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You likely won’t spot them during your visit to CHEO, but the clinical engineering team is working hard in the background, responsible for supplying, optimizing, and improving the latest medical equipment and tools to help provide world-class pediatric care.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, we recognize and celebrate some of the dedicated and hard-working women who bring the latest, most innovative tools to CHEO.
The team includes clinical engineers who work behind the scenes to find the best medical devices, and biomedical engineering technologists, who are closer to the front line working directly with clinicians to ensure equipment works as expected.
“With safety at top of mind, there's a lot of teamwork and a lot of collaboration within the hospital to make sure our house is built on a steady foundation,” said Ishtar Al-Tahir, a clinical engineer who joined CHEO in late 2022.
“Our goal is to ensure the equipment doesn't become a hindrance; it becomes an assistant.”
Clinical engineers also check to ensure devices — like patient monitors, ultrasounds, and ventilators — work together seamlessly so clinicians can focus on patients.
It’s a delicate dance behind the scenes that involves math, physics and problem-solving so front-line medical staff can focus on the bedside to provide excellent, compassionate care to children, youth, and families.
At CHEO, 84 per cent of employees are female. The clinical engineering team includes nine female clinical engineers and 14 female biomedical technologists among about 60 employees.
In addition to projects at CHEO, the team also helps hospitals across eastern Ontario.
One of the team’s longest tenured members, Marie-Ange Janvier, says she spent five years helping the Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital bring in new equipment for its Emergency Department.
Janvier, a certified clinical engineer who has worked at CHEO for 13 years, said the clinical engineering team is like a family. She has even taught some of her colleagues at the University of Ottawa.
“It's very special to my heart,” she said of her team.
Even after more than a decade, Janvier said she continues to gain new skills and learn new things because of constant technological advancements. That included work with equipment for CHEO’s IR, Cath and Sim labs.
Being a clinical engineer at CHEO also leads to a lot of variation. Janvier describes herself as a “jack of all trades” who loves to work with people, relishing the chance to plan and research with colleagues across CHEO.
One of her newest colleagues is Hannah Thomson, who joined CHEO in late 2023.
Thomson quickly jumped on an important project to help acquire new, updated equipment for CHEO including ultrasounds and warmers for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit thanks to historic Ontario government funding.
No matter the project, patient safety always remains a top priority for the clinical engineering team, which helps CHEOdevelop and leverage clinical expertise, research, and innovation to create a stronger, healthier tomorrow — for kids here and around the world.
The 2025 theme for International Women’s Day across Canada is "strength in every story" and during March, which is Engineering Month, CHEO’s clinical engineering team continues to be a leader in achieving gender equality.