We are Niagara Health is a series of stories that celebrates the incredible people working and volunteering in our organization and how they make a difference in the lives of patients and coworkers every day.
Ryan Blodgett, a clinical supervisor for Niagara Health's seven addictions programs, has devoted his career to helping others.
Helping others and working in public service runs in Ryan Blodgett’s blood.
His dad was a police officer and his mother was a nurse. It was a bit of a family tradition to help keep members of the community safe and healthy, and one that Blodgett has carried on while charting his own path. As a clinical supervisor for Niagara Health, Blodgett manages seven addictions programs – primarily, the New Port Centre, which has 45 staff.
The New Port Centre, located at the Port Colborne Site, offers residential treatment and community support options to help people overcome substance use. The centre offers a range of services tailored to clients' needs.
“I’ve always wanted to help people,” says Blodgett. “I also love to make people’s days.”
His career at Niagara Health began in 2013, when he started as a program worker at Withdraw Management Services. He knew he wanted to get more heavily involved in addictions treatment, but his roadmap to New Port wasn’t necessarily linear.
For a while, Blodgett worked with the hospital’s Environmental Services team, and also worked as a Safe Management Group trainer. The training program is a mandatory requirement for staff who work in mental health and addictions, as well as other areas of the hospital, to learn crisis intervention and prevention. During that time, Blodgett trained hundreds of staff, “moonlighting on random days of the week” all while learning about the various jobs across the hospital and how he could help to set them up for success in creating a safer work environment.
Blodgett simultaneously participated in a working group to design and build programs for a new detox centre – now the Withdraw Management Services (detox) located at 264 Welland Ave. in St. Catharines. While juggling that, he also took on a full-time job with Community Addiction Services of Niagara (CASON).
In August 2020, he came back to Niagara Health full-time as a clinical supervisor for the New Port Centre, and he’s never looked back. His homecoming was especially meaningful for Blodgett as he added a new title to his resume later that year: father.
“My wife Samantha and I had our first baby at Niagara Health in December 2020, which really grew my love and pride for the organization,” he says. “The Women, Babies’ and Children’s Unit is second to none. They made me so proud to be a staff member.”
It’s an added boost of confidence as he and his wife prepare for their second son’s upcoming birth this August.
Blodgett says another Niagara Health pride moment for him was when his wife, who performs with the stage name Sammy Jackson, won a Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year in 2021. He was surprised to see Niagara Health recognize her achievement on social media, and was especially touched when Linda Boich, Executive Vice-President, Patient Experience and Integrated Care, expressed her excitement for their family. The support for his wife, who has never worked at Niagara Health, “meant everything to us.”
Looking back at more than a decade spent working for Niagara Health, Blodgett describes it as “a complete rollercoaster in the absolute best way.”
He credits the late David Barry, the beloved former Manager, Clinical Services Mental Health, with taking a chance on him and giving him his start at Niagara Health. That support has been carried on by those who supervised Blodgett, including Brenda Yeandle, Manager, Clinical Services.
“Other people believing in me made me believe in myself,” says Blodgett. “Niagara Health is a great place to work. The people I’ve met have made a huge difference in my life, and I always try to give back by seeing other people’s potential and helping them grow. I try to go above and beyond for my team, and to look ahead and see what could go wrong before anything does.”
That requires always thinking ahead, and trying to stay as organized as possible while also maintaining work-life balance.
“When my team is satisfied, all the stress is worth it,” he says. “I love seeing my staff happy, and that feeling when everyone has had a good day, and we walk out of the building feeling good – that’s when I’m the proudest.”
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare that Blodgett isn’t immune to is facing “life and death” every day. However, he says the rewards far outweigh the challenges.
“Working in addictions treatment 10 years ago is so different to how it is now. We’re constantly working to remove barriers and stigma. There’s been a shift in the community in seeing people who struggle with addiction as being people who need help. We still have a long way to go, but we’re making progress. It’s really humbling to be a part of that.”
