Hélène Caillé Bossé’s story is intertwined with the CHUM’s history. As a young girl, she had her tonsils removed by Dr. Blain at Hôpital Notre-Dame, where she stayed several other times over the years, including a stay for jaundice. At that time, Hôpital Notre-Dame was the premier French-language secular hospital in Montréal and already a leader in healthcare.
A few years later, Hélène began her career working for a well-respected airline. She travelled the world before landing a job in marketing and advertising. In the meantime, she married a doctor from Hôtel-Dieu, Dr. Jean-Paul Bossé, who would later become head of the hospital’s plastic surgery department.
She remembers him with admiration:
“He believed a great deal in young medical professionals. He developed international exchanges that let many students train outside of Quebec and then return to work at the hospital.”
Alongside her husband, she was very involved in organizing a fundraiser at the Hôtel Méridien in Montréal in 1981 that raised over $40,000 to help buy a microsurgical microscope. Immersed in the medical world, Hélène developed a strong belief in philanthropy and understood early on how important donations are to supporting healthcare professionals and hospitals.
In 1996, Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, Hôpital Notre-Dame and Hôpital Saint-Luc merged to become the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). Two years later, the CHUM Foundation was launched.
“All three hospitals offered similar healthcare services, but each one had its own medical specialties,” she says. “So, the three hospitals merged to benefit their patients. That was what made the most sense, creating the CHUM, a hospital that belongs to all of us. I am proud to be able to say that the CHUM’s story is also my own story and the story of thousands of Quebecers.”
In 2003, Hélène underwent successful hand surgery by Dr. Patrick Harris at Hôpital Notre-Dame. She was then treated by Dr. Roch Parent in the internal medicine department of Hôpital St-Luc for a severe inflammatory disease.
After her husband passed away at Hôtel-Dieu in 2014, Hélène decided to write the CHUM Foundation into her will.
She explains:
“I always admired the devotion and excellence of the professionals at the three hospitals that formed what is now the CHUM. They’ve always taken care of the people I loved most—my grandfather, my mother, my husband. It just makes sense to support my hospital. That’s why I added the CHUM Foundation to my will, so that future generations will always have access to the most advanced treatment that medical science has to offer. It’s how I can have a meaningful, long-lasting impact on medicine in the future. I hope others do the same.”
The CHUM continues to be part of Hélène’s story, as she receives regular care at the CHUM. The story with her hospital continues!
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