My connections to SHN runs deep.  I was born at SHN’s General Hospital, and I have worked my entire career at SHN. I’ll always love serving the community of Scarborough, and I’m proud to represent Scarborough wherever I go. I started working at SHN in 2011 in the Critical Care Sponsorship Program at Centenary. After that, I worked as a Clinical Practice Leader in different areas of the organization. Now, I’m a manager of the Nursing Resource Team for all of SHN. 

I had a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing assessment centres and vaccination clinics throughout the entire Scarborough community. I even moved out of my home to protect my family while I worked long hours to put SHN and the Scarborough community first so that they would be safe during the pandemic. 

My favourite thing about the community of Scarborough is the diversity. There are so many different cultures, so many different people, and different foods. In Scarborough, you have the entire world tied into one area. 

Scarborough Grit is all about having that resourcefulness to do your best and be successful regardless of the conditions around you. Being from Scarborough, you just push through, and you never give up, no matter what.  As a Manager for the Nursing Resource Team at SHN, these traits are crucial when working in healthcare. It’s a dynamic environment. Some days are good, and some days are bad. Every day you overcome obstacles and it almost becomes easy working through all the challenges we face.  

My hope for the future of healthcare in Scarborough is for the community I grew up in to have the best hospital facilities possible, not just the standard hospitals we have now. Many people call Scarborough home, and we all want our community to get the best service there is. 

Toronto is a huge city, but a big part of it is Scarborough and we don’t get recognized as much. If you look at the people, you look at the amazing work we do, and you look at just the community itself, you’re going to fall in love. And that’s just another reason to invest in it, because Scarborough deserves more than we actually get.  

Hector Suazo is one of our 11 new faces of the Scarborough Sans Family. To learn more about our campaign please visit LoveScarborough.ca