Latest news with #LHSC
CTV News
5 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
History in good hands: LHSC donates century-old records to Western
A quiet corner of Western University now holds more than a century's worth of medical history, thanks to a major donation from London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). The health-care organization has officially transferred its historical archives to Western Libraries, delivering 152 boxes of artifacts, documents and records previously stored at Victoria Hospital and Children's Hospital. 'The history that I've seen in these records is really critical to London's history and health care in Canada,' said Anne Quirk, archivist at Western Libraries. 'So it's a great, great partnership for us.' 080625 - Records at Western Anne Quirk, Archivist at Western Libraries, stands in Western's high density archives storage facility where LHSC's records are stored. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London) LHSC says these archives tell the story of that evolution through handwritten letters, photographs, and artifacts from LHSC's history, including London General Hospital, Beck Memorial Sanatorium, South Street Hospital, War Memorial Children's Hospital, Westminster Hospital, Victoria Hospital, Children's Hospital at LHSC, University Hospital and the London General Training School for Nurses, one of the earliest training programs for nurses in the region. 080625 - Records at Western Close up of 'Vic Life' a Victoria Hospital Newsletter from 1958, it's apart of a collection that will be preserved at Western. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London) Deborah Wiseman, LHSC's vice-president of clinical services, said the donation marks a meaningful step in preserving the legacy of health care in the region. 'It's a meaningful time for us to be making this donation in collaboration with Western,' said Wiseman. 'The history of our past, which is a legacy in our region of health care.' She added the public, along with researchers and health-care professionals, will be able to access the materials in the future. Archivists are currently cataloguing the fonds, which go beyond health care to also touch on local business, science and social history. Western Libraries plans to make large portions of the collection searchable online. 'We have an environment here that is conducive to proper preservation,' said Quirk. 'As well as providing access to researchers who want to come in and look at the content.' The project not only secures LHSC's historical record, but also opens new opportunities for discovery, academic study and public engagement.
CTV News
24-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Cooling tanks at LHSC Victoria test positive for legionella bacteria, which causes legionnaires disease
London Health Sciences Centre says the cooling towers at Victoria Hospital have tested positive for the legionella bacteria. They can grow in hot tubs and hot water tanks, or large plumbing or air conditioning systems, places where water turns to vapour. Now the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) says legionella bacteria, the bacteria that cause legionnaires disease, have been found in samples from the cooling towers at the Victoria campus. 'Water evaporates and becomes aerosolized, where the bacteria can be in the air, then inhaled by people, and people can get sick,' explained Dr. Nadim Khalil, the Site Lead, Infection, Prevention and Control at LHSC Children's Hospital. So what is legionnaires disease? LHSC describes it as a serious type of pneumonia, though it is not spread by person-to-person contact. Signs can include fever, chills, dry cough, and shortness of breath. On July 9, Middlesex London Health Unit declared a legionnaires outbreak within a six-kilometre radius in southeast London. As of Tuesday, there were 69 reported cases, and two deaths. london - legionnaires - july 2025 A heat map provided by the Middlesex-London Health Unit shows the general area of confirmed cases (home addresses) of Legionnaires' disease reported to the Middlesex-London Health Unit in 2025. 'Even though there have been 69 cases, it's still fairly low number just considering the population of London. That falls down to roughly one in 10,000 people getting sick,' said Dr. Khalil. While LHSC Victoria falls within the catchment area, officials say the hospital is not the source of the outbreak. 'There's not an increased risk from catching legionella from being in the hospital than anywhere else in London,' said Dr. Khalil. 'So unfortunately, just because we do fall in that radius,' he explained. Dr. Khalil said LHSC is doubling its efforts with chemical cleaning of the cooling tanks. 'So regardless of the test results, we have had treatment done to the water supply, and we are proceeding with an even more aggressive treatment and cleaning, just to make sure we're not causing any potential harm to the community,' he said. The hospital is awaiting results of the positive samples, taken about a week ago. That's to determine whether it's the same strain found in the community. They're expected in about three weeks.
