London's Hospital Developments & Research

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$200 million for London hospital projects

Fri, August 31, 2007

New children's hospital, women's care centre to be built

By RANDY RICHMOND, SUN MEDIA



A massive hospital building project in London got long awaited approval yesterday to wrap up the bulk of the work, worth an estimated $200 million.

The province announced London hospitals can take bids on completion of a new children’s hospital and women’s care centre at Victoria Hospital and the final renovations at St. Joseph’s and University hospitals.

When that work is done, the aging South Street hospital can be closed.

“This is a very, very important milestone for the London hospitals and one that we have been waiting for quite some time,” Cliff Nordal, president of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London, said yesterday.

“This is the biggest piece of the project to happen. When this is finished, we move the staff and patients (from South Street) and we lock the doors. That has been an ideal talked about in this community for . . . a long time.”

The bids should be received this fall and work should begin next year, hospital and government officials said yesterday.

“This is a huge step,” said Chris Bentley, Liberal MPP for London West. “They don’t want me to throw out a number but . . . I suspect you are going to need upwards of $100 million and if someone said $200 million you might be in there.”

The first plans to restructure and merge London’s hospitals surfaced in the mid-90s, as the provincial government began retooling health care and insisting communities eliminate duplication at hospitals.

For the next 12 years, the restructuring and merging of facilities run by London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London took place in fits and starts, with some deadlines — such as the expected closing of South Street in 2000, missed.

Symbolic of the amount of work still to be done is the empty 10-storey north tower at Victoria Hospital, where yesterday’s announcement took place.

“When this project is complete, this doorway will open into one of the most exciting new health-care facilities in Canada,” said Peter Johnson, vice-chair of the LHSC board. Besides the new home of the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario, the tower will house a new birthing centre, neonatal intensive care unit and outpatient mental health care.

It will also house diagnostic labs, teaching facilities and a 350-seat auditorium.

The final phase of work at St. Joseph’s Health Care will see a 112,000-square-foot renovation and a 4,000-square-foot addition that will provide space for citywide opthamology services, diabetes, and ear, nose and throat services.

“This will provide much needed clinical space,” said Gerald Killan, vice-chair of St. Joseph’s Health Care board.

In an interview after the announcement, Bentley said the timing of the approval was not connected to the Oct. 10 provincial election.

Over the past three years, the province has changed its funding and bidding processes, reduced the share communities have to raise and given money for hospital construction, Bentley said

“We have been working very hard for the past three years to make today possible.”

The approval is not a blank cheque, Bentley added.

The bids will have to be evaluated, he said.

There will be some “cleanup” construction to do after this next phase, Nordal said.

This project doesn’t include the construction of two mental health facilities — one in London and one in St. Thomas — expected to go to tender in 2009.

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Tue, August 28, 2007

St. Joe's and LHSC were first and second in the province for patient satisfaction.

By RANDY RICHMOND, SUN MEDIA



London's hospitals have landed a satisfying one-two punch in patient care.

The city's two hospitals finished first and second in overall patient satisfaction when compared to Ontario's other 10 large, acute-care hospitals, according to an annual report card from the province.

St. Joseph's Health Care London earned the highest mark for the second year in a row. London Health Sciences Centre scored second.

"I think it is quite remarkable St. Joseph's should come out on top again and the next hospital to score highest was London Health Sciences," said Cliff Nordal, president of both hospitals.

"It is an acknowledgement of the staff and the physicians and their dedication to the patients we serve."

The two hospitals scored the highest marks in the overall impression patients had of their hospital experience.

St. Joseph's also scored highest marks in three other areas evaluating patient satisfaction: how well staff communicated with them; whether they were treated with dignity; whether they received the care they felt they needed.

The 2007 report on acute care hospitals in Ontario, prepared by the province and Ontario Hospital Association, examined 40 indicators including patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes, quality control and financial performance.

The comparisons suggest some areas for improvement in London, Nordal said.

For example, LHSC scored low in financial performance.

But the report card covered a period when LHSC was struggling with several financial issues, such as its debt for a controversial energy-from-waste plant, Nordal said.

"There was nothing (in the report) that surprised us," Nordal said.

In February, the province gave LHSC about $64 million to ease its financial woes.

"We expect next year things will show improvement," Nordal said.

