What is your 'why?'
That's the question that was top of mind for hundreds of guests who attended the St. Clair College Centre for the Arts on Sept. 25, 2026, for the fourth annual Rise Above Community Health Conference, where 'Reclaiming Purpose in Care and Service' was the theme of the day.
The conference was an engaging event designed for health care professionals, first responders, and public safety personnel committed to advancing their skills and knowledge in an ever-evolving field.
The day of learning and listening started off with an insightful keynote speech by Kristin Kennedy, the President and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital and Erie Shores HealthCare.
"We cannot truly care for the people we serve unless we are also willing to care for the people who serve them," Kennedy said during her keynote. "Our staff are not endlessly renewable resources. They are human beings carrying their own fears, losses, responsibilities and hopes into work each day. Taking care of them is not separate from taking care of the people we serve. It's part of the same calling."
Kennedy shared some personal anecdotes about her own interactions with the healthcare system, including when she was a patient during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"At the end of the pandemic, COVID led to blood clots in my lungs and heart, and I came frighteningly close to dying," Kennedy said. "I had to learn to walk again, recovering slowly while continuing to work."
"That experience let me see our system end to end – not just as a nurse or leader, but as a patient navigating it myself," she added. "And I came away knowing this: we can do better."
She pulled from personal experience and years of working in leadership roles to help inspire others in the field to re-claim the purpose of their work.
"You chose this work that matters. You want your voice to be heard. You want your contribution to count. And despite how complicated, demanding and exhausting this work can become, somewhere within you is still the person who believed you could make this world a little better," she said. "Go back and find that person."
Kennedy acknowledged that working in health care is demanding and can, at times, be frustrating, due to squeezed budgets, staff and resource shortages.
"The danger isn't that the work became hard. The danger is that somewhere along the way, we started allowing the difficulty of the work to define how we feel about the work," she said. "When that happens, frustration becomes the loudest voice in the room. The obstacles become the entire story. And slowly – often without realizing it – we begin to describe our work only by what it takes from us, rather than by what it allows us to give."
"We didn't lose our purpose – we got disconnected from it. But it's still there within us," Kennedy said. "We must help one another reconnect with the reason we chose this work in the first place."
The program moved into a fireside chat where local leaders in health care, mental health services and policing were tasked with giving honest answers to some burning questions about leadership and how to inspire purpose in care and service.
The fireside chat, led by Dr. Janelle Abela, featured Bill Marra, President and CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare; Nicole Sbrocca, CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex County; Adam Topp, President and CEO, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance; and Insp. Scott Jeffery of the Windsor Police Service.
Later in the morning, attendees visited one of four morning modality sessions. One featured Julie Jones, Recreational Therapist, John McGivney Children's Centre, who ran a session called: "Reclaiming the Power to Play."
Louise Moss, an Indigenous Patient Navigator for Cancer Programs, Windsor Regional Hospital, spoke about The Heart Work of Healthcare: Supporting Indigenous Patients and Supporting Those Who Serve.
Brandon Boundy, MScN student at the University of Windsor and Dr. Edward Cruz highlighted Strengthening Nursing Research Education in Ontario's Practical Nursing programs.
Dr. Rachel Elliott, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the University of Toronto, spoke about Reimagining Healthcare Education Through Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: From Principles to Practice.
"We wanted to bring unique perspectives from across the health care and public service sectors to show people that no one is alone in feeling like their work isn't making an impact," said Corrin Primeau, Chair of the School of Nursing at St. Clair College. "We all lose track of our personal missions from time to time. We hope this conference offered strategies and inspiration to rediscover purpose in care and service."
During lunch, students in the Music Theatre Performance program at St. Clair College serenaded the room with rolling singing performances.
It led nicely into the afternoon session, hosted by St. Clair College's Research and Innovation team, featuring presentations by local community organizations by Madeline Garlatti of WE-SPARK Health Institute, Jennifer Bradt of the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy, Dr. Rachel Park of Guatemala Hope, and Nancy Brockenshire from the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre.
The day was closed with an inspirational message from Dr. Janelle Abela, the founder and CEO of Diverse Solutions Strategy Firm. Dr. Abela specializes in creating responsive education and training programs, conducting organizational audits, shaping inclusive policies, and inspiring innovation to meet the evolving needs of today's workforce.
At the conclusion of the event, two St. Clair College students – Felicity Cavthen and Arshdeep Singh won a raffle for $500 bursaries at the College.
St. Clair College would like to extend gratitude to the event sponsors, who made this day possible.
