Pierre Côté

A pioneer in the development of urban medicine in Montréal, Pierre Côté worked in the Actuel, Mont-Carmel and L’Alternative clinics and then in the Clinique médicale du Quartier Latin, which he co-founded in 1997. In 1992, he helped create Cactus Montréal, the first needle exchange program in the province, whose mission is to provide access to health care and social services for the most marginalized and vulnerable.

He worked as an HIV and drug addiction counsellor in Hôpital Saint-Luc’s community health department. In 1999, he co-founded and headed the Ambulatory HIV/Addiction Unit at the Unité hospitalière de recherche, d’enseignement et de soins sur le sida (UHRESS) du CHUM.

With his expertise in urban medicine, Pierre Côté is actively involved in training health care student and professionals, as a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal.

He established the Programme national de mentorat sur le VIH/sida and its hepatitis component to provide optimal health care for all people infected with HIV or viral hepatitis throughout Quebec. Together with his colleague, D^r Mark Wainberg, he formed a francophone knowledge transfer, training and response network, which gave rise to the Alliance francophone des acteurs de santé contre le VIH.

Pierre Côté has also contributed to the evolution of research on treatment of these diseases and has helped write more than 100 scientific articles, abstracts, brochures and books since 1990. He has been, or still is, an active member in over 50 forums, programs and committees.

Pierre Côté is the recipient of several honours and awards, including the Prix Médecin de cœur et d’action presented by the Association des médecins de langue française du Canada and the Farha Foundation’s Prix Hommage aux héros in 2000, the Prix Phénicia pour l’implication sociale awarded by the Quebec LGBT Chamber of Commerce in 2006 and the Award of Excellence for Community Service presented by the Canadian College of Family Physicians in 2014. He is a graduate of Université Laval.