Dear members of the Canadian Association for Interventional Radiology,
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am Luciana Nechita, and for a month now, the new Executive Director here at the Canadian Association for Interventional Radiology (CAIR).
Global health care systems are facing the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 and interventional radiologists play a very important role in responding to this challenge while continuing to deliver high quality healthcare to Canadians from coast to coast.
I’m incredibly humbled and honored to have the opportunity to advance CAIR’s mission and work with our members, allies, partners, and other stakeholders to help increase accessibility for Canadians to patient friendly, effective, minimally invasive, image guided treatments.
Throughout my career I have always asked questions. And long before I was aware of Simon Sinek, I asked ‘Why?’ Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? Why should anyone care? This ‘why’ is a game changer- if you know the ‘why’, you will figure out the ‘what’ and the ‘how’.
Here’s my why: interventional radiology saves lives. And while it’s true that it drives medical innovation that improves public health, it is also largely untapped by many Canadians. It is of utmost importance to raise patient awareness surrounding minimally invasive treatment alternatives, and CAIR’s mission is to do just that: making these treatment options available to millions of Canadians.
For me, this mission is an exciting way to take my skills, international knowledge and expertise working in both for profit and nonprofit organizations and to transfer that into the health care sector. There are many opportunities to learn new things, influence decision makers and help the interventional radiology reach its full potential.
My vision is to build this organization by continuing to increase the value it delivers to the members and stakeholders, and
- transform CAIR into a knowledge hub for interventional radiology in Canada where IR professionals will connect with colleagues and experts, share insights and best practices, learn from experiences and inspire innovation and new ways of working,
- become strong voice that represents the interventional radiology’s interests with different levels of government,
- promote an ongoing awareness about the benefits of minimally invasive interventional radiology treatments with patient groups, healthcare professionals, decision makers, and the general public.
I believe in embracing learning as an instrument of change, but I also believe that, as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish”.
I am lucky to be joining a small but mighty team and have the support of an inspiring board of directors. I am excited to get to know the members, our partners and stakeholders, and explore the challenges that can make a true, profound difference.
I look forward to connecting with you and working together to further strengthen and CAIR for an amazing community of interventional radiology professionals.