CTV News
24-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
LHSC detects Legionella bacteria in cooling towers
London Health Sciences Centre says the cooling towers at Victoria Hospital have tested positive for the legionella bacteria. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual A positive test for Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease, has been found at Victoria Hospital in London. On July 9, the Middlesex London Health Unit (MLHU) declared an outbreak within a six kilometer radius in a portion of southeast London. An updated map provided by the health unit, now shows a three kilometre radius within the original six-kilometre radius that shows the average location of all home addresses for reported cases. As of Tuesday, the health unit had reported two deaths and 69 cases of Legionnaiers'. london - legionnaires - july 2025 A heat map provided by the Middlesex-London Health Unit shows the general area of confirmed cases (home addresses) of Legionnaires' disease reported to the Middlesex-London Health Unit in 2025. According to London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), samples were taken from the cooling towers on site on July 16 and 17 and returned a positive result. More testing is now underway to find out if the strain found at LHSC matches the strain causing the community outbreak — those results are expected back in about three weeks. Legionella bacteria are naturally found in water sources such as hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, or parts of air-conditioning systems.
CBC
24-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Legionella bacteria found at London's Victoria hospital, officials say
Social Sharing Testing of Victoria Hospital's cooling towers has returned positive results for legionella bacteria as local health officials investigate an ongoing Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the city, according to officials at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). LHSC officials say two samples were taken from the hospital's cooling towers and air-conditioning systems on July 16 and 17. It followed confirmation from the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) that the Victoria campus fell within a six-kilometre radius where most cases in the outbreak had been found. In a statement on Wednesday, southwestern Ontario's largest hospital network revealed that the cooling tower samples came back positive for legionella bacteria on an initial screening test. "More testing is now underway to find out if it matches the strain causing the community outbreak," the statement said. "Those results will take approximately three weeks. We want to be clear: this does not mean Victoria Hospital is the source of the community outbreak." LHSC said the risk to patients, staff and visitors remains very low, but individuals who are older, have lung problems or are immunocompromised (have a weak immune system) are at greater risk of serious infection. The outbreak, declared on July 8, has impacted at least 69 people, according to the latest numbers from the MLHU. Two people have since died, and source of the outbreak has not yet been determined. In an interview, Dr, Nadim Khalil, site lead of infection prevention and control at Children's Hospital, said no hospital-acquired cases had presented to LHSC. "The public health unit has been testing different samples to see what could be the source of it, and because of our location at Victoria Hospital, we got tested. We have sent samples from our University Hospital as well, which is going to be much more lower-risk," he said. He added that cooling towers are, "more to help evaporate some of the temperature that's in the building, but not circulate into the air conditioning system." Legionnaires' disease is caused by legionella bacteria, naturally found in water sources like hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems or parts of air-conditioning systems. Legionella is not transmitted from person to person. If the bacteria are aerosolized or misted into the air (via wind or fans), people may inhale the bacteria and become unwell. Most people exposed to legionella don't get ill, but some may experience Pontiac fever, a mild, flu-like illness that commonly resolves itself. "The challenging thing for us is the cooling towers have to be present to help cool the building, especially during summer, (but) the waters can be a bit stagnant in it because it's not circulating with the rest of the building," Khalil said. "We do have our policies to get the water tested per provincial guidelines as well as treatment. We treat the water twice a year. When we did hear about the outbreak, we treated the water an extra time." Khalil says LHSC treated the water a fourth time to be safe, but says the results came back positive, prompting a chemical cleaning of the towers, followed by a thorough systematic clean. One challenge, he says, is that legionella can be slow to develop — upwards of two weeks on an agar plate. "So they do additional DNA amplification, what we call PCR, to help see if there's any residual bacteria, and that's what came back positive. What that means is still unclear," he said. "We do know a lot of water, if it's going to be tested, can be positive, and we do know, talking to the health unit, almost 80 per cent of samples they've had have tested positive."
