CELEBRATING 12 YEARS
PLANTING A TREE “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today.” – Chinese Proverb
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moved with my family from South Africa to Kamloops in June 2009. Looking back it was probably as soft a landing as one can wish for, but it certainly felt more like a less than elegant tuck and roll at times. It was not easy, but for better or worse, the challenge to try and stay afloat turned out to be distracting enough that it prevented us from focusing on nothing but what laid ahead. Wikipedia refers the point of no return as the that part of a journey when turning back just becomes too dangerous, physically impossible, difficult or prohibitively expensive! For us that point came and passed unnoticed while I was still trying to figure out the Starbucks menu and convincing some people that my accent actually does exist somewhere on the English language spectrum. Even though it was tough, this journey has not been a battle. It has been an adventure that was made so much easier by having had the good fortune of being accepted in such as wonderful community filled with kind and generous people. This made all the hard work and long hours a privilege indeed. Along this road there has been much to celebrate. One of the first wins I can recall was the day that Dr. Chow decided to come on board. It really changed everything to have someone to share both the challenges and the science with. Dr. Chow also became the first Cardiologist in our region with Level III training in echocardiography that certainly made a significant impact to the quality of local care. Around 2015 the health authority agreed to a masterplan that invested “Have a heart to give, for a heart to live.”
in the development of a dedicated Cardiology service that allowed us to create a cardiology division. Unfortunately, intent and resources only go so far and keeping this dream alive required significant sacrifices. This includes a persistence from 4 local Chiefs of staff as well as massive contributions from two of our local physician stalwarts (Dr. Prasad and Dr. Schmidt) that somehow found some time in an already tight work schedule to help maintain and 24hour cardiology consultation and admission service at our hospital. On top of this we had the good fortune of having Dr. Nosib continuing to make the long trip from Saskatchewan to help keep the service going. This collective investment culminated in some more recruitment success with Dr. Pun, Dr. Chu, Dr. Sra and Dr. Dhesi joining is in quick succession in 2018. With the human resource finally in place we were able to staff the ICHAA/ Wish CCU as well as the Rapid Access cardiology clinic. Beyond a significant increase in access to community clinics we also become the first site in the province to pilot a program to give thrombolytic (“Clot busting”) therapy to patient suffering a heart attack prior to coming to the Emergency room. This was a remarkable collaboration that would not have happened without the pivotal persistence, dedication and academic leadership of Dr. Dhesi. Despite some extra ordinary growth, the journey is still far from over. Unfortunately, cardiac disease remains the main causes of death in North America. Ironically, according to statistics from the US Centre of Disease Control, the last time Heart Disease was not the front runner, was back in the 1921, at the time of the Spanish Flu. The current COVID-19 pandemic has also not spared the heart, with a significant number of
cardiac events that can be directly or indirectly attributed the virus itself as well as its impact on health care provision during these challenging times. Going forward we need to strive to enhance quality, sustainable cardiac care to this very deserving community. We can only do this with the ongoing efforts of every physician, nurse, technologist, administrative assistant and manager that has the honor of laboring in this rewarding field. There is a well-known Japanese business philosophy called “Kaizen”. This translates loosely to “making things better”. It refers to a continuous change. This does not always occur with big leaps, but needs to be incremental. It is my dream that all of us work together to ensure that the cardiac care we offer our patients is at least a bit better today than day before. Finally, we will remain forever grateful to community leaders like Mr. Al Patel whose passion for this cause has inspired and challenged us all. Which brings me back to the Tree and a final message to Mr. Patel : “Al, thank you for your superhuman commitment to make things better. We look forward to grow this Tree with you.”
Dr. Kobus Steyn Cardiology Division Lead Royal Inland Hospital
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