The Ottawa Hospital’s stroke team set a door-to-needle record of eight minutes in June – the shortest time ever between when a stroke patient comes through the Emergency Department doors and when the clot-busting drug tPA is given.

When Helen Cameron came to The Ottawa Hospital with a broken hip, she had no idea she would end up being a part of a study aimed at helping other patients. But that is precisely the goal of a new study taking place at the hospital and around the world.

Retired Master Corporal Mike Trauner has been breaking records at The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre since 2009. Now he hopes to break some more at the 2017 Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded, injured or sick military service personnel and veterans.

A small percentage of people who faint suffer from serious medical conditions that are difficult to catch, which is why a new monitoring system is saving lives.

Barb Harwood-Gendron worried less when she could follow her mother’s progress through surgery, and know once she got to the recovery room, on the new Patient Tracking Board installed in the Surgical Suite Family Lounge at the Civic Campus.

‘Stuntman’ Stu Schwartz and Dr. Kate Granger – who both publicly shared their cancer journeys – say positive health-care staff make all the difference. The Ottawa Hospital has joined the #HelloMyNameIs campaign, which aims to have staff introduce themselves to every patient, every time.

In any disaster or Code Orange, medical attention for victims is crucial. But they, along with their families and loved ones, also need spiritual and emotional support. That’s what inspired The Ottawa Hospital to develop the Emergency Spiritual Care Assistance Team (ESCAT) Guide – the first of its kind in North America.

Saving a life with a world-first stem cell procedure. Planning a patient’s memorable wedding. Making flash cards to help dementia patients communicate. Helping a First Nations community heal after a suicide crisis. The hospital’s annual report includes statistics, but also tells stories of compassion and important discoveries.

Elizabeth Fraser jokes that she had one of the world’s most-planned pregnancies. Six months before she became pregnant, the midwife sat down with experts at The Ottawa Hospital to figure out how to reduce her risk of potentially dangerous blood clots.

Other patients clapped as Robert Ukaliannuk rang the triangle after his last radiation treatment and celebrated with a “shake it all off” traditional healing dance. But the moment was bittersweet, given the long road that brought him to The Ottawa Hospital’s Cancer Centre.

Dr. Bernard Thébaud and his team are hoping to harness stem cells from umbilical cords to treat chronic lung diseases in extremely premature babies like Olivia Eberts.

Ayse Ibrahim was forced to leave everything behind when she left Syria. Five years later, she is starting a new life here, working in Housekeeping Services, thanks to the hospital’s partnership with Hire Immigrants Ottawa.