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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...

Nurturing our community

Ask the farming Heeman family about their giving philosophy and the response is fittingly down to earth – both literally and figuratively. “The community is a lot like a plant – if you nurture it, invest in it and care for it, it will thrive and prosper,” says Will Heeman. Sitting around the table...

"I actually won"

Tarra Smith, an RPN in the Veterans Care unit at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute, didn’t expect a “whole lot” from her single entry into the staff lottery. She had heard in the past about a few coworkers who’d won Whole Lotto Love, and decided to sign herself up through payroll deduction. “I looked...

Aligning values with investments

Building upon a long history of supporting and fostering healthy communities, St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) has become the first hospital in Southwestern Ontario to align its investments with its values to make an impact across the region. St. Joseph’s is collaborating with VERGE...

Forward focused

Growing up, Natasha Smids loved sports and animals. A natural athlete, she played everything from soccer and badminton to rugby and basketball. And with more than one pet at home and surrounded by farms, she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian technician specializing in large animals. And so, once...

Unlocking boundless potential

Ashmeet Gill had her first PET/CT scan shortly after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the body’s germ-fighting immune system. She was nervous. Claustrophobia is an issue for the young Stratford resident and the scan, necessary to determine if the cancer had spread beyond the...

From film to focus

On the cusp of graduating from the Advanced Photography Program at Fanshawe College in 1990, Christopher Lincoln was offered an out of the blue proposition. “Who wants to work in a hospital?” a program instructor asked the group of budding photographers. Not knowing exactly what it would mean for...

Fueling lifelong learning

Working as a nurse for more than 35 years, Jeannette Lydestad, RN, has taken many opportunities to further her education. “Learning new things always keeps your mind active and young,” she says. Recently, Jeannette realized her family needed the security of a full-time role – something not available...

A woman (Tricia) leaning up against a glass railing

Finding the strength

Tricia never expected she’d be starting the fight of her life when she went to St. Joseph’s for a routine mammogram. There were no signs that anything was wrong – she didn’t feel a lump. But her mother had faced breast cancer before, and Tricia asked her doctor to sign her up annual mammograms just...

Symphonic serenity

Ken Fleet’s motto was ‘sing your song’. Whether he was teaching choral and instrumental students at Medway High School, conducting the Amabile Boys and Men’s Choirs, or preparing for national competitions – music fueled his soul. A local music legend and a beloved husband, father, grandpa and...