Under the clinical outcomes category, the two London hospitals scored at or above average compared to the other large teaching hospitals.

But the report also shows LHSC has a "slightly higher rate" of pneumonia and bedsores in patients after they are admitted.

"This would be an area the hospital would like to target," Nordal said.

Twenty-six out of more than 1,500 patients got pneumonia or bedsores after being admitted, Nordal said.

"When we see something where we aren't performing as well as others, we want to ask, 'Why would that happen and might there be something we can do about it?' "

A change in practices might improve the mark for next year, Nordal said.

A separate category examined how parents viewed the pediatric care their children received.

LHSC scored average marks for pediatric care, with Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto leading the nine hospitals in the category.

The province also released reports on rehabilitation and emergency care.

St. Joseph's earned among the highest marks in the province for patient satisfaction in rehabilitation.

"That is great to see," Nordal said.

LHSC wasn't ranked because it does not offer that service.

Both hospitals received average marks in emergency care.

"We were not surprised by that," Nordal said.

The comparison was done just after the emergency departments in London were moved and as the kinks were being ironed out, Nordal said.

"Staying average, in my view, is good."

Patient satisfaction at Ontario's teaching hospitals

Overall patient satisfaction at area small hospitals-

Overall patient satisfaction at area community hospitals-

Provincial average: 85.3

St. Joseph's Health Care London 88.6

London Health Sciences Centre 87.8

The Ottawa Hospital 85.7

Kingston General Hospital 85.2

St. Joseph's Health Care, Hamilton 85.1

University Health Network, Toronto 85.0

St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto 84.9

Hamilton Health Sciences Corp. 84.6

Sudbury Regional Hospital 84.6

Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto 84.5

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre 84.0

Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto 83.9

Provincial average 89.1

Alexandra Hospital 89.2

Alexandra Marine and General Hospital, Goderich 86.3

South Huron Hospital Exeter supplied no response

-Fewer than 2,700 cases a year

Provincial average 82.8

South Bruce Grey Health Centre, Kincardine 89.1

Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, Stratford 89.0

Leamington District Memorial Hospital 87.2

Chatham-Kent Health Alliance 86.3

Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital 86.1

St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital 85.2

Woodstock General Hospital 84.4

Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital 84.2

Bluewater Health, Sarnia 82.9

-Hospitals with more than 2,700 cases a year, but not teaching hospitals

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Mon, September 17, 2007

By JOHN MINER, SUN MEDIA



Medical researchers in London have made a discovery that could improve the odds of wounded soldiers and car-crash victims surviving their injuries.

The discovery by Lawson Health Research Institute scientists is that a hormone produced by the kidney can help maintain blood pressure and heart rate and limit tissue damage.

Dr. Raymond Kao said the hormone — erythropoietin — could be particularly useful on the battlefield, where it often isn’t possible to provide injured soldiers with blood products.

The research that involved four other scientists was paid for by the Department of National Defence.

“We want to give soldiers the best chance,” said Kao, the lead researcher who is also a Lieutenant Commander in the Canadian Armed Forces and a doctor in the critical-care trauma centre at Victoria Hospital.

At present, wounded soldiers are given a saline solution to keep their system functioning until they can be transported to a hospital for further treatment.

If further testing proves the hormone is effective, it could easily be added to the saline solution, he said.

Kao said he hopes to start a clinical trial early next year at London Health Sciences Centre to see if the hormone helps patients who have suffered blood loss in a motor-vehicle crash. Such patients can face delays similar to the battlefield in being transported to hospital, he said.

“If the result is as positive as our experimental model in a laboratory we would like to take this to the national level in a multi-centre trial,” Kao said.

Kao serves with the Canadian military as an active-duty officer and has served in the past in Bosnia, Africa and the Middle East.

The research team’s abstract on their discovery has been selected as one of four finalists out of 1,200 submissions to the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. The winning abstract will be announced in Berlin on Oct. 9.

[WaterlooInvestor]

You already had 2 other threads on this topic in the Ontario section, and have now just reposted the same articles:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=137041
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=137196

Is a 3rd thread really needed?

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Tech, health link proposed

Sat, September 22, 2007

Waterloo Region eager to tap into London's health research expertise.

By NORMAN DE BONO, SUN MEDIA



Canada's Silicon Valley is reaching out to London's technology community, wanting a closer, working relationship with researchers here.

