Cardiac nurse recognized for her contributions to the province

Lucy Reyes, RN, MN, has been recognized by the Government of Alberta for her contributions to health care in Alberta. She recently received a Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Award, given to 7,000 Albertans in 2022.

It was a happy surprise for Reyes, a passionate leader with a distinguished 50-year career in nursing.

“I am very humbled,” says Reyes of the award. “It’s been such an honour to work in health care with such a wonderful group of people.”

Reyes started her nursing career in her country of origin, the Philippines, in 1970. She moved to New Jersey as part on exchange visitor program for nurses, where she served as a novice staff nurse. She was quickly promoted to case manager for cardiac surgery patients.

Reyes moved to Calgary in 1975 and earned her Canadian nursing license before taking on a nursing role in the intensive care unit at Calgary General Hospital.

She earned a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Calgary in 1991 and was appointed to Alberta Ministry of Health’s Health Expert Panel Committee. She also served on several ethics committees, an interest that culminated in her appointment to the Canadian Nurses Health Expert Panel review of the Code of Ethics in early 2000. 

Reyes enjoyed numerous leadership roles and was the first nursing informatics specialist within the IT department at the Calgary Health Region. In that position she helped develop the Calgary Region’s Electronic Health Record and was instrumental in the standardization of care across the region. 

While manager of the cardiac units at Foothills Medical Centre, Reyes co-ordinated the Strategic Clinical Network Arrhythmia and Stroke working group. Collaborating with numerous front-line clinical leaders from across the province, Reyes created a program to look at how patients with cardiac implantable electrical devices (CIED) were being cared for. 

In 2016, Reyes was set to retire, but continued in a part-time position as clinical lead of the PERFORM (Performance Evaluation and Rhythm Follow up Optimization through Remote Monitoring) initiative. The award-winning initiative spans the province, connecting patients living with CIEDs with specialized services remotely at sites across the province, positioning Alberta as a benchmark for care.

The Jubilee Award is a fitting award to honour Reyes’ extraordinary contributions, who has been described as generous, tenacious and modest.

Lucy Reyes holds a Master of Nursing from the University of Calgary. She is the clinical lead of the PERFORM (Performance Evaluation and Rhythm Follow up Optimization through Remote Monitoring) initiative.