Hampstead native Greg Stern's passion for movement and helping others along their own health journey developed from his own physical struggles. In 2013, he sustained an ankle injury that would forever change his life. What appeared to be a routine ankle sprain, developed into a chronic problem in his foot that caused him constant pain for three years. "I consulted and worked with many different rehab professionals to no avail and eventually underwent surgery," he says. "Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of my journey, as compensatory patterns triggered hip and back pain that had not been there prior to the operation."

Greg had reached a low point and was struggling for answers. It was at this point that he knew he needed to dive deeper in order to understand his body if he  was ever going to escape the pain he was experiencing. 

While his professional education includes a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Kinesiology, and Masters in Physical Therapy at McGill University, Greg's curiosity has always extended far beyond the classroom. He has spent thousands of hours learning from books, coaches online, attending courses and trying to gather as many perspectives on different therapeutic approaches, researching and experimenting which methods work and which don’t.

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"I began to incorporate a comprehensive approach that looked at the root causes behind my pain and considered the environmental factors—shoes and chairs to name a few—that were continuing to contribute to my poor movement behaviour," Greg says. "Over time, I diligently and methodically applied the concepts that I learned to slowly restructure my body. Thankfully, I am now able to experience life pain-free, play the sports I love unimpeded by fear and go for long hikes barefoot after not being able to stand for more than few seconds without pain."

Greg Stern

Last June Greg opened From The Ground Up Physio at  5555 Westminster (Suite 108) in Côte Saint-Luc. He calls himself the CFO (Chief Foot Officer).

"With From the Ground Up, my aim is to help guide people through their own path of self-discovery on their health journeys and guide people to not only be pain-free, but to thrive in their everyday lives," Greg says. "Injuries are not only a process of recovery, but discovery; an opportunity to learn, be curious, to better understand your body, to correct issues and improve efficiency and performance."

For more details go to www.groundupphysio.com, email [email protected] or call 514-369-0909.

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David Banon and Sarah Ettedgui are closing their Pharmaprix store at the Caldwell Shopping Centre on October 14 and centralizing all operations at their much larger location at Quartier Cavendish.

“The lease is up,” David told me. “There were renovations planned,   but nothing was ever confirmed with the landlord and given that we always look for long term commitments and the importance of our business staying opened year round,  we had to shift operations.”

David recognizes the fact this news has been quite shocking to customers who have been going there for decades, from the time the late Howard Smith was the owner-pharmacist. Caldwell has a special appeal, notably because of its two stalwart technicians Thomas Virta and Sheila Cohen. They have an encyclopedic knowledge of every client and go the extra mile when it comes to contacting doctors for  prescription renewals and pharmaceutical distributors to get certain products.

Sarah Ettedgui and David Banon.

“ I want to reassure you that we are taking the move and the interests of our clients very much to heart and as such all our Caldwell staff are absolutely staying on and are invested in making the transition as smooth as possible,” said David. “There will be the same telephone and fax number and when the line is answered it will be with the familiar voice of Sheila or Thomas! They will have their own mini pharmacy set up in the back of our current lab at Cavendish where they can call patients and even automatically renew their medications.”

Whereas Caldwell was open weekdays until 6 pm, customers will now have access to store open seven days a week until 10 pm. David and Sarah, his wife and business partner, have hired a registered nurse so that many new services can be offered A list of her services was posted online on their website. "And as of this year, we will start a flu vaccination clinic beginning the end of October,  where pharmacists will vaccinate our clients," David said "Clients will be able to take appointments online."

 What is the future of the Caldwell strip mall? There was once a bakery and that storefront has remained vacant for the better part of a decade. I would love to see Caldwell Provisions take over the Pharmaprix spot and double in size!

On the eve of Yom Kippur I repeat something everyone has heard  many times since last March: be careful! There are new limitations to public gatherings. Please abide by them.

COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. We had a brief reprieve over the summer when too many people let their guards down, but now we are entering a second wave.