Waterloo Region, which this week celebrated the expansion of global technology giant Google in its community, wants to tap into the heath-care research in London to grow technology industries in both communities, said John Tennant, chief executive of Canada's Technology Triangle, representing business in the Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo areas.

"There are strengths in London, in health care and we are talking about working together more closely," Tennant said yesterday.

Waterloo does not have a medical school, as London does, and the work being done at the Lawson and Robarts research institutes as well as the Integrated Manufacturing Technology Institute at the University of Western Ontario's research park, offers opportunities to expand technology research, he added.

"There are plenty of opportunities to collaborate. In a global scale we are small players, we need to think about pooling resources," said Tennant.

Marilyn Sinclair, general manger of TechAlliance in London, welcomed the news.

"We always embrace the opportunity to work with tech communities in the region, we have to work co-operatively," Sinclair said. "We have laid the groundwork here to support growth in the technology sector."

In addition, the London Economic Development Corp. is holding a workforce development seminar at Conestoga College in two weeks, added Tennant.

"That dialogue (between London and Waterloo) is already happening on a number of levels. We are all interested in finding new investment opportunities," said Tennant.

As for Google, it is moving to the school's research park from a small office near the school, and is looking to add to the 20 software engineers who now work for the company.

"We have been in Waterloo two years now and want to strengthen our ties with the University of Waterloo," said Wendy Rozeluk, corporate communications manager at Google's Toronto office.

"We see Waterloo as the Silicon Valley of the north. We want access to that.

The University of Waterloo currently has the largest mathematics and engineering faculties in the world, said Tennant.

"This is a pivotal move for Waterloo Region. It makes a statement to the global community that world leaders in this industry see talent and opportunity here," he said. "This gives them the visibility and proximity to assist in their recruiting efforts. They want the best and brightest to consider a career with Google and the research park is an ideal location for that."

As for its name, a "googol" is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros, says Google's website. "The term was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, Mathematics and the Imagination by Kasner and James Newman," a company history said.

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Province confirms operating support
The provincial government said Friday The University of Western Ontario will receive $6.1 million in additional operating funding, confirming the university's portion of a $150-million pledge for higher education as outlined in the 2009 provincial budget.

“This important investment in challenging times will allow Western to remain focused on student success, and on world class research that is changing lives and strengthening our economy,” said Western President Paul Davenport.

London-Fanshawe MPP Khalil Ramal said Western and Fanshawe College, which is to receive more than $3 million, are being supported in response to higher-than-expected enrolment.

In 2008-09, Western received $266.4 million in operating grants from the Ontario government, up 63 per cent from 2002-03, said Ramal.

The Reaching Higher plan, announced in 2005, has provided Ontario universities with predictable funding until the end of the fiscal year 2009-10, although annual amounts had to be confirmed in each new budget. In the 2009 Ontario budget, despite a tough economic climate, the government set aside planned increases in operating funding for 2009-10.

“We are excited by what has been achieved to date and enthusiastic about working with government on the next phase of a long-term operating plan,” said Paul C. Genest, president of the Council of Ontario Universities.

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Research building's name reflects $5-million gift from hockey superstar.
Eric Lindros announced his retirement from NHL ice with a flourish, punctuating it with a $5-million donation to London Health Sciences Centre. The gift, the largest known one-time charitable donation from a Canadian sport figure, was recognized today with the unveiling of the Lindros name atop of the building at University Hospital.

Read the full news release at the London Health Sciences Foundation
http://www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/LHSC/...es/Lindros.htm

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French multinational food company pouring $7 million into London probiotic research

Fri, May 22, 2009

One of the world's largest food companies is pouring millions of dollars into probiotic research in London, a move scientists hope will lead to the city becoming the North American epicentre for development of beneficial bacteria products.

Paris-based Danone announced tonight it's spending $7.5 million to establish a research chair in probiotics at the Lawson Health Research Institute.

The money will pay the salary of Lawson scientist Dr. Gregor Reid, who has gained international recognition for his probiotic work, another scientist and a research assistant.

So-called "good bacteria," probiotics are micro-organisms that can provide health benefits when added to food.

The Danone investment could be just the beginning of a relationship with the European company that ranks No. 1 in the world in fresh dairy products and is known in North America for its yogurt.




Danone is looking to expand its presence in North America and might establish a research and development centre here, Reid said.

