An Evolving Virus, Evolving Care

Continuing the March Toward Improved Healthcare

Sometimes the Sharpest Tools are Sharper Images

A New Provincial Bedrock for Women’s Health

Gathering Research Across Canada

No Empty Arms

Caring Across Communities

Bringing Health Matters Home for All

A Decade of Heart Health Leadership

Hearing a Heartbeat from Near or Far

Seeing the Bigger Picture

By replacing in-person consultations and conversations with digital or telephone-based alternatives, hospitals have been able to save everyone time—and potentially a lot of money for the system as a whole. “I think that’s really going to have an impact on how we administer health care in Canada,” Dr. Stewart said.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital has played host to a number of important trials and studies that will have long-lasting impacts on how COVID-19 is best managed and treated. For example, it’s part of national trials that focus on so-called “directive treatments,” like hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir, and the application of steroids. It has also enrolled patients in studies that focus on a broader spectrum of respiratory conditions and seek to understand the longer-term consequences of various interventions. “That helps us when we’re talking about all realms of prevention,” he said. 

These sorts of lessons may be one of the more enduring silver linings in the otherwise dark clouds of COVID-19. But make no mistake, those clouds are still there. The rituals that marked the early phase of the pandemic, like the nightly banging of pots and pans that many people used to show their appreciation for front-line workers, may have faded, but Dr. Stewart says we’re still closer to the end of the beginning than the beginning of the end. 

Even with an effective vaccine, the long-term health-care impacts of the virus and its economic fallout will be a challenge and this is precisely why the primary care facilities dealing with those effects, like the Royal Alexandra Hospital, still need support. “All of the changes that are happening within care need support, and a lot of this isn’t within the operating budgets of what we do in terms of providing care,” said Dr. Stewart. “The entire Edmonton zone can’t function without the Alex and donors to the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation continue to play a critical role in the hospital’s ability to provide the best care.” 

EWA BURTON HAD DIABETES FOR DECADES when, in 2001, she started receiving treatment at Royal Alexandra Hospital’s Diabetic Foot Clinic. She instantly fell in love with the facility and everyone who worked there. “They were kind, informative, and always so supportive,” she said.

One day, in 2014, Ewa noticed that the clinic needed proper examination lamps. When the staff mentioned the hospital currently didn’t have the funds to purchase new ones, Ewa and her husband, John Burton, instantly offered to donate to cover the cost of equipment. Since then, Royal Alexandra has enjoyed a fruitful philanthropic relationship with the couple.

Ewa and John Burton have been married for more than 50 years. They met in Montreal while studying at McGill University. They moved to Edmonton in 1968, when John got a job with the provincial government, and despite some short stints in Arizona and New York, they’ve stayed there ever since. “We worked hard, adopted two kids, and everything just kept getting better and better,” said Ewa. Ewa taught travel and tourism at MacEwan University for 20 years, and John started his own real estate development company, Avatex Developments Inc., in 1976.

Since the Burtons’ examination lamp donation, the couple has helped fund larger purchases, such as a CT scan machine and, most recently, many new iPads to help patients and their families, as well as doctors and nurses, communicate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Burtons are incredibly generous at the holidays. Every Christmas, Ewa asks the nurses at the foot clinic what’s on their wish list. Usually, it’s something simple, like toe pressure gauges, which Ewa and John gladly fund. 

PIERRE CREVOLIN WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A CANCEROUS MASS ON HIS KIDNEY IN 2019. Traditionally in such cases, surgeons make a large incision and remove tissue, mostly fat, until they can access the kidney, locate the mass, and remove it. 

But a newer option is for surgeons to perform robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, a procedure that is much less invasive. In this procedure, surgeons make small incisions and insert a camera and a few instruments inside the patient’s body, showing the best route to the kidney and locating the cancerous mass much more precisely.

Pierre chose robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, but there was a problem. The procedure required an intraoperative ultrasound—a dynamic imaging machine that shows doctors high-resolution pictures during surgery—used in conjunction with a da Vinci robotic surgery assistant. Unfortunately, the only intraoperative robotic ultrasound in Alberta was located in Calgary and had a one-to two-year waitlist. “I didn’t want to wait that long with that mass in me,” Crevolin said.

