Improving health and patient outcomes

Excellence in patient care involves a wide variety of both medical and nonmedical factors including infrastructure, training, competence of personnel, efficiency of operational systems, patient engagement, access to care, clinical trials and collaboration – to name a few.

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  1. 1879

    Leonora King began attending to Lady Li Hung Chang, wife of the Viceroy

  2. 1894

    During the war with Japan, Leonora King treated hundreds of wounded soldiers.

  3. 1900

  4. 1900

    The Grenfell Mission started humbly on the deck of a docked missionary hospital ship, where Wilfred Grenfell offered medical treatments, as well as friendship and spiritual guidance

  5. 1908

    With the financial support of Lady Li, Leonora King established a medical school for women

  6. 1910

  7. 1919

    After the war, William Gallie returned to Canada and became surgeon in Chief at the Hospital for Sick Children

  8. 1920

  9. 1930

  10. 1936

    The first edition of the Dr. Meakin’s renowned textbook, The Practice of Medicine, was published

  11. 1936

    The perfect opportunity for Dr. Norman Bethune to serve abroad came with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War

  12. 1938

    Dr. Norman Bethune left Canada yet again to bring modern medicine to rural China and support the revolutionary army

  13. 1940

  14. 1950

  15. 1950s

    Already an icon in the field of physical therapy, Dr. Gingras became a Canadian hero during the polio epidemic

  16. 1952

    Alongside his colleague, Dr. Herbert Jasper, Penfield refined a surgical technique named the “Montreal Procedure”

  17. 1959

    Gingras led a Red Cross mission to Morocco

  18. 1960

  19. 1960

    Dr. Robert Salter pioneered the innominate osteotomy, a corrective surgical procedure for the treatment of hip dysplasia in children and young adults

  20. 1967

    Dr. Breault successfully patented the “Palm N’ Turn” container

  21. 1968

    Rh immunoglobulin was licensed for use in Canada

  22. 1970

  23. 1970

    The J.A. Hildes Northern Medical Unit officially opened on July 1, 1970

  24. 1971

    Lucille Teasdale-Corti became a war surgeon in Uganda

  25. 1972 - 1982

    Dr. Herbert was a pioneer in community-based primary care research, with research questions arising from practice and grounded in patient and community care needs.

  26. 1978

    First doctor on-site as part of Operation Magnet, a mission to airlift Vietnamese refugees from Kuala Lampur to Canada

  27. 1980

  28. 1980's

    Along with his colleagues, Dr. Ian McWhinney began exploring the impact of patient-centred care

  29. 1980

    Dr. Allan Ronald travelled to Kenya to establish a research program for sexually transmitted infections in collaboration with the University of Nairobi

  30. 1980s

    Lacor Hospital continued to expand with the opening of a second surgical wing

  31. 1982 - 1987

    Dr. Herbert becomes the founding co-director of Sexual Abuse Assessment Pilot Project

  32. 1982 - 1988

    Dr. Herbert serves as the founding co-director of Vancouver Sexual Assault Assessment Service (still operating in 2023)

  33. 1984

    Dr. Calvin Stiller established and led the Multi-Organ Transplant Service at University Hospital

  34. 1986

    Dr. Goldboom served as the chair of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination

  35. 1989

    May Cohen developed the "Gender as a Determinant of Health" presentation, which became an annual event

  36. 1990

  37. Early 1990's

    Dr. Jean Gray began working with the Canadian Pharmacists Association to develop a comprehensive handbook for primary care practitioners designed to support therapeutic decision-making

  38. 1992

    Published by Churchill-Livingstone, Dr. Goldbloom’s second book, Pediatric Clinical Skills, was met with extreme popularity by medical undergraduates and postgraduates. The book is now in its 4th…

  39. 1995

    Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov’s article on desire for death in the terminally ill was published

  40. 1996

    HAART became the new standard of care for HIV in North America and Europe

  41. 2000

  42. 2000

    Demonstrating her leadership on an international scale, Dr. O’Connor co-led the Oxford Forum on Shared Decision Making

  43. 2001

    May Cohen authored “The Training Manual For Gender Mainstreaming in Health” for the Medical Women’s International Association

  44. 2001

    Under the direction of Dr. Berger, the DFCM at St. Michael’s hospital established Canada’s first academic infirmary for people suffering homelessness

  45. 2001

    Dr. Chochinov co-founded the Canadian Virtual Hospice (CVH) and served as its chair for the next 16 years

  46. 2003

    Bernard Langer - Cancer care champion

  47. 2006

    In a landmark Lancet paper, Dr. Montaner postulated that wide availability of antiretroviral therapy immediately following HIV diagnosis would stop HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality and, at…

  48. 2010

  49. 2010

    Co-author of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences major assessment report: “Transforming Care for Canadians with Chronic Health Conditions: Put People First, Expect the Best, Manage for Results”.

  50. 2011

    Harvey Max Chochinov published, Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days with Oxford University Press

  51. 2015

    In July of 2015, the Federal Government appointed Harvey Max Chochinov to chair the External Panel on Options for a Legislative Response to Carter v. Canada

  52. 2016

    Noni MacDonald launched MicroResearch Nova Scotia using skills learned from the earlier program developed in Africa

  53. 2020

Explore themes from Improving health and patient outcomes

Doctor and patient
Evidence-based Medicine & Clinical Trials

Recognizing and treating disease dates back many millennia. The input of the scientific method – with experiments both in…

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Patient Care

Health care is the maintenance or improvement of health through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease…

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Cells, Genetics & Genomics

Cells are the smallest units of life and are often called the "building blocks of life". The study of cells…

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Blood

The Vital Flow: Blood is a liquid medium that delivers nutrients and oxygen to our cells and…

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EEG Test
Brain & Mind

The brain is the central processing unit of the body and plays a key role in translating the content of the…

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Heart & Vessels

The heart is the hardest working muscle in the human body and pumps more than 8500 litres of blood every day. The…

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Lungs

The lungs are the centre of the respiratory (breathing) system. All our cells need oxygen, and our bodies need to…

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x-ray
Skin, Bones, Muscles & Joints

Musculoskeletal and skin systems represent the framework of our bodies and fundamental to good health.  Bones,…

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Pharmacists
Hormones

Hormones are produced by glands and special cells and are sent into the bloodstream to various tissues in our bodies as…

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Cancer

Cancer is a group of diseases that involves abnormal growth of cells in potentially every part of our bodies. Some…

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Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease marked by persistently high levels of blood sugar caused by inadequate or ineffective insulin, a…

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Infectious Disease, Allergy & Immunity

The immune system fights infection (microbes) through special organs, cells and chemicals.  The immunology…

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Surgeons
Digestion

Our digestive system breaks our food into parts small enough for our body to absorb and be used for energy, growth…

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Genitourinary Tract

This includes the diagnosis of disorders and diseases of the entire urinary tract and the male genital tract.

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Female Reproduction

Female reproduction includes the internal and external…

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About the CMHF

The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) celebrates Canadian heroes whose work advances health in Canada and the world, fostering future generations of health professionals through the delivery of local and national youth education programs and awards.

This enduring tribute to our country’s rich medical history is showcased here and in our physical exhibit hall in London, ON