I do not think that Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, our seven members of council and our staff ever imagined a mandate like this. It has been a challenge  and that is for certain, but I think as elected officials we have handled this pandemic responsibly.

First let me underline the incredible leadership shown by our senior management trio of Tanya Abramovitch, Jonathan Shecter and Nadia Di Furia. They have been ahead of the game every step of the way. Our teams in Finance, Urban Development/Engineering, Public Works, Purchasing, Communications, IT, the Library, City Clerk’s Office,  Parks and Recreation and Public Safety have done an incredible job. I could not be more proud.

Look at our Men’s Club. This is a group which lives for personal gatherings, but since last spring they have embraced the Zoom video platform and opened up an entire new world. This brings me to my next subject. Out of respect for social distancing measures and in order to discourage seniors and others coming to public gatherings, all of our city council and committee meetings have been held via Zoom since March. And you know what? It works beautifully. In fact, over the past seven months our number of meetings have more than doubled!

Until there is a vaccine, bringing eight elected officials, staff and the public into a hardly spacious council chamber would be a very bad idea. Just look at the recent spate of COVID-19 positive cases for politicians: the leaders of the Bloc Québecois and the Conservative Party of Canada. Our own Councillor David Tordjman was at an event for the latter. He said he stayed for less than a half hour, wore a mask at all times and made sure to clean his hands any time he touched something. Nonetheless he got COVID as well.  Please see this story.

This is how I dress to go to work now!

There are a number of hot button issues coming up on our agenda. We broadcast our public meetings live now on YouTube, via Zoom, and as Larry David would say, attendance  is “pretty..;pretty..pretty good.” People can ask questions in the comments section or send them in advance.

I shudder to think of how we would be functioning if this pandemic had occurred in say 1987?

I have spent the past few months walking my District 2 on foot several days a week and talking to constituents from a distance.  My district meetings have successfully moved to Zoom and I am happy to say work is getting done at a good pace.

We all want this to be over, but now we must brace ourselves for a rough fall and winter.  Get your flu shot! One can only pray that by spring that elusive vaccine will arrive.

I usually go for my blood tests a few times a year at the CLSC René Cassin at Quartier Cavendish. In the past year they extended their hours from 7:30 am to 9:30 am, to 11:30 am, and added the two weekend days. It could not  have been better. Then COVID-19 hit and people like me avoided locations like this and put blood tests on hold.à

In full protective gear as I head to the test center.

The  fact that my last set of tests were some eight months ago concerned  me, so today I went back with my requisitions.   I was told that some people were arriving as early as 6 am to get a good timeslot, many of whom not properly social distancing. That was not a route I  chose. I turned up at 7:30 am by which time the herd of masked men and women were told to leave the inside of the building and form a line outdoors. I waited until the line disappeared and the security guard handed me a piece of paper with a number and a 9:30 am appointment time.

Is this lineup for a rock concert or blood tests?

I  returned  at  that  time, was told to go inside and the process from  there went fairly quickly. Only one person having blood drawn at a time. But with a second wave coming, the CIUSS West  Central  Montreal has just announced a new appointment only procedure. This will ensure that they can allow enough space for distancing by having as few people as possible in the waiting rooms. Walk-in visits will no longer be permitted.

 As of August 10, anyone who wants to make an appointment at one of  the CLSC test centres to have blood drawn or other samples tested must go to CLICSANTE.CA. Then they should choose “Blood test and specimens” and enter their postal code. Clic Santé will propose an appointment, which may not be for the same day. Since some people may find it difficult to gain access to this website, and in order to ensure a smooth transition, the CLSCs can also be phoned to book an appointment.

A statement  I received says: “We understand that getting used to this change may take some time. However, given our new reality, it is important for us to implement this new system now, so that we can provide the best possible protection for our users, staff and visitors. Users can call the CLSC if they have any questions about the new appointment system.”

Bravo for a wise decision.