"Time will tell. It is certainly under discussion."

Reid said London is ideally situated to become a major probiotic development centre with its strong medical research community and hospitals surrounded by a prime agricultural area.

Danone executive Bernard Hours said the company has just set up a research centre in the Netherlands, but a North American centre will be necessary and London is a top contender.

"We will have to organize something in North America. (London) is the place it is likely to be developed," Hours said in an interview after a speech by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at a St. Joseph's Health Foundation gala at the London Convention Centre.

Danone vice-president of research Sven Thormahlen said his company has developed many partnerships with scientists in Europe, but has few in North America.

"We identified Gregor Reid as one of the few North American researchers who had focused on research of probiotic bacteria," Thormahlen said in an interview from Paris.

Danone was also impressed with the work of Reid in Tanzania where he set up a project to manufacture probiotic yogurt to improve the lives of women with AIDS. Thormahlen travelled to Tanzania to see the work.

"We share with Gregor Reid the philosophy that we want to improve the conditions for society in the markets that we are in," Thormahlen said.

"I hope as this project moves along it creates a strong base for Danone research in North America."

At present, Danone's probiotic products contribute more than 2 billion euros a year to the company's sales.

Thormahlen said he anticipates probiotics could be expanded into products beyond the current dairy ones.

Though the company is paying for the research chair, Reid said he will remain an independent researcher.

"The emphasis is on science."

Dr. David Hill, scientific director of Lawson, said Danone's investment creates a probiotic research position in perpetuity at Lawson.

"It is a very sizable investment and a mark of confidence in the probiotic work at Lawson. We see it as a mark of a strong, emerging relationship."

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With patient wait times the highest in the London region and well above provincial targets, the province is pouring cash into University Hospital to alleviate the problem.

More than $1.1 million was allocated yesterday to the London hospital for improvements it has made already and to encourage more.

About $900,000 was provided under a "pay for results" program that rewards improvements and $277,000 to help London Health Sciences Centre reduce offloading delays at emergency rooms at both University and Victoria hospitals. The latter money will pay for additional nurses to care for patients who arrive by ambulance and still face delays.

The funding was announced by Deb Matthews, Liberal MPP for London-North-Centre.

Matthews said the government has been working to reduce wait times, which can be "very frustrating" for patients.


"We have a ways to go," she conceded, as hospitals continue to struggle to reduce waiting times.

The Health Ministry keeps track of wait times at hospitals and publishes them online at http://www.health.gov.on.ca/transfor...s/wait_mn.html.

As of last December, the provincial target wait time (including treatment) for minor medical issues was four hours and for complex matters involving "diagnosis, treatment or hospital bed admission" was eight hours.

The figures showed the actual wait times at University Hospital were 6.4 hours and 20.8 hours respectively. At Victoria Hospital, the wait times were 5.1 and 11.8 hours, also above the provincial target.

"This clearly recognizes there is a problem," Matthews said, adding times are gradually being reduced.

"We know how to do it," she said, noting wait times have been reduced nearly 30 per cent in recent years.

Matthews said by publishing wait times the province is showing its commitment to reducing them and is spending money to achieve reductions.

The money to reduce wait times follows another announcement this week of $24.5 million being spent across the region to ensure seniors get the treatment they need at home or in seniors facilities.

The money was intended to ensure seniors have an alternative to occupying hospital beds.

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Tutu backs bid for AIDS facility

Desmond Tutu, one of the world's leading proponents of HIV research and caring for AIDS patients, has endorsed London's bid to be the home for a $90-million AIDS vaccine manufacturing facility.

In an interview with The Free Press, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former archbishop of South Africa noted there are four contenders for the plant and said, "My vote would go to St. Joseph's."

The facility will be paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the federal government.

London's hospitals and the University of Western Ontario submitted a bid for the facility in March. The other contenders are Winnipeg, Peterborough and Laval, Que.

Ted Hewitt, UWO's vice-president of research, said Tutu's backing is a significant boost for London's bid.


"Any endorsement like this, especially from a world leader like Archbishop Tutu, is phenomenal. It will have an impact," he said.

Tutu has been in London this week as part of St. Joseph's fundraising speaker series.

Hewitt said Tutu is intimately knowledgeable about issues surrounding AIDS in Africa.

