Our Stories

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...

Pink in the Rink

Lacing up their skates and running their drills is second nature to the young athletes from the Lambeth Lancers Minor Hockey League. It's something they do hundreds of times a year to develop their hockey skills and compete. But once a year, their practices and games mean something more, and become...

An investment in our future

Ellen Bentulan describes the experience of being Niya Manu’s nursing preceptor like watching a butterfly spread its wings. Over the course of her eight-week placement on the Palliative Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s (St. Joseph’s) Parkwood Institute, Ellen watched the young nursing...

Dr. Mohan Merchea and Dr. Gaya Sivakumar sitting together.

Dream maker

Long-time St. Joseph’s physician Dr. Mohan Merchea is helping ophthalmology residents find their passion. Dr. Gaya Sivakumar and her husband Rikin packed up their one-year-old daughter and boarded a flight to India for a learning experience that would change the ophthalmology resident’s life and...

Rebuilding through care and connection

Five years ago, donors helped Dr. Swati Mehta launch a unique mental health study for people with physical disabilities, not knowing how many lives it would change. Today, hundreds of people are thriving in mind, body and spirit after participating in Dr. Mehta’s internet-based Cognitive Behavioural...

Seeing clearly

Londyn can’t wait to see the stars. At 10 years of age, she has lived with cataracts her entire life The congenital eye disorder severely clouds her vision, making it impossible for her to see clearly. In a few weeks, she will have her second surgery – and it all will change. “When her eyes heal...

Dr. Stephen Pautler sitting in the operation room

The art of surgery

Donors funded St. Joseph’s first da Vinci robot in 2005. Nearly 20 years later, they’re doing it again. In 2008, St. Joseph’s urologist Dr. Stephen Pautler was invited to mentor a Toronto surgeon completing his first robotic surgery. During the media scrum that followed, a reporter asked Dr. Pautler...

Beverly and James Thompson standing in front medical imaging equipment

Generations of giving

Down-to-earth, quietly generous, and community minded are just a few of the words that come to mind when you think about Beverly and the late James (Jim) Thompson and their family. Along with the generations of the family that came before them, they have been enriching communities across Ontario for...

Embracing opportunities

Less than a year ago, high school student Meghan Jackson was hesitant to ride the bus alone. The fear of missing her transfer or becoming overwhelmed weighed heavily on her mind. Fast-forward to today and Meghan confidently navigates not one, but two buses to her new part-time job at St. Joseph’s...

Anne Toal & Paul Brisson standing next together

Big gifts in small packages

For 17 years, Anne Toal and Paul Brisson have been supporting the purchase of modest items that deliver an immediate impact on patient care. Anne Toal was a newly-minted Parkwood Foundation Board member in 1992 when a funding request arrived: staff had identified a research project to enhance the...