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.

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.

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.

Early pregnancy loss – the most common complication in the early months of pregnancy– can be traumatic and have long-lasting effects on a woman and her family. Receiving treatment in the obstetrics unit, surrounded by new moms who have just given birth, can make healing from the loss even more difficult.