President's Breakfast: showcasing care, research, and a positive future for healthcare
Our annual signature event, The President’s Breakfast, was held early on Tuesday at Rogers Centre Ottawa, attended by over 550 business, public service, and community leaders. It was impossible not to be inspired! Patients Erin Brown and Jennifer Hollington, along with Doctors Safraz Mohammed, neurosurgeon, and Rebecca Auer, Executive VP Research Innovation / CEO & Scientific Director Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, presented heartfelt stories of compassionate care supported by world-leading innovation and research. It was all kind of incredible and hard not to shed a tear. As Caroline Phillips noted in her article in Caroline in the City, all “left the event with at least one prevailing feeling: hope for the future of healthcare.”
The tremendous value of our new hospital was presented by our motivating Campaign Co-chair, Board Member, and Head Critical Care Department, Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng. The event host, Cameron Love, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital, laid-out how the hospital’s strategic plan to Reshape the Future of Healthcare is well underway and promises a bright future for healthcare in our region - it is happening! Foundation President and CEO Tim Kluke closed the event announcing that our Campaign to Create Tomorrow has now achieved an amazing $366M of its $500M goal – and invited everyone across the region to join us in supporting this legacy-creating campaign. Take a look at Tia MacPherson’s fabulous coverage in the Ottawa Business Journal.
Huge thanks to event co-chairs Lisa Setlakwe and Taryn Gunnlaugson, who opened the morning’s ceremonies, and who, together with our amazing Table Captains and our incredible sponsors, made sure the morning would be a huge success. It was!
Social media lit up in appreciation, be sure to join in. Here’s a sample:
The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
Hope offered to those suffering from HD
For families affected by Huntington’s disease (HD), hope often feels out of reach. The inherited neurodegenerative disorder, caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene, leads to the gradual buildup of a toxic protein in the brain—damaging neurons and causing a devastating decline in movement, cognition, and behaviour.
At The Ottawa Hospital, that narrative is beginning to change with the work of Dr. Tiago Mestre. A neurologist and senior scientist, he is leading a first-in-human clinical trial. It will test a promising gene-targeted therapy using RNA interference (RNAi). This approach works by “silencing” the mutant gene’s messenger RNA, essentially blocking the production of the harmful huntingtin protein at its source.
While this early Phase 1 trial, sponsored by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, is primarily focused on safety and whether the drug reaches its target, the implications are big. The Ottawa Hospital is one of just 16 global sites participating, and among the first to treat a patient.
World leading medical research is happening right here at The Ottawa Hospital!
Montreal General Hospital adopts Lumenix AI tech, following TOH success
The Montreal General Hospital will soon be implementing Artificially Intelligent Monitoring System (AIMS), the AI technology developed by Lumenix and pioneered by The Ottawa Hospital. AIMS helps to prevent infections linked to poor hand-hygiene, reducing transmission at TOH by “90 per cent”, as covered in this article in The Montreal Gazette.
I previously reported on our AIMS pilot in my Weekly on June 5th and on April 3rd, and it was featured in this year’s City Building Summit – covered in my Weekly on June 26th.
Implementation of AIMS at The Montreal General is a positive next step in the success of our groundbreaking AI pilot with Lumenix. And its another great step in improving care through technological innovation for patients here, across the country, and around the world.
New program at TOH offers support to adolescents diagnosed with cancer
CBC’s All In a Day with Alan Neal recently featured The Ottawa Hospital’s new Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Program. The program provides age-specific support for patients aged 15 to 39. Alan spoke with Advanced Practice Nurse Sarah Cleyn and patient and program participant, Jay Abramovitch, to discuss the specific goals of the program and the unique support it provides. With a holistic approach, the program focuses on areas like fertility, mental health, and sexual wellness, while also offering guidance on work, education, and finances.
You can read more about the program here.