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Read the latest stories about what's going on at St. Joseph's Health Care London.

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Tall dream comes true

With a list of burning questions in hand, Patricia Prance answered an incoming video call. On the other end of the line – a giraffe and his zookeeper. Prance has virtually visited not one but two giraffes thanks to St. Joseph's Health Care London's Palliative Care Unit at Parkwood Institute. Her interest in giraffes first sparked when she visited African Lion Safari as a kid. “I just fell in love with the way they ran and their tall necks. And I'm tall and lanky and run kind of like a giraffe,” she laughs. Prance always dreamed of meeting a giraffe and being able to pet it, but travel...

The Notebook - a tantalizing tale from St. Joseph's earliest days

The lined pages are brownish-yellow and the delicate handwriting inked with a fountain pen is faded. Page after page the notes describe medical conditions and treatments, even recipes for remedies like barley water found tucked into a passage titled “Care of the New Born”. In a rare and intriguing...

A moment in time

Precious life moments continue for residents and families thanks to generous donations to the St. Joseph’s Health Crisis Fund. The COVID-19 crisis has changed the way we interact and connect with each other on a daily basis – but not all of life’s precious moments have been lost or put on hold...

a physiotherapist demonstrates a leg raise exercise while looking at her patient on a laptop montior

A move in the right direction

At just 39-years-old, Beth Miller experienced a hemorrhagic stroke in early January – losing significant mobility in the right-side of her body. A devastating reality for a natural athlete and mother of three. After spending three weeks as an inpatient at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute, Beth was...

Small acts of kindness spread amid the pandemic

Acts of kindness may be more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, beautiful hand-painted rocks and hand-sewn “scrub bags” were generously gifted to staff at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute by community members as a way to show support and appreciation for health care workers...

Celebrating Better Speech and Hearing Month

St. Joseph’s is proud of our speech language pathologists and communicative disorders assistant working across St. Joseph’s during this challenging time. May is Better Speech and Hearing Month. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed distinct challenges for many health care professionals – and patients –...

Care and compassion bridges distance and space

Since the pandemic began, John Hodgkinson has been taking part in group education sessions with others living with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). But not to worry – John is the only person in the room. All are tuning in by phone. Not only does the 70-year old see no downside to this...

Lawson researchers looking into the loss of sense of smell in COVID-19 patients

Scientists at Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University are studying the sudden loss of smell in COVID-19 patients. This symptom, called anosmia, has been widely reported as a marker of COVID-19. More research is needed, but emerging evidence suggests that more than 60 per cent of...

Veterans experience a new kind of connection with their families during COVID-19 crisis

Amid the current pandemic, veterans and their family members are finding comfort in a new form of connection – virtual visits via video calls. With physical distancing as the new standard and visitor restrictions in place to protect the health and safety of health care workers, residents and...

The beat goes on

Therapeutic recreation team keeps the music flowing for residents at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care There is nothing like the experience of hearing live music, but for residents at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care (Mount Hope) watching one of their favourite live performers via Skype –...