"For him, who understands the importance of a facility like this, to endorse London's bid to create the world's only not-for-profit AIDS vaccine manufacturing facility for trial lots, it is just amazing. I am incredibly impressed and thankful," he said.

The bids from the four contenders will be reviewed by an international panel of experts who will weigh the scientific evidence and make a recommendation to the Gates Foundation and federal government, Hewitt said.

"We will just have to keep our fingers crossed and see what happens," he said.

An AIDS vaccine developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang at Western is moving into the first phase of human trials in the U.S.

The first black Anglican archbishop in South Africa, Tutu became famous for his stand against apartheid. He headed the country's truth and reconciliation commission and has been an international advocate for AIDS patients.

Yesterday, he said part of the reason he agreed to speak in London was St. Joseph's compassionate record of treating AIDS patients.

"In the 1990s, they were pioneers, really, in the treatment of people with HIV and AIDS at a time when they were being ostracized and stigmatized. This institution has had a history of caring for those who are marginalized, who are on the edges of our society," he said.

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Mon, June 8, 2009

HEALTH CARE: A provincial agency is planning changes in the London region


Mike Barrett knows he's walking a minefield.

The chief executive of the South West Local Health Integration Network, Barrett is leader of the provincial agency working on The Blueprint, a plan to overhaul the health system in the London region.

"It is about having the right services, in the right place, at the right time, by the right provider," Barrett says.

But any change in health care runs the risk of triggering a public explosion, such as experienced in neighbouring Erie-St. Clair LHIN when a report recommended closing the emergency department at Petrolia. The town's family doctors promptly resigned in protest and the plan was abandoned.

Barrett says the South West LHIN board, which oversees health care in a region that includes almost one million people, is treading carefully as the blueprint is drafted over the next few months.




"Hospitals and health care are very near and dear to the hearts of communities," he says.

"When you start talking about any change to a hospital or service, the reaction can be intense," says Barrett.

That might turn out to be an understatement.

It will be impossible to please everyone, with an agency whose influence ranges from the number of beds in a cancer unit to how often elderly people receive supplementary care in their homes.

Both the process and the LHIN itself have critics, who see the bodies created by the provincial Liberals three years ago as a way for politicians to dodge the political heat when health care cuts are made.

"It is a good way for the government to hide . . . They hide behind the LHIN, yet they appointed these people," said Kathryn Gordyn, co-chairperson of Strathroy-Caradoc and Area Concerned Citizens, a group that has fought local hospital cuts.

When beds are cut, MPPs say they're not the ones doing it, she said.

"They say, 'We didn't do it, it is the LHINs.' But they are doing it. When you pay the piper, you call the tune. It is as simple as that," Gordyn said.

Gordyn questions the expertise of the non-elected LHIN board to make far-reaching health decisions.

The South West LHIN board includes a retired nurse, former medical lab technologist and a clinical psychologist. The other members are a retired municipal administrator, a veterinarian, a former Ontario Hydro human resources officer, a retired school principal, university business professor and a former school board trustee.

Barrett doesn't want to talk about what the cuts might be, or about who might be the winners and losers, in an exercise that is to be completed by Oct. 28, when it goes to the LHIN board for approval.

"The message we want to deliver is we are improving health care for everyone because it shouldn't be about winners and losers. It should be about ensuring people have access to those services that they need locally, but also better access to those services that are provided on a regional or provincewide basis," Barrett says.

Still, he says, only so many centres will provide specialized care.

"You can't have the expectation that it is going to be provided in all of our 19 public hospitals that exist across the South West LHIN," he says. (The 20th hospital under the LHIN's mandate is a private one in Woodstock.)

To design the blueprint, the LHIN board has struck a 16-member committee that includes hospital officials across the region, physicians and service agencies.

It has held a two-day private session with 150 health-care providers in Owen Sound and has scheduled another session in London today and tomorrow. They are not open to the general public or the media.

That is being followed up with 11 public forums in July in communities from Lion's Head to St. Thomas. Six more public sessions are scheduled for September.

"People will have an opportunity to say what they would like to see," Barrett says.

John Miner is The Free Press health reporter. john.miner@sunmedia.ca

It is a good way for the government to hide.