Pierre could have gone to the United States to have the surgery. Instead, he decided to help the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation buy the necessary equipment. The total cost of the intraoperative robotic ultrasound was $200,000. Through established funds and additional fundraising, the foundation combined with Pierre’s gift of $75,000, reached its goal.

“It’s an extraordinary piece of equipment,” said Dr. Howard Evans, a urological surgeon who has been on staff at the Royal Alex for 16 years. “I expect the hospital will be able to perform anywhere between 120 and 150 surgeries a year with this piece of equipment,” Dr. Evans said, adding that the equipment can be used on patients with tumours on other organs as well. “That’s an extraordinary outcome for an investment of $200,000.”

Pierre had his robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery completed at the Royal Alex last July, and within three days, he was pain-free. Six weeks later, he was back on the golf course. “I donated not just for myself but for all Albertans who rely on the Royal Alex,” he said.

ONE LONGSTANDING FOCUS OF THE ROYAL ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION is advancing and advocating for women’s health. Over the past decade, the foundation has supported Alberta’s only dedicated women’s hospital, the Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Now, the new Alberta Women’s Health Foundation is poised to greatly extend this vital work.

“It’s a charitable health brand that seeks to meet the increasing need for funding related to women’s health initiatives and close gaps that exist in women’s health knowledge, research, and care,” said Sharlene Rutherford, President and CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, which inaugurated the new provincial charity in September.

The launch of the foundation comes at a critical time, as the COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying health inequities faced by women. “Women make up 90 per cent of nurses and the majority of ancillary health workers, such as cleaners, admin staff, and food-service workers,” Rutherford said.

While work puts some women on the frontlines of the pandemic, others face adverse impacts from the isolation measures in place to prevent the virus’s spread. According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, compared to men, women see an increased risk of gender-based violence, more economic stress, an increased burden of caregiving and housework, as well as reduced access to support services.

“There are areas of women’s health where we just don’t know what we don’t know,” she added. Researchers have traditionally used results of studies that included only men, then extrapolated those results to women. This approach ignores the many differences between men’s and women’s bodies, including how menstrual cycles, menopause, and pregnancy affect women’s health. She cited the example of heart health: for years, heart attack symptoms in women were dismissed and not properly recognized, because their symptoms did not match those of the baseline initially established for men.

“All of these inequities can lead to dramatic impacts on the health of women and girls,” Rutherford said. To address such inequities, the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation relies on research and partnerships. The foundation supports the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI), Canada’s only research institute dedicated to women’s and children’s health. It also partnered with the University of Calgary to establish and fund the Lois Hole Hospital for Women Cross-Provincial Chair in Perinatal Mental Health.

Additionally, the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation is a partner in a new national organization, the Women’s Health Collective Canada. This collective includes the Women’s College Hospital Foundation and B.C. Women’s Health Foundation. These various initiatives will build awareness, funds, and long-term support for women’s health research across Canada.

“A partnership approach is essential because it amplifies the impact of our health foundations, and we’re able to break the barriers holding us back from providing women with equitable health care and health research,” Rutherford said. “We bring resources and fundraising together to address the gaps that we can’t tackle on our own.” 

FEW THINGS IN LIFE ARE WORSE THAN THE LOSS OF A PREGNANCY OR NEWBORN INFANT — a fact Patti Walker faces daily. As the regional bereavement coordinator at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women since 2007, she helps counsel women and families who have had a reproductive event. One of the ways she does this is by creating memento boxes for the families. These boxes can contain several items, from handprints and footprints of the child to photographs to memorial candles. One of the most special mementoes the bereavement program provides to families is a teddy bear. “It never replaces the baby,” says Patti, “but it represents them, so the family doesn’t have to leave the hospital with empty arms.”

Typically, the hospital holds several teddy bear drives throughout the year, but the pandemic made the usual ways funding and donations are received impossible. Sonam Aujla, a Lois Hole delivery nurse who is also part of the bereavement team, knew this. So when her husband Pav, an associate consultant at IG Wealth Management, came home one day and asked her for ideas on where his team to make their annual charitable donation, she immediately suggested they help buy teddy bears. “This program is something that hits home,” Sonam said. “Putting together and being able to give families a memory box filled with personalized moments is comforting.”

