Among the many score of floral tributes at my great grandfather’s funeral – he had eight devoted children – was a full-sized rocking chair made entirely of flowers.  Leaning against one arm of the chair, a floral version of his cane.  They were emblematic of the last decade of his life; it was the way we always knew him, saw him.  He was 88 when he died. I often think of his life and his death as I chat with various sandwich-generation friends who are exhausted and defeated by the responsibility they feel for their aging parents. How different are their parents’ last chapters than my great-grandfather’s or even my grandparents’.  Having worked hard all of their lives, they were...

I probably shouldn’t be telling this story. It starts in 1968. According to (brilliant) researcher, surgeon and writer Atul Gawande, in that year, The Lancet published findings that represent one of the most important medical advances of the last century. It was just this: David R. Nalin and Richard A. Cash, American researchers in Dhaka during a cholera outbreak, added sugar to salt and water hydration and administered it orally to 29 patients. Cholera deaths: zero. Sugar, it seems, helps the gut absorb fluids. Cholera pandemics killed millions in the nineteenth century. Even after intravenous fluids reduced mortality to 30 per cent in the early years of the twentieth century, globally, most people died, especially in places where...

There are some incredible innovators and leaders among Ontario’s healthcare community who have advanced the use of telemedicine in the province. We wanted to take a moment to give them some well-deserved recognition. The Champions of Telemedicine Award was established to celebrate the outstanding contributions of these leaders within each of the 14 Ontario LHINs, and a leader within Ontario’s aboriginal community. OTN’s front-line staff and community partners nominated individuals for this award, and then Champions were selected based on their achievements in the following areas: Demonstrates leadership among peers and inspires the adoption of telemedicine in their practice, hospital, program or community to help...

I’ve had jobs that made me cry – don’t ask – but this may be the first time I’ve had a job that caused me to make other people cry. With a lot of help from other team members, I make videos and write stories about Telehomecare. I talk to patients and their family caregivers, their nurses or respiratory therapists and doctors. From time to time, we visit patients in their homes. That’s where Telehomecare connects them with a clinician who monitors their vital signs remotely and coaches them about how to live their best possible life. Then we tell their stories on screen, in news stories and on our web site so that people – and health care providers – learn about the program and how it can...