Kathryn Gordyn, co-chairperson of Strathroy-Caradoc and Area Concerned Citizens, a critic of LHIN

LHIN by the numbers

Budget: $1.8 billion

Population served: 910,000

Counties served: 8 -- Middlesex (includes London), Elgin (includes St. Thomas), Huron, Perth, Grey, Bruce, Oxford, Norfolk

Provides funding to:

- 20 hospitals

- 1 community care access centre (South West CCAC)

- 72 long-term care homes (6,636 beds)

- 62 community support services

- 2 community health centres (with three in development)

- 28 mental health agencies

- 14 addiction agencies

[ldoto]

Wed, June 10, 2009


A new state-of-the-art dialysis unit was officially opened at University Hospital this afternoon.

Medical officials said the advanced system will increase patient safety.

Other features of the unit, that was supported with private donations, are aimed at improving patient comfort.

The unit is on the third floor of University Hospital.

[ldoto]

Update!!!


London's drive to become a bigger medical innovation centre has hit a pothole, with rejection of its bid to build Canada's $88-million HIV vaccine plant.

But the city has also lost a race with no apparent winners.

Three other Canadian centres were also being considered for the high-tech manufacturing jewel that was to be built with a $28-million donation by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The rest of the money was to come from the federal government.

"My understanding is there will be no facility built. The $88 million that was allocated for the construction of the HIV vaccine pilot plant will now be taken off the table or allocated for other purposes," Ted Hewitt, vice president of research at the University of Western Ontario, said Tuesday.

UWO was informed London's bid had been rejected in a phone call late Friday from Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer and head of the Public Health Agency of Canada. No reasons were given.

Hewitt said he's learned through contacts at other centres they were also rejected.

Winnipeg, Peterborough and Laval, Que. were the other contenders.

"We find that to be very disappointing," Hewitt said. "We believed strongly in the need for the facility."

The pilot vaccine plant was a key part of Canada's strategy to find a vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS. The facility was to be used by researchers around the world.

London's bid had been endorsed by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, a key international player in the fight against AIDS.

Lack of such a centre in Canada to help make vaccine for tests had been identified by the Gates foundation ‹ founded by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates ‹ as a major roadblock to developing an effective vaccine for AIDS.

The Public Health Agency of Canada didn't respond Tuesday to Free Press requests for comment on the situation.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation declined to comment, saying the Canadian government officially speaks for the initiative.

"We are very much hoping now the government will make a formal announcement and fully outline its reasons for canceling the project," said Hewitt.

Western, which was working with the city's hospitals and London Economic Development Corp. on the bid, was certain it had the best proposal, Hewitt said.

But the university had also made it clear to the federal government and other applicants that if another centre was selected, it would work with the winner to help strengthen capacity to deliver on the program, Hewitt said.

"We had similar assurances from other applicants, as well, that if we were to be chosen they would join our initiative," he said.

London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best said the federal decision leaves a lot of question unanswered and doesn't make a lot of sense when the Gates Foundation was putting up a major portion of the money.

"I would be extremely disappointed if that money was left on the table when I know any one of the cities could have built the facility and done a good job for Canada," she said. DeCicco-Best said the government now needs to be open about why the project isn't going ahead. Peter White, president of London Economic Development Corp., said months of work and a substantial money went into the bid.

Western had been invited by the federal government in November 2008 to submit a proposal.

"We are disappointed . . . We know we put together a great bid," White said. White declined to disclose how much money was spent. Other centres were reported to have spent more than $100,000 on their bids. "It was a considerable amount of money because we had to bring in specialized consultants," White said. "It was a long process that required a full-fledged business plan for an $88-million initiative.

[MolsonExport]

well that really sucks.

[sparky212]

that really does

[ldoto]

Needing a big shovel

Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Joe Preston, and Ontario Attorney General and London West MPP Chris Bentley, joined a number of families and community leaders recently in celebrating the start of construction on an $8.5 million expansion and renovation to the Ronald McDonald House of Southwestern Ontario. The house was the recipient of a $5.2 million grant that will provide two-thirds of the funding required for the expansion of the facility. Since 1985, Ronald McDonald House of Southwestern Ontario has been providing a home away from home to families of sick children. The expanded facility will allow the House to accommodate the needs of up to 34 out-of-town families of seriously ill or injured children who are in London to receive life-saving medical treatment.

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A greater focus on mental health


The blue tarp came up off the sign just inside the Commissioners Rd. entrance to Parkwood Hospital, and with it, a new focus and investment into mental health treatment for London and southwestern Ontario.