Pav ran the idea by his team, who wholeheartedly offered their support. “Given that friends of mine have gone through that type of loss, and knowing what Sonam goes through daily, it was an automatic ‘Absolutely,’” said Tara Schneider, the lead financial advisor at Pav’s office. “I made the donation myself on behalf of my team, and then IG had money allocated corporately for charitable donations and was able to match us.”

The teddy bear drive received further help from the local Rotary Club. “My wife, Debbie Lambert, works with the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation as a funeral director, looking after burying children who were born and died at the hospital,” said Rotarian Steve Lambert. “She mentioned to me that the foundation needed some bereavement bears. So I thought I’d talk to my Rotary Club. It seemed to be a perfect use of our funds.” 

Together, IG and the Rotarians raised $5,000 for the program. “We went from having nearly no bears at all to a point where no family will ever leave here without a bear,” said Patti. “It’s hard to describe how healing it can be.”

WHEN SYDNEY BORLE-JUDD’S WATER BROKE AT 28 WEEKS, the Grande Prairie resident was flown to Edmonton’s Lois Hole Hospital for Women—the only hospital in central or northern Alberta able to provide care for women delivering premature babies (those less than 32 weeks).

Sydney was in the hospital for two and half weeks when doctors detected an infection in her amniotic fluid and determined she needed an emergency C-section. While she appreciated the care she was given, the fact she was far from home and her entire family affected her mental health. “That was the toughest thing, not having that support from my family,” she said.

To further help patients like Sydney in the future, the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation currently is raising funds to purchase an Obix Perinatal Data System—software that can connect it with systems at health facilities in smaller urban and rural communities. The Obix system will allow fetal monitoring to be done remotely and can centralize an expectant mother’s medical documentation. That means doctors in smaller communities and specialists at Lois Hole will be able to monitor babies and view patients’ medical documentation on a shared screen at the same time.

“The Obix system allows for real-time decision making,” said Tracee Pratt, Executive Director of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, adding that it also lets one cohesive care team in separate locations make split-second decisions when those seconds count the most.

For Sydney, who ended up spending more than a month and half away from home, an Obix system could have allowed her to receive the same excellent care she received, but without being away from her family. And that, she said, “would have been awesome.”

WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES AFFECT HALF THE POPULATION, but subjects such as infertility often are considered taboo. That’s why Alberta Blue Cross (ABC) and the Lois Hole Hospital Women’s Society (LHHWS) created What the Health: Mind and Body Talks, a community-focused and inclusive lecture series that isn’t afraid to bring these issues to light.

The series, now in its third season, covers topics that range from sexual health to osteoporosis to menstruation and more, featuring researchers, doctors and patients alike as its speakers.

“What the Health is about making information accessible and engaging, and it’s a safe space to talk about taboo health issues,” said ABC’s Rebecca Smillie, who oversees funding distribution for the series. Smillie describes a recent talk about bone health for which one woman with osteoporosis drove four hours to attend. There’s an appetite for this content, she said, and since COVID-19 pushed the events online, attendance has only increased: “We want women to engage with their health, and this partnership provides the tools for that.”

ABC has supported the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation (RAHF) on countless campaigns in the past, so partnering on What the Health came naturally. Through the Alberta Blue Cross Benefits Corporation Foundation, ABC provides $5,600 per season. 

“Without ABC, we wouldn’t be able to put on these inclusive lectures,” said Amber Blaszkiewicz, a development officer and liaison between the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and the LHHWS. “The more women we get involved, the more we can make a difference in the future of women’s health. Together we are breaking taboos and provoking discussions — thank you Alberta Blue Cross.”  

THANKS TO THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC, 2020 required most people to learn how to conduct business remotely, but for the CK Hui Heart Centre, working remotely is nothing new. For the past four years, the centre has brought remote cardiac monitoring to nearly 800 patients with either an implantable pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator. 

