Dr. Vivian Rambihar, left, with his daughter, Sherryn.

A landmark editorial by a TSH cardiologist and his two daughters opens the January 2010 issue of the prestigious American Heart Journal, marking a special 50th anniversary. Dr. Vivian Rambihar and daughters Sherryn (an internal medicine specialist in cardiology training) and Vanessa (a U of T medical student), wrote ‘Race, Ethnicity and Heart Disease: a challenge for cardiology in the 21st century.’ 

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Drs. Tim Sproule and Sarah Wong

A medical mission to Bolivia in December by two of The Scarborough Hospital’s Plastic Surgeons is being hailed as an auspicious start in training that country’s surgeons to perform delicate microsurgery. Drs. Tim Sproule and Sarah Wong arrived in La Paz on Dec. 13 to conduct microsurgery courses with eight local surgeons.

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RN Meredith Depaulsen

To celebrate National Nursing Week, Hospital News encourages nominations for an annual Nursing Hero Award. The May 2010 edition includes a nomination for Meredith DePaulsen, a Registered Nurse in the Stroke Rehabilitation Unit at The Scarborough Hospital, written by her colleagues. Meredith exemplifies the dedication and compassion of our nursing staff at TSH, and we congratulate her on this nomination.

Read the published nomination to see what makes Meredith so special!

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It was a family affair for the Vallanis, who brought offerings of food, a donation and many heartfelt thanks to the multidisciplinary team at the Birchmount campus ICU.

Madat Vallani spent close to a month in ICU before being transferred to another floor. His wife Nasim and his family were so appreciative of the commitment to care that Madat received while he was being treated in ICU that they all wanted to give special thanks to the team.

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Ernest Tutu

When medical lab scientist Ernest Tutu talks about his work and his research, he is animated, excited and obviously passionate.

An employee in the TSH lab since 2006, Ernest is completing his Masters degree in biomedical science and has spent the last several months conducting research related to Sickle Cell Disease.

Originally from Ghana, Ernest obtained a Bachelor’s degree in biomedical science and worked in two labs in teaching hospitals in England before coming to Canada. After completing the licensing process in Canada, he joined TSH.

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Dr. Kien Siu, front, and Dr. Maurice Siu.

The father-and-son team of psychiatrists, Drs. Kien and Maurice Siu, bring a unique perspective to The Scarborough Hospital’s Mental Health Services. Together, they represent close to 50 years of knowledge and experience in the psychiatric field.

“It’s an interesting field that covers so much—physical, mental, psychosocial,” explains the elder Dr. Siu, who began his practice in 1973. “And today, more people are aware of mental health issues, and there’s less stigma attached to psychiatric problems.”

Dr. Kien Siu completed his medical degree in Australia before attending Queen’s University psychiatric residency in Kingston. His son Maurice started his practice here at TSH in 2003, and convinced his father—who was living in Alberta at the time—to move to Toronto and to join TSH the next year.

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Hoops owner Eesan Subramanimiam

When Eesan Subramanimiam decided to do something for the hospital and staff who cared for his late father, the Scarborough man knew he would have plenty of support from his father’s friends.

“We were already doing a customer appreciation day where we give our customers free food,” explains Eesan, owner of Hoops Sports Bar and Grill, one of several restaurants he has opened in the Greater Toronto Area over the past 15 years. “So this time I asked our customers to make a donation to the hospital.”

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Visiting the Emergency Department is a stressful experience for patients at the best of times, but for children, the impact can be even more dramatic. 

An innovative approach to ‘fast track’ children and their families from the ED to a pediatric clinic—called Paedlink—has been so successful since its implementation at The Scarborough Hospital’s General campus in 2007 that it was recently expanded to TSH’s Birchmount campus.

PaedLink has also helped reduce ED wait times by 42 per cent, to less than three hours from an average four-and-a-half hours.

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Patient Care Director Nurallah Rahim, right, gives Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews a first-hand look at the operating suites at the General campus.

Walking through the surgical suites at the General campus, Dr. Michael Chapman compares the operating rooms to an old car.

“We’ve changed the tires, we’ve changed the chassis, and we’ve even put in air conditioning. But our four cylinder is having trouble keeping up with the 12 cylinders. If we had a 12-cylinder car, we would continue to lead,” he says.

Recently, the Corporate Chief of Surgery shared his analogy with Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews while taking her on a tour of the ORs. He, and Patient Care Director of Surgery, Nurallah Rahim, pointed out the inefficiencies, the challenges and the hospital’s vision for a modern surgical pavilion that would better serve our community.

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Paula, Dave and little Victoria Assenza

Parents will tell you that having their first baby is exciting. But in the case of one couple, the birth of their daughter was a matter of intense drama that opened their eyes to the professionalism and compassion of the nurses in The Scarborough Hospital’s Maternal Newborn and Child Care program.

Paula Assenza and Dave Machado thought they had another two months to prepare for their baby when they stepped into TSH’s General campus.

“We were lucky that Paula’s high blood pressure was discovered and that an emergency Caesarean could be performed within 24 hours,” says Dave. “Now, little Victoria is with us.”

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It was only for a CT scan, but by the time 67-year old Nelda Lozinski got home to Scarborough from her appointment at a downtown hospital, she was exhausted. “I had nothing to eat or drink since midnight, and the test was at 2 p.m. And I’m a diabetic on top of that,” Nelda explains as she waits to start her chemotherapy treatment at The Scarborough Hospital’s Oncology Clinic. “I was overly tired, and couldn’t unwind for hours. But here at the Oncology Clinic, I’m only ten minutes away. If I can’t drive myself, my brother can take me. I’m so happy to get my treatment here. It’s convenient and the care is excellent.”

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Brian Quinlan, bringing coffee to the nurses in the Dialysis unit.

Eight-and-a-half years ago, Brian Quinlan got a call that would change his life forever. He had kidney failure, and would be hooked up to a dialysis machine for nine hours every day.

“Then four years ago, I got another call. They found a donor kidney,” Brian told attendees at recent symposium sponsored by the Peer Support Group with the Scarborough Regional Dialysis Program at The Scarborough Hospital.

While his transplant was a success, Brian described “a hard journey, day by day, hour by hour” leading up to that time. He focused much of his talk on his ability to deal with depression while on dialysis.

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Triplets Justen, Jean and Jayden with RNs Lorna LePoldevin, left, and Tara Moreau.

Rare triplet delivery highlights expertise

The Maternal Newborn Department had an unexpected treat on Halloween when it was asked by doctors at Mt. Sinai to accept a patient in labour with premature triplets.

Dr. Joseph Cramer was the obstetrician on call that day and after discussing the request with paediatrician Dr. Beth Gamulka and nursing staff, the team was confident they could handle the delivery.

“This is a huge compliment for us,” says Dr. Cramer, who delivered the last set of triplets at the General campus in 1982.

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