Our Stories

Read the latest stories about what's going on at St. Joseph's Health Care London.

Joyce and Earl

Walking Beside Families on Life’s Final Journey: Inside St. Joseph’s Palliative Care Program

For more than 25 years, St. Joseph’s Health Care London has walked alongside patients and families during what can be a very challenging time —end of life care. Since opening in 1999, the Palliative Care Unit (PCU) at Parkwood Institute has been a place of dignity and compassion for individuals across London and Middlesex living with life-limiting illness. St. Joseph’s Palliative Care Program provides pain management and relief of symptoms to those experiencing life-threatening, progressive or terminal illness. The PCU care team helps patients find comfort, supporting them body, mind and...
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doctor smiling next to cyclotron

Illuminating the body's smallest secrets

Tucked behind the protective lower walls of St. Joseph’s Hospital lies a futuristic workshop of sorts – a place where science, technology and leading-edge medical care converge. Within a behemoth, 62-ton machine, a swirling vortex of powerful magnetic fields and electric pulses is creating bursts of...
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researcher smiling

Poop in a pill helping advance cancer care

It’s one of the most exciting areas of research in cancer care. Making waves in scientific and health care circles worldwide, it holds the potent potential to “jazz up” cells that attack cancer and boost the body’s response to treatment. So what is this powerful ally? It’s poop in a pill – home...
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patient in CT scanner

Discovery-driven, patient-focused

As the research arm and integral partner of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Lawson Research Institute (Lawson) is one of Canada’s premier health institutes. For more than 40 years, a culture of curiosity and innovation has propelled Lawson to become a renowned leader in work that improves the lives...
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Drs. Tom Sheidow and Khaldon Abbas

Keeping an Eye on Care of the Future

While in university, Dr. Khaldon Abbas had a deeply moving experience as a volunteer with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT) that changed the trajectory of his life and career. The community-based organization helps victims of war and torture, and Abbas, whose family immigrated to...
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Senior holding hands

Dementia research hits the ‘mark’

Dr. Michael Borrie is now seeing grandchildren of patients who came to his clinic when he first started Alzheimer’s research 30 years ago. His message to this new generation is more hopeful than ever, bolstered by ever-more-reliable ways of early detection and being tantalizingly close to a future...
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scientists in lab

Investing in Life-Changing Research

Through donor support, endowed research chairs are exploring and answering some of the most profound and complex research questions of our time. Among cherished family photos and special mementos in the office of Jeremy Burton, PhD, is a slightly faded photo of a young woman. Burton points out the...
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woman exercising

Standing up to Falls

By merging world class care with research and artificial intelligence, St. Joseph’s Health Care London is catching falls before they happen. They wreak havoc on independence and well-being, making them one Canada’s most pressing health challenges: falls. A leading cause of injury-related...
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Micheline sitting down leaning on her hand

A new lease on life

Sarnia’s Micheline Steele had big plans for her retirement – spending time with her husband, traveling the world, getting out in nature and being active every day. But shortly into her time off, this fitness enthusiast started to experience pain in her shoulders and neck that kept increasing in...
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The Rivas family with their dog

Light in the darkness

This holiday season, Fressia Rivas is feeling hopeful. It’s been almost five years since she experienced a stroke, out of the blue, right before Christmas 2019. Since then, she’s been on a long journey of recovery, navigating the physical, mental and emotional challenges of her condition. Now, with...
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