On Jan. 21, Infrastructure Ontario and St. Joseph's released a request for proposals to three companies short-listed to design, build, finance and maintain two new mental health care facilities which will be located in London and St. Thomas.


"Our facility here at this site is a large facility at 400,000 square feet with 156 beds with the capacity to go to 168 beds," said Cliff Nordal, president and chief executive officer of St. Joseph's Health Care.

The St. Joseph's Regional Mental Health Care, London facility will be constructed adjacent to Parkwood Hospital. Its specialized programs will accommodate impatient and outpatient longer-term mental health services for assessment, mood and anxiety disorders, psychosis, dual diagnosis, geriatric psychiatry and adolescent psychiatry, serving southwestern Ontario.

St. Joseph's Regional Mental Health Care, St. Thomas will be a new hospital for forensic mental health, built on the existing lands in St. Thomas. It will provide specialized inpatient and outpatient forensic services, including assessment, treatment, outreach and support services to individuals with a mental illness who may have come into significant contact with the criminal justice system.

London's new facility will be a significant departure from the current design in both rooms and care.

"It is designed to have living space for patients with private rooms, which is not the case presently. As they progress through therapy, they will be able to integrate with more staff, and of course visitors, through what is called a neighbourhood area within the facility to help with re-integration. And there is a further step called the downtown, where they can start to do some of their own activities, including a little bit of shopping providing further integration with what will eventually be a discharge into the community," said Mr. Nordal. "This is the current kind of thinking in mental health at meeting centres elsewhere in the country, so we are able to bring that philosophy of recovery into London in a new facility."

Michelle Campbell, chief executive officer of St. Joseph's Healthcare Foundation, says the project represents a real step forward in how the community views mental health issues.

"I think the first step for us will be to talk to the community about the needs of mental health and what the face of mental illness is. There continues to be a social stigma related to mental illness and we want to make sure we open that up and help people understand the extent to which it is an issue in Canadian society and our local community," says Ms. Campbell. "We think these are exciting new plans and an exciting new vision for mental health and it is really going to be something that people will want to play a part in."

When completed the new project will mark close to $1.2 billion dollars worth of infrastructure investment spent in the region. The announcement also came on the heels of the provincial's government throne speech indicated there will be a new way hospitals will receive funding.

"It is time to take a look at how we fund hospitals, and I am pretty excited at how we are going to do that," says Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and MPP for London North Centre. "We are committed to three things, access to health care, the highest quality health care available and as we look ahead we need to make sure that every dollar we spend on health care goes to improving health care for people, and focus on what is best for the patient."

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At this point, Mr. Nordal says there is no a clear understanding of the government's new funding allocation.

"We are aware of the population based method, and then there are the payment by patient (method) and they really are two different funding streams that are coming along," says Mr. Nordal. "The first is by population base, there will be an allocation to the LIHN (Local Integrated Health Network) itself to reflect the population base and the aging population. And from there, there will be an allocation to the hospitals will go after, so that will start maybe this year, certainly next year. And we have anticipated that kind of process for some time. The other one relates to payment by patient and it is much more complex."

The two new facilities will also be seeking a silver certification within the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) standard. LEED standards focus on healthy indoor environments, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and efficient use of energy, water and other resources.

"Clearly, this is pretty exciting what it (LEED) will do, it will help keep their operating costs down and be better for the environment, it is a terrific initiative," Ms. Matthews says. "It is the way of the future and just makes sense to do it."

Energy conservation – and fiscal responsibility – will be two key focuses of the new project.

"The facility is being designed in a manor that will be very energy efficient both in terms of summer and winter power use," Mr. Nordal says. "It will recycle energy, as air is exhausted, heat is being reclaimed, it will look at how we deal with water. This is really the kind of emerging design in healthcare and it is the first one in London."

London, Mr. Nordal says, has seen a significant amount of restructuring of services and renewal of buildings over the last number of years.

"Here we are building more capacity, we are going to have put in place $1.2 billion which is a benefit not only for care, but also one of the largest economic drivers for the city itself."

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NEUROSCIENCE: Adrian Owen, who will join Western in January, has shown comatose brain-injured patients can communicate

Last Updated: May 18, 2010 8:16am

A superstar among the world's neuroscientists -- who's also leader of a rock band -- has been landed by the University of Western Ontario.

