Dr. Nadine Arsenault-Samson receives honour from P.E.I. French Heath Network

The P.E.I. French Health Network (PEIFHN) has a new campaign, Étoile Santé, whose purpose is to promote, recruit and make people aware of health professionals who offer Frenchlanguage health services in Prince Edward Island.

The award was recently given to Dr. Nadine Arsenault-Samson of Summerside.

Finding French-language health professionals and accessing the services they offer remains a challenge in increasing French-language health services here in Prince Edward Island. It is crucial to make French-language professionals more accessible and visible in the community. It’s the raison d’être of the Étoile Santé campaign.

A native of Saint-Timothée in the Evangeline area, Arsenault-Samson opened her family medicine practice in Summerside in 2006. She has since been a pillar in the field of health for Francophones living in East Prince and beyond. Her expertise, caring nature, thoughtfulness and patience make her a true “Étoile Santé” in the life of hundreds of families.

“I’m one of the only doctors who speak French in the East Prince region.”

Following three years of study at Université de Moncton, Arsenault-Samson studied at Université Laval in Quebec for seven years, which included a two-year residency. She sees approximately 1,000 patients on a regular basis.

“I would say my family medicine practice takes up 80 per cent of my time. I also spend 10 per cent of my time doing palliative care, both in hospital and home settings.”

Among her other duties, Arsenault-Samson teaches, regularly welcoming interns who are at different stages of their training. She also does on-call weeks at the hospital. “During my weeks, I visit hospitalized patients and I’m also on-call 24 hours a day.”

Nadine Arsenault-Samson, who has been a family physician in Summerside for nine years now, is married and has two girls who speak French very well, but who would have difficulty making themselves fully understood in English, if they required emergency care or had to consultant a specialist.

“We live in French, the girls go to a French school, and my husband speaks French. I’m bilingual, but when I’m tired or when I get called at 2 a.m., I even have a hard time finding my words in English. So I know that there truly is a need when people ask for services in French, and I think it’s becoming more and more accepted in health care on the Island”

People are encouraged to nominate health professionals who actively offer French-language health services in Prince Edward Island. For more information on the Étoile Santé campaign or to nominate someone directly on the PEIFHN’s Web site, go to www.santeipe.ca.