Here are the  Test Centre locations

CLSC René Cassin

5800 Cavendish Boulevard

Montreal, Quebec H4W 2T5

514-484-7878

CLSC Benny Farm

6484 Monkland Avenue

Montreal, Quebec H4B 1H3

514-484-7878

CLSC Parc-Extension

7085 Hutchison Street

Montreal, Quebec H3N 1Y9

514-273-9591

CLSC Metro

1801 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West

Montreal, Quebec H3H 1J9

514-934-0354

During this pandemic, it has been heartening to see different young  people step up,

Take Elan Vigderhous for instance. The soon-to-be 15 year old Côte Saint-Luc resident  has started a home-based business called “Care Packages,” which is composed of a week's worth of COVID supplies (mask, gloves, and hand sanitizer). For every purchase, $3 goes to Hope and Cope, which has been providing compassionate, supportive, evidence-based cancer care for over three decades.  He chose that charity because his grandfather, noted musician Gideon  Vigderhous,  is now hospitalized due to an invasive cancer. 

“A while back when quarantine started and school was suspended, my father started to teach me about business and we decided to put the lessons into practice,” said Elan, a Grade 10 student at Royal Vale School in NDG. “ I decided to start a business that not only would be helpful to the clients, but I wanted to make sure I could help a charity close to home too. I liked the idea of making gift boxes that could be sent to a family member or friend, as a gift. I decided that the box should include the essentials: masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. I also added a little candy, to make it a little  sweeter.”

Elan is putting his free time to good use.

Originally Elan was going to raise money for COVID-19 relief,  but  given the fact his grandfather got diagnosed with melanoma a few years ago and recently he had to go to the hospital, he opted for  Hope and Cope.

Since launching a website  at https://www.care-packages.ca, orders have started to roll in. “I enjoy running my first business, and I go to work every day working on sales, marketing, packaging and delivery,” said Elan.

See this report from Global TV.

For many years I had the privilege of being Jaclyn Stevenson’s city councillor in District 2.

Jaclyn is the great niece of the late Isadore Goldberg, a longtime city councillor. Her mom Joy remains my constituent as do her grandparents who reside on Marc Chagall Avenue.

Jaclyn Stevenson on the job.

Jaclyn became an occupational therapist at the McGill University Health Centre  (MUHC) a year and a half ago. Presently she is working on the COVID-19 unit.

Recently, Jaclyn faced a language barrier with a patient on the  unit and reacted in a truly beautiful way. Colleague Kendra Berry saw what happened and was moved to write about it in an email to their mutual colleagues and supervisors:

“Today I witnessed something beautiful and heartwarming that I wanted to share,” Kendra wrote. “ Jaclyn was performing a swallowing evaluation with a patient on the COVID unit. There was a language barrier, so Jaclyn contacted the family and placed them on speaker phone. I believe this was the first contact that they had with the patient. Their voices were filled with love, gratitude and relief. It brought tears to my eyes. Jaclyn gave them such a gift. On each of her units, her gestures are having positive impacts on patients and their families. I am inspired by her bravery, dedication and perseverance. Very proud of my entire OT Department. Let’s keep chasing these rainbows.”

When Kashif Baig, manager of Occupational Therapy, Adult Sites, read Kendra’s account, he was filled with joy: “The poise and calm demonstrated by Jaclyn is remarkable, especially considering how busy she is. Jaclyn had the empathy and resourcefulness to balance her clinical need for a translator with the patient’s emotional needs. The fact that this was brought to my attention by Kendra makes me even more proud; it shows how my team celebrates each other’s victories.”

I was so inspired I decided to do a podcast with Jaclyn. In my role as communications and marketing specialist for the English Montreal School Board I am proud to say that she attended Edinburgh Elementary School and Royal West Academy  in Montreal West and had nice things to say about both experiences.

Here is a link to the podcast: https://soundcloud.com/themikecohenpodcast/occupational-therapist-jaclyn-stevenson-and-her-efforts-during-the-pandemic