Considered Western's biggest recruit ever, Adrian Owen was introduced to about 200 members of the university community who accorded him a standing ovation on his 44th birthday Monday.

"I can't imagine a better present than this," Owen said of his appointment as Canada Excellence Research Chair, effective Jan. 1.

The Brit and four of his top researchers at Cambridge University are being funded by a seven-year grant totalling $10 million from the federal government.

Owen has done pioneering work in which he has been able to communicate with brain-injured patients believed to be in a vegetative state. His research is expected to have wide implications for medicine and in law.

University president Amit Chakma raved about the researcher he said is "at the very forefront of his field."

For his part, Owen said the research and the facilities at Western sealed the deal for him when he visited some time ago.

"These are absolutely fantastic facilities, like I had never seen before," he said. And the researchers were doing important work.

"On research grounds alone, this is a real no-brainer, if you will pardon the pun," Owen joked.

His wife, Jessica Grahn, a noted neuroscientist who studies ties between music and the brain, will be appointed to the department of psychology.

"We have been blown away by the enthusiasm and support shown for us," Owen said. "We can't wait to get here in January."

Chakma said Owen's appointment will further boost Western's reputation as a world leader in neuroscience and imaging.

The researcher and his wife share similar professional interests but also team up in another way.

Owen is a lead singer and guitarist in a rock band. Grahn is a cellist in the band.

Asked if he plans to resume his musical avocation in his new city, Owen didn't hesitate: "That's very high on my list of priorities."

Owen's research showing patients considered in a vegetative state can have thoughts and also communicate was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February, attracting wide international attention.

More recently, in the journal Nature, he published results of other research that showed "brain training" video games do not make players smarter.

In his work, Owen will also study cognitive deficits in patients suffering from diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's Alzheimer's and ALS (Lou Gehrig disease).

Melvyn Goodale of Western's Centre for Brain and Mind said he and his researchers are "absolutely delighted . . . over the moon," at Owen's appointment.

Goodale said he expects Owen will work closely with local hospitals and the Robarts Institute.

Owen was one of 19 world-renowned researchers the federal government announced have chosen to pursue their work under the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program.

Each chair will receive up to $10 million over seven years to support their research and staff.

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The Federal Government is injecting new funding into Southern Ontario's knowledge-based economy.

This morning, at the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario, Federal Minister of State Gary Goodyear and London West MP Ed Holder introduced a new $75 (m) million program.

"Our government's new Technology Development Program will create jobs and promote economic growth in southern Ontario," said Minister Goodyear. "This program will create partnerships between businesses, colleges, universities and community organizations to bring promising new technologies to market more quickly."

The 4 year program will encourage post-secondary institutions, as well as private companies and not-for-profit groups to work together to generate leading technology.

"Canadian universities are doing research that is changing our world," said Ted Hewitt, Vice-President, Research & International Relations at Western. "By working in partnership with industry and other organizations, we can sharpen competitiveness and develop solutions more effectively and faster."

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The London Health Sciences Centre and Children's Hospital are welcoming a new doctor to the team.

Dr. Paul Gibson is a paediatric oncologist/hematologist and he's chosen to practice in London fulltime.

"The recruitment of Dr. Gibson fulfills our goal of having a full complement of paediatric oncologists at Children's Hospital," says Dr. Lawrence Jardine, Department Head, Paediatric Oncology/Hematology Program.

"His passion for clinical care and his expertise will greatly enhance our ability to treat children requiring cancer care. We are very proud to have someone of his calibre choose to be a part of Children's Hospital."

Of the over 400 children diagnosed with cancer every year in Ontario, approximately one in six are treated at Children's Hospital.

Health Minister and London-North Centre MP Deb Matthews introduced Dr. Gibson at his news conference at the Victoria Campus Friday morning.

"In addition to the exceptional care provided by Children's Hospital, the numerous community groups and agencies which partner with the hospital are also to be commended for the crucial role they play in the provision of care and support of children and their families throughout their cancer journey."

Dr. Gibson is a graduate of the University of Guelph, and completed his medical degree at Queen's University. He completed his Paediatric Residency at the B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver.

During the past year, Dr. Gibson has worked at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as an attending staff in the Solid Tumor Program, while working occasionally at Children's Hospital