Penny. “I would hold the phone close to him,” explained Elizabeth, laughing, “and say to him: ‘sing!’ and he’d say ‘Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh’ to my niece in England … she would say: ‘That’s not singing!’ but I said it was in dog language!” Elizabeth has fond memories of Penny sleeping on her bedding and sneaking up to her pillow. She misses watching Penny swimming in the lake and dressing Penny up in jaunty scarves. In fact, Elizabeth has a framed picture of Penny wearing one such scarf in her room at Misericordia Place. Elizabeth fussed over Joey, not believing he was 14 years old. “An old man!” she said, encouraging Joey to shake paw. Kendra was not allowed to leave until Elizabeth extracted a promise to bring Joey back again for another visit. “Sometimes animals are better visitors than people,” said Elizabeth, smiling. As I enter my third year of leading the Misericordia Health Centre Foundation, I remain completely in awe of the amazing community that surrounds Misericordia. Even in some of the most challenging times, a bright light of compassion and positivity can always be found from our donors, volunteers, staff, and our patients and residents.
Thank you. At every peak of every wave and everything in between, the outpouring of support you have shown to Misericordia has been beyond touching and incredibly appreciated. Your generosity has brought innovative technology, comforting supports, and hope to patients, residents, and all those who walk through Misericordia’s doors. From Pediatric Dentistry to Long-Term Care to the Eye Care Centre of Excellence – you have strengthened MHC’s ability to provide innovative and compassionate care for all Manitobans. While we remain flexible in our planning for 2022, we do look forward to greeting you in person at our signature MHC events! Mark your calendars – the Misericordia Golf Classic is set for June 16 at Breezy Bend Country Club, the InVision Fall event is set for September 22 at the RBC Convention Centre, and Angel Squad will kick off the holiday season on November 29 right here at MHC! Of course, we are also so excited to see our long-term care residents set off on some “Made in Manitoba” adventures through this year’s Around the World campaign! Beyond our events and campaigns, 2022 will be a year of significant and foundational work for our team. We aim to engage in strategic planning to set many important priorities and plans in place that will continue to allow us to support MHC as it evolves to meet the health-care needs of our community. Whatever lies ahead, you can rest assured that MHC’s commitment to providing exceptional and compassionate care will never waver. I hope that you will continue to follow Misericordia’s story and share feedback! We enjoy connecting with you regularly through our MHC Moments e-newsletter and via social media. Please make sure you are our friends on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter! Thank you for being a part of the MHC Foundation family. With gratitude, Kris What an Angelic day! The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and Misericordia’s flock of Angels were back in real-life action! After a brief in-person hiatus for 2020, Misericordia’s cherished Angel Squad returned for its’ 26th year on November 30 – Giving Tuesday! Volunteer Angels masked up, donned halos and wings, and hit the streets to kick-off the holiday season of giving. The day started with a special tree-lighting ceremony attended by some special Winnipeg dignitaries and continued on throughout the morning with the Angels waving to smiling passersby! We even had a few special visitors stop by and make incredibly generous donations to the cause. Julia and Stephanie had been planning for this day since the summer. Each year the sisters run a lemonade stand in their neighbourhood with a goal of donating all the profits to MHC’s Angel Squad. Manitoba’s hot summer meant they made a record $2,000 to donate this year. We can't thank these two Angels enough!! Donations to Angel Squad help to strengthen MHC's ability to provide innovative and compassionate care for all Manitobans – from Pediatric Dentistry to Long-Term Care to the Eye Care Centre of Excellence – Angels are making a tremendous impact on the lives of patients, residents, and all those who walk through Misericordia's doors. Thank you! Ambulatory Care physician Dr. Neil Simonsen, who specializes in infectious diseases and wound care, views “medicine as a continuous learning process,” and requires his staff to continuously upgrade their skill levels. He assigns directed readings as part of academic study and expects his staff to attend conferences to enrich their knowledge of the science of wound care. To ensure staff have affordable access to training, Dr. Simonsen established an Ambulatory Care Education Fund through the Misericordia Health Centre Foundation. “Our staff need to be on the cutting edge of knowledge of wound care,” says Dr. Simonsen. Orthopedic technologist David Carroll, who has worked at Misericordia for 30 years, appreciates the opportunity to attend regional and national conferences to learn innovative techniques and soak up knowledge. “At conferences, experts share their knowledge about everything … fractures, surgery, post-care … it helps me understand the healing process and so much more,” explains Carroll. “I appreciate the support from Dr. Simonsen and our Foundation. Misericordia is an awesome place to work!” MHC’s Ambulatory Care clinics include a cast clinic and a diabetic foot, complex wound and infectious diseases clinic which provides diagnostic and therapeutic management of diseases. |
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