Company Profile
Company Overview
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1878, we deliver ‘The Western Experience’, an exemplary learning experience that engages the best and brightest people challenging them to meet ever-higher standards in the classroom and beyond.
We inform every dimension of a student – intellectual, social, cultural as well as physical. From our home in London, Ont., Canada, outward across every continent, Western prepares future leaders to succeed.
http://www.uwo.ca/about/whoweare/index.html
LONDON HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), one of Canada’s largest acute-care teaching hospitals, is dedicated to excellence in patient care, teaching and research. Since 1875, we have provided patient care for the people of London, the region, and beyond. Many national and international medical breakthroughs have been pioneered at LHSC, to the benefit of patients at home and around the world. Through our affiliation with Western University and more than 30 other educational institutions, we train more than 1,800 medical and health care professionals annually.
As London, Ontario’s largest employer, London Health Science Centre is home to Children's Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, the Kidney Care Centre, Byron Family Medical Centre, Victoria Family Medical Centre and 54 Riverview Avenue site. We are also home to the London Regional Cancer Program, CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics) and two research institutes - Children's Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute. Our physicians, residents and staff number nearly 15,000 and, together, they provided care for more than one million patients last year.
We take great pride in our legacy of patient care, research and education, and look forward with enthusiasm to building on these strong foundations. Information about our progress and plans can be found in Publications.
As an acute care teaching hospital, we care for the most medically complex and critically ill patients in our region. Saving lives and changing lives - we are here when you need us.
http://www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/LHSC/index.htm
Company History
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
From the initial aspirations of Bishop Hellmuth to the internationally known research of our top scholars today, these leaders of vision, courage and imagination have always looked to the future in shaping Western University.
Founded on March 7, 1878 by Bishop Isaac Hellmuth (1817–1901) of the Anglican Diocese of Huron, ‘The Western University of London Ontario’ opened its doors to students for the first time in 1881 with four faculties – Arts, Divinity, Law and Medicine.
In 1916, the current campus was purchased from the Kingsmill family, and in 1923 the university was renamed The University of Western Ontario.
Since that first class graduated in 1883, the university has become a vibrant centre of learning. Through 12 faculties and three affiliated university colleges, Western today offers its 36,000-plus students more than 400 specializations, majors and minors.
It was at Western where Sir Frederick Banting rose from a restless sleep in 1920 and wrote out 25 words that led to his discovery of insulin.
It was at Western where Canada’s first French Immersion program was established at Trois-Pistoles, Québec, in 1932 – a program that continues today.
It was at Western where researchers led by Ivan Smith developed the world’s first ‘cobalt bomb’ to treat cancer in 1951, increasing the cure rate for cervical cancer to 75 per cent from 25 per cent.
And while our excellence roots itself in history, Western continues to eye the next-generation discoveries.
Western, a leader in wind engineering since 1965, testing such structures as the World Trade Center, Sears Tower and Jakarta Tower, will continue its dominance with the opening of the WindEEE Dome research facility.
Western, a leader in business education since its founding, has continued to lead at home and abroad thanks to construction of a state-of-the-art Richard Ivey School of Business in 2012 and the opening of North America’s first business school campus in Hong Kong in 1998.
Western, a medical advancement leader since its founding, has continued to push innovation most recently when an HIV vaccine developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang received approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration to start human clinical trials, a first of its kind, in 2012.
LONDON HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE
Medical Breakthroughs
2016
The colorectal surgery team at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) performed the first robotic ventral rectopexy in Canada to treat a condition called obstructive defecation syndrome.
2015
The heart team at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is the first in North America to implant Medtronic’s Engager Valve in a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedure.
London Health Sciences Centre’s (LHSC) cardiac surgery program is the first in Canada to use a new suture fastening system during open heart surgery. Using the COR-KNOT System, the surgeon places the device over the suture, squeezes the device handle to crimp a titanium fastener, which securely holds the suture together, and gently tugs the suture to trim away excess suture tails.
2014
LHSC first in North America to implant the ACURATE TA™ transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
2013
An LHSC surgeon is the first in Canada to perform a robotic single-site gallbladder removal - or cholecystectomy. With this procedure, the gallbladder is removed through a single small incision, hidden in the belly button, and patients experience virtually scarless results.
LHSC is the first in North America to perform a BONEBRIDGE bone conduction implant. BONEBRIDGE is new technology developed by MED-El Medical Electronics that makes it possible for people with hearing impairments, including conductive and mixed hearing losses or single-sided deafness, to hear a full range of sounds.
LHSC and Lawson Health Research Institute perform world first treatment of localized prostate cancer. The treatment - transurethral magnetic resonance (MR) guided ultrasound ablation for prostate cancer - utilizes a new ablation device that uses thermal ultrasound therapy with real-time MR image guidance to eliminate cancer cells in the prostate gland.
London Health Sciences Centre is the first in North America to use the Geko™ blood circulation device and first in the world to use the device in cardiac surgery. The self-contained geko™ device is designed to increase blood flow by activating the muscle pumps in the lower leg that return blood to the heart, emulating the blood flow rate normally achieved by walking (up to 70 per cent), without the patient having to move or exert energy.
2012
London Health Ssciences Centre announces a Canadian surgical first to remove cancer from the liver. Formally called an associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for stage hepatectomy, or ALPPS procedure, the surgical first is that both stages of the hepatectomy, or removal of the liver, are completed in one week to ensure that cancer does not spread to other parts of the liver.
LHSC cardiologists Dr. Lorne Gula and Dr. Jaimie Manlucu became the first in Canada to use a pressure sensing catheter to perform a pulmonary vein ablation for atrial fibrillation.