Global News
18-07-2025
- Health
- Global News
‘Greed and corruption' plaguing troubled London, Ont. hospital, ex-doctor claims
A former doctor is speaking out about financial mismanagement at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), saying it's the patients and health-care workers who will suffer. 'It was a shock, and this whole uncertainty about where we stand has created a lack of trust between the front line workers and administrative leaders,' Dr. Ian Chin-Yee told Global News. Chin-Yee, 65, the former program head of laboratory medicine and blood transfusion laboratories at the hospital network, retired in January. He spent 35 years of his career working for LHSC, 20 of which in leadership positions, and says the recent allegations of fraud and financial mismanagement have evoked unexpecting emotions of his time as a front line physician and health care leader 'working to improve a system in urgent need of repair.' 'Learning of the egregious allegations triggered feelings of anger and betrayal by my hospital,' he says in a letter written in response to the recent news. Story continues below advertisement Chin-Yee says he worked alongside many dedicated health care professionals, all focused on delivering the best care the system could provide. 'We struggled to deliver and improve care within a system that is financially strained and often inefficient. We were aware of promising new technologies, tests, and therapies becoming available for our patients but whose access was often limited by lack of human resources, hospital space, and money,' he says. Last week, officials at LHSC revealed that an audit of the hospital network's finances had revealed nearly in $60 million alleged fraud involving several former executives and board members. The hospital network has now filed two lawsuits, which implicated five former executive team members, a contractor, and several companies that were contracted to do work. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The Fraudulent Scheme was a calculated, multi-year campaign of deceit and theft, deliberately engineered to misappropriate public funds for personal and unlawful gain,' the lawsuit alleges. None of these allegations have been proven in court, but the financial fraud is under investigation by London police. The hospital network's financial mismanagement has been in the spotlight for quite some time, with a projected operating deficit of $150-million operating deficit expected for 2025. But as new details start to emerge, Chin-Yee says it's frustrating and makes him angry, learning more about why teams he worked to build were cut due to the financial situation at the hospital. Story continues below advertisement He says his specific focus at the hospital was reducing unnecessary tests to introduce new tests that are more detailed and help improve patient outcomes and save the hospital money overall. 'Over five years the cost savings added up and we were proud to have saved our hospital over a million dollars. But these savings pale in comparison to the $60 million alleged fraud occurring at LHSC over the past several years,' he says. 'Yes, I am angry when the very leaders who applauded our Choosing Wisely efforts turned a blind eye to this alleged criminal activity.' He says the repercussions of the gross mismanagement of hospital funds will ultimately lead to patients and front line workers suffering the consequences. 'We are told to tighten our belts and be 'fiscally responsible' — as if we had caused the problem, when in fact, it was greed and corruption at the top,' he remarked. The former LHSC doctor says despite dire need, hiring was halted, departments were dismantled, existing jobs were cut, and funding for new technology was frozen leading to talented leaders were driven out. He says in an effort to make things 'more efficient,' physicians and allied health professionals are now even more overworked, including his own former department who experienced staffing cuts while already struggling to meet demand. Story continues below advertisement London Health Sciences Centre is one of the largest hospital networks in the province, a hub where many smaller hospitals throughout the Southwestern Ontario send patients to for specialist care. Chin-Yee says his department would have samples flown in form other parts of the province for specialized screening that can only be done at a few places. 'The lack of human resources, I'm talking doctors, laboratory technologists, all of these things for doing this testing leads to delayed turnaround times in terms of sample results. We already struggle to meet the needed turnaround time to get the results of a biopsy so the patient can have the appropriate treatment,' he warns. 'The impact — burning out and quickly losing morale. These disruptions threaten to snuff out the embers of innovation that keep our institution moving forward,' he says. Chin-Yee is hopeful that LHSC will enter a period of stability and working to rebuild trust, but says health care changes so quickly so it needs to happen now. 'You can't wait two or three years for stability; by then we will have fallen behind further and… these setbacks have wasted a lot time and energy, and it's urgent that administration starts working with the medical leadership so that we can make sure that patients don't suffer.'
