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The Ottawa Hospital is proud to share that Dr. Kathleen Gartke has recently been appointed to the Order of Ontario.
Dr. Gartke began her outstanding career as an orthopedic surgeon at Ottawa’s Grace Hospital in 1984, as one of a handful of Canadian women in her field. For 15 years, she was the only operating female orthopedic surgeon in Ottawa. She joined The Ottawa Hospital in 2002 and retired from her surgical practice in 2016 before joining the hospital’s administration as Senior Medical Officer.
Dr. Gartke produced a large body of research during her career, including working with her Anesthesia colleagues to develop the Continuous Popliteal Block, a pain control technique for foot and ankle surgery that has since been adopted in hospitals around the world.
For over 45 years, Dr. Gartke has been a member of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC), where she served on the National Executive team for 12 years. In 2008, as President, Dr. Gartke established and led Canada’s first national pap smear campaign, which had a tangible impact in reducing Canada’s high rates of cervical cancer.
Since joining the administration at The Ottawa Hospital, Dr. Gartke has driven quality and safety initiatives, earned an Award of Excellence and championed women’s health through national campaigns and mentorship.
Dr. Gartke will be invested into the Order of Ontario at a ceremony in Toronto later this year. This is the province’s highest honour, granted to “an Ontarian who has shown outstanding qualities of individual excellence and achievement in any field.”
The Ottawa Hospital affirms that Dr. Gartke is a truly deserving recipient of this award. We offer her our sincerest congratulations for this achievement and our collective thanks for her tremendous work as an excellent surgeon and for advancing patient care and women’s leadership in medicine in Ottawa and across Canada.
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