2011
London Health Sciences Centre announces another world first after LHSC's cardiac surgery team successfully performed an emergency surgery to repair a hole in a patient’s heart caused by a pacemaker complication using the DaVinci robot. Traditionally, this surgery is done via open chest surgery.
LHSC is the first hospital in Canada to use wireless technology for hemodynamic evaluation, or the evaluation of pressures and flow in patient’s hearts.
LHSC announced a Canadian first for a surgical treatment for throat cancer after surgeons performed the first robotically assisted and minimally invasive laryngectomy (or the removal of a small portion of the voicebox.)
2010
Doctors at LHSC become the first in the world to use the Correx AVB device, a new implantable surgical device that promises to revolutionize aortic valve bypass surgery by reducing its complexity through a specialized delivery mechanism that renders the surgery almost bloodless, eliminating the need to stop the heart and put the patient on a heart-lung bypass machine.
Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre is the first hospital in Ontario to implement the Period of PURPLE Crying® program in their emergency department. The Period of PURPLE Crying® program provides important information to parents and caregivers regarding infant crying patterns and comforting strategies, and education on Shaken Baby Syndrome.
A North American first in providing peritoneal home dialysis patients with touch screen technology and access to a health coach from home was achieved at LHSC.
2009
LHSC and Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) announce a Canadian first in the treatment of lung cancer, removing a small wedge from the patient’s lung and then applying a surgical mesh interwoven with brachytherapy seeds to where the lung was resected.
LHSC became the first hospital in North America to use a robotic-arm neuro-angiogram machine in an operating room.
2008
LHSC is the first in North America to implant an insertable cardiac monitor that offers long-term and continuous monitoring for atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia.
LHSC performs the world’s first robotically-assisted intestinal bypass surgery for a patient with superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome, also known as Wilkie’s syndrome, using the da Vinci® robot.
LHSC’s Sterile Processing Department is the first hospital in Canada to implement Censitrac software, tracking medical instruments at the individual level.
2007
Canada’s first totally endoscopic closed-chest robotic coronary artery bypass surgery on a patient’s beating heart is performed at LHSC
Canada’s first robotic-assisted common bile duct exploration using a da Vinci robot is performed at LHSC
2006
An LHSC team is one of two independent Canadian teams to first use new electroanatomical mapping technology to perform a pulmonary vein ablation for atrial fibrillation
2005
World’s first robotic-assisted left atrial appendage ligation to reduce the chance of clot formation and stroke in high risk patients with atrial fibrillation is performed at LHSC
Canada’s first minimally invasive robotic-assisted double bypass surgery is performed at LHSC
Canada’s first robotic-assisted multi vessel small thorocotomy is performed at LHSC
2004
LHSC’s Image-Guided surgery team performed the world’s first image-guided robotic-assisted thoracoscopic resection of a lung cancer using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm and a 3-dimensional ultrasound probe
Esophageal Surgery team performed Canada’s first robotic-assisted laparoscopic transhiatal esophagectomy for esophageal cancer using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm (2004/May/31).
Esophageal Surgery team performed Canada’s first robotic-assisted transthoracic endoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm (2004/September/27).
In a Canadian first in research for CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics), the four-armed da Vinci robot was used throughout a surgery to complete a radical prostatectomy
A CSTAR team is the first in North America to complete two different procedures to clear blocked arteries, minimally invasive robotic-assisted heart bypass surgery and angioplasty with stenting, at the same time in the operating room
In a North American first, an interdisciplinary team successfully removes a renal artery aneurysm with the help of a da Vinci surgical robot
A small, multi-channel recording and stimulating device that aids in deep brain stimulation is developed at LHSC
2003
Urologists at LHSC are the first in Canada to use the three-armed ZEUS robot to correct a blockage in the ureter of the kidney
Results of an international study show that the common high blood pressure drug ramipril can prevent heart failure in high risk cardiovascular patients
LHSC is the first in Canada and one of three in the world to use revolutionary digital technology to produce detailed fluoroscopic images for diagnostic and interventional procedures
LHSC surgeons are the first in Canada to use a four-armed da Vinci robot to complete a single coronary artery bypass graft
LHSC’s Pulmonary surgery performed Canada’s first robotic-assisted lobectomy for lung cancer using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm
2002
An LHSC study determines that patients with congestive heart failure have an improved quality of life with a new pacemaker that works on both sides of the heart
LHSC cardiologists complete a left atrial appendage occlusion, a new procedure for stroke prevention that closes the area of the heart where the majority of blood clots form
Neurosurgeons at LHSC complete the first artificial cervical disc replacement in North America
LRCC is one of two sites in Canada and one of three in the world to have a tomotherapy unit, the newest radiation treatment technology
2001
LHSC’s Pulmonary surgery team performed the world’s first robotic-assisted lung volume reduction using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm
LHSC’s Pulmonary surgery team performed Canada’s first robotic-assisted resection of a lung cancer using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm
LHSC’s Pulmonary surgery team performed Canada’s first robotic-assisted apical bullectomy for a pneumothorax using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm
Using Socrates robotic technology, LHSC conducts the world's first robotic-assisted surgery via telementoring, in which one surgeon assisted and mentored another at a remote site and both manipulated robotic arms inside the patient in the operating room
LHSC researchers are the first in the world to find strong evidence to support that surgery, not medicine, is the key to improved quality of life for temporal lobe epilepsy
The first artificial disc replacement in Canada is completed at LHSC
2000
LHSC's transplant team performs the first adult-to-adult living donor partial-liver transplant in Canada
LHSC's surgical team performs the first minimally invasive robotic-assisted mitral valve heart surgery in Canada
1999
LHSC's surgical team successfully completes the world's first closed-chest, robotic-assisted beating heart coronary artery bypass graft