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Kent Lewis (middle) received the Community Collaborator Award from St. Leonard's Society of Canada. Pictured with Michael Oates, Executive Director at St. Leonard’s Community Services, London & Region; and Anita Desai, Executive Director, St. Leonard’s Society of Canada

Better together: a decade of partnership recognized on the national stage

When Kent Lewis walked into a room full of St. Leonard's colleagues from across Canada in Calgary this June, he felt it immediately: a shared sense of purpose. Lewis, director of St. Joseph's Health Care London's Forensic Psychiatry Program, was in Calgary to accept the Community Collaborator Award from St. Leonard's Society of Canada — a national honour presented to individuals and organizations whose dedication to collaboration is making communities safer, healthier and more equitable. "I started my acceptance speech by saying, 'You are my people,'" he recalls. "These are individuals who see...

Man gets eye checkup at Ivey Eye Institute

Protecting our most precious gift – our ability to see

Delicate and intricately complex, it’s essential for vision. It’s also a common culprit in the loss of that gift. The retina contains millions of cells that work together to detect light and communicate with the brain. But aging and various health conditions can lead to retina complications that can...

St. Joseph’s prescribes lifestyle as medicine

For years, 58-year-old Mark Alfieri had missed all the signs of type 2 diabetes. The ones he did notice – numbness and pain in his hands and feet – he dismissed as part of a long-standing back injury. He also admits to abusing his body with less than stellar eating habits and an addiction to sugar...

a large group of parade participants wearing clothes with the pride stripes holding a pride-themed sign that reads "Embracing the diversity of our community with pride."

St. Joseph's participates in London's Pride Parade

Despite the call for rain, more than 40 participants from St. Joseph's Health Care London marched in London’s Pride Parade. Staff and physicians were joined by their family and friends for the walk, which was back after a two-year pandemic hiatus. The parade route started at the Western Fairgrounds...

Grace Hicks holding her horse Nova by the bridle as it nuzzles her shoulder

A horse of a different colour

The smell of wet grass filled her nostrils as avid rider Grace Hicks tumbled with her horse when the mare slipped on sod slick from a rainfall the day before. In that moment, her life took a devastating turn. “We both went down hard,” says the 20-year-old. “It was a fluke accident. The right side of...

eleven members of the spinal cord injury care team reaching their hands together in a show of cooperation

St. Joseph’s a key partner in enhancing care for spinal cord injury patients across Canada

An estimated 85,556 Canadians live with spinal cord injury (SCI), a number that the Praxis Institute for SCI predicts to rise to 121,000 by 2030. More than half of those SCI’s are caused by traumatic injuries. “Many of our patients have had their lives drastically changed, in an instant,” says Dr...

Stroke survivor Roger Oatman standing with a cane

FAST and slow - the varying speeds of a stroke journey

Would you recognize the signs of a stroke in yourself or someone else? 49-year-old Londoner Michael Lees is grateful his wife can. Her knowledge and quick action most likely saved his life. In the middle of the night in January 2022, Michael woke up with a strange feeling, “I kept tossing and...

Shauna Graf holding a copy of a book called the Zero Suicide Implementation Kit, standing in front of the Mental Health Care Building at Parkwood Institute

Free community toolkit in suicide prevention generates hope

St. Joseph’s Health Care London was the first organization in Canada to implement the Zero Suicide program. Today, the initiative is spreading across the province. What started as a lofty goal to reduce suicides and attempted suicides within a health care setting is taking flight in communities...

Dr. Laura Lyons holding an infant on an examination table in her office

Exemplary physician, compassionate cheerleader

Dr. Laura Lyons at St. Joseph’s Family Medical and Dental Centre was one of seven physicians in the province named Regional Family Physician of the Year in 2021 by the Ontario College of Family Physicians. It’s an honour that celebrates the vital contributions family doctors make to their patients...

a staff member showing thumbs up, standing behind a mound of bags full of paper towels

Harnessing the power of paper towels

Paper towels are often thrown into the garbage after use, but where do they go, and what is the impact on the environment? This is a question Environmental Services (EVS) at St. Joseph’s Health Care London recently tackled and the team has now found a solution that is eliminating paper towels from...