“Remote monitoring is about being responsive to Albertans and giving them treatment and monitoring when they need it, where they need it,” said Michael Powell, a patient care manager at the CK Hui Heart Centre. With remote monitoring, he said, a patient with an irregular heartbeat doesn’t have to wait for a far-off appointment. Without sacrificing the highest quality treatment this remote care eliminates some of the personal expenses of a typical hospital visit such as booking time off work, driving, potentially, for hours, paying for parking and any other related costs.

Remote monitoring is a simple idea with significant upside. Data travels from the patient’s cardiac device via WiFi to an interrogator device at the CK Hui Heart Centre in Edmonton. There, nurses and physicians can check the battery life, read data and adjust treatments from afar. An irregular heartbeat, for example, automatically generates a transmission of data from the patient’s device and alerts the centre. “It’s about providing care with minimal interruption to patients’ lives,” Powell said. “It’s patient-centric care that also keeps patients within the safety of their own home during this pandemic. A win-win!”

Remote monitoring is a lifesaver for patients, especially those on a budget. It also saves another precious commodity: time with loved ones, because less time worrying about your heart, means more time using it. 

ARIELLE FARKASH, a nurse from Vermilion, Alberta, was 29 when she started noticing something strange about her vision. Although her acuity was perfect, at times, she would get dizzy looking at textured surfaces and felt like she was peering through goggles. “I had no issues reading, so I would explain it away, saying maybe my blood sugar was low,” she said.

Arielle had her eyes examined, and a technician noticed a growth in her right eye. A referral to the Eye Institute of Alberta led to the confirmation of a cigarette-butt-sized melanoma. Arielle faced a choice: have her eye removed or try an invasive treatment called “brachytherapy,” a form of internal radiation in which a small radioactive metal plaque is sewn to the eye. She chose the latter option and went into surgery just three weeks after her diagnosis.

Since the surgery, Arielle has worked closely with her oncologist at the Eye Institute going through rigorous rounds of eye drops and even eye injections to deal with specific side effects. Many patients lose their colour vision or peripheral vision during this treatment, but Arielle, luckily, has maintained her perfect eyesight, and the tumour is shrinking.

Throughout the process, Arielle kept thinking about those less fortunate—especially elderly patients without support systems—going through similar struggles. Arielle needed to have a specific type of photos taken of her eye before her brachytherapy, with the only available camera capable of doing the job—a Clarus 700—in Calgary. “Making the over four-hour drive there was fine for us, but I often run into people through my work in health care who wouldn’t have the means to travel that far,” she said. 

A year after her diagnosis, Arielle volunteered to help the Eye Institute raise money to bring a Clarus 700 to Edmonton—a cost of roughly $150,000. She became the face of the campaign, sharing her story with media outlets. Eventually, with thanks to the Lions Club of Canada, which agreed to match donations, the Eye Institute was able to buy a Clarus 700 earlier this year. 

1. Dr. Zaheer Lakhani, CM, FRCP
Chair
2. Brian Tod, QC
Past Chair
3. John Cameron
4. Diane Kyle-Buchanan
5. George Coon, FCPA, FCMA, ICD.D, CFP
6. Kimberly King
7. David S. Tam, BScPharm, LLB
8. Liza J. Wold
9. Krista Ference

10. Mez Irani
11. Paul Lanni, FCPA, FCA
12. Paavo Montandon, BA, CIP, CRM
13. Alain Moore
14. Dr. Bill Anderson, MD, FRCP(C), FCAR
15. Dan Lefaivre, FCPA, FCMA, ICD.D
16. Dianne Balon
17. Sandra Hawes, B.Sc., LLB
18. Dr. Rustom Appoo, D.MD
19. Carlie Persson, CPA, CA

ROYAL ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION STAFF:

20. Andrew Otway, MBA, CFRE
Past President & CEO, Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation
1997-2020
21. Sharlene Rutherford, BPA, MBA
Current President & CEO, Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation
2020-Present

PATRONS

22. Dale Sheard
Patron
23. Mary Jo Robbins
Patron
24. William K. Robbins
Patron

ROYAL ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL REPRESENTATIVES

25. Dr. Curtis Johnston, MD, FRCP(C)
Associate Zone Medical Director,
RAH & SCH Co-Facility Medical Director, RAH
26. Judith Hockney, BN, MN, RAH, SCH
Senior Operating Officer