MONTREAL -- The director of the Quebec vaccination campaign against COVID-19, Daniel Pare, received the Mérite award from the Conseil interprofessionnel du Québec (CIQ) on Sunday for his "significant contribution to his profession".
CIQ president Gyslaine Desrosiers gave him the distinction during the OPIQ (Ordre professionnel des inhalothérapeutes du Québec) virtual symposium.
Pare is an OPIQ member.
In a news release, the OPIQ praised his "professionalism, involvement and leadership".
After being chosen to lead the vaccination efforts, Pare "used his organizational and planning skills, his knowledge of the network, his ability to listen to the field and his ability to rally people to orchestrate this major event," said the order.
"The recipient is not only a respiratory therapist, but also holds a bachelor's degree in administration, a master's degree in business administration and a graduate certificate in health services management. He has also been the president and CEO of the Chaudiere-Appalaches health and social services centre (CSSS) since 2015.
He was president of the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists between 2002 and 2003, where he "played a decisive role in the agreements on labour between Quebec and Canada," the order said in the release.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 14, 2021.
