On May 9, the Westlock Healthcare Centre acquired a new site manager who brings over 30 years of experience with her to her new posting.
As the new site manager, Karen Bouman’s duties will focus on the general operation of the hospital facility.
“We are responsible for the general workings of the healthcare centre,” she said.
“Specifically at this point in time we are responsible for the delivery of the nursing care to the acute care patients.”
In effect, she is tasked with replacing former site manager Joyce Nadeau, although she said that might be easier said than done.
“I’m not sure we could ever replace Joyce,” she said. “She did a phenomenal job.”
In her new position, Bouman said she plans to continue to make the Westlock hospital an attractive destination for nurses and doctors.
“What I want to see is that Westlock is the place where everybody wants to work,” she said.
She will do this through working collaboratively with hospital staff, she said, and listening to their ideas. She plans to take the ideas and concerns they tell her to the “powers that be,” and work to implement strategies that will make the entire work experience better for everyone.
In addition to her plans, Bouman also said she brings with her a desire to improve on what is already happening at the hospital.
“I think what I bring is just the ongoing passion that Joyce (Nadeau) brought to healthcare in Westlock and build on that programs that are here already,” she said.
Bouman has worked out of the Westlock hospital since 2008, first as the nursing supervisor in acute care until 2010, and most recently as an occupational health nurse with Alberta Health Services.
She started her nursing career in the pediatric intensive care unit at the Foothills hospital in Calgary, before moving to Medicine Hat where she served as the head nurse in pediatrics. She spent 15 years in Medicine Hat, and then moved to Swan Hills to act as the facility manager at the Swan Hills Community Healthcare Centre.
After 16 years in Swan Hills, she and her husband, Frans, made the choice to move to Westlock.
“We did not want to be as far away from our kids as we were,” Bouman said, adding their son and daughter both live in the Edmonton area.
“Plus, you know what? The climate here is a lot better than it is in Swan Hills,” she said, which is a big plus because she and Frans “love, love, love” gardening.
“We’re very happy to be back having flowers that bloom,” she said.
