Story 34: The Culture of Care in Psychiatry

Heather Pettipas was a Registered Nurse in the Psychiatry and Mental Health department at QCH for 30 years before retiring in 2017. According to Heather, psychiatry was the most interesting field she ever worked in, yet also one of the most challenging. She says that it was the people around her that made it worth it and that Dr. Katilin Kovacs was one of the doctors who made her time at QCH memorable.

Dr. Kovacs is the present Chief of Staff, the former Chief of Psychiatry, and has been at QCH since June of 1997. She also worked in general psychiatry, inpatient, outpatient, and group therapy.

"We were close to the nurses in good times and bad. We got to know each other very well and cared for each other," says Dr. Kovacs. She continues, "One of the strengths of the program is that there has been — and there still is — considerable cohesiveness. People working together for the same goal of the patient."

While those relationships have remained an important part of the program, Dr. Kovacs says psychiatry has changed significantly over the past 30 years. One of the biggest changes, she says, has been the willingness to speak openly about mental health. “I think a lot of it has to do with people being more open. Before it was all in a secret box. People would never talk about what their experiences were. There wasn’t really a focus on investing in psychiatric care and mental health.”

As more people began speaking openly about their experiences, it helped challenge the stigma surrounding mental health and psychiatry.

On November 30th, 2023, QCH opened the Barbara Crook and Dan Greenberg Mental Health Centre that changed the way Psychiatry existed at QCH. The space doubled in size, private patient rooms were added, and the space overall was focused on being therapeutic instead of institutional.

For Dr. Kovacs, the impact of accessible mental health care extends beyond the hospital and into the broader community.