Dr. Peter Zalan
Dr. Peter Zalan is president of the Health Sciences North medical staff and co-chair of the Sudbury ALC Steering Group. This is Zalan’s first monthly column for Northern Life about the health care system.
Previous Columns by Peter Zalan
April 30, 2012
Curing and caring: how can I best illustrate the difference? I think with examples. Let me start with “curing.” I received the following memo recently: “Health Sciences North is commencing...
April 02, 2012
Hassan Rasouli (Mr. R) is a 60-year-old gentleman who was admitted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto in October 2010 for removal of a benign brain tumour. Unfortunately, his case was...
March 05, 2012
Let me begin with a story. Betty is 60, and was admitted to hospital Dec. 3, 2011. She was on drugs that suppressed her immune system to treat her neurological...
February 06, 2012
Good health comes from a variety of factors. Surprisingly, most are not related to the health care system. Our increased life expectancy has been primarily due to improved nutrition, sanitation...
January 03, 2012
Throughout the ages, death was familiar, simple and public. Death was a common event, occurring in every age group, an accepted part of life. Life expectancy at birth stayed between 30...
January 03, 2012
The provincial and federal health ministers met recently in Halifax to discuss how to reform and pay for health care after the current accord expires in 2014. The Ontario government...
January 03, 2012
What are the effects of ALC patients on the hospital system? Let me explain. In 2004, the Sudbury Regional Hospital had 49 ALC patients. It has been going up ever...
January 03, 2012
So, what exactly is an alternate level of care (ALC) patient? John is 82 years old. He lives alone in his home. His son lives in southern Ontario. Most of...
January 03, 2012
The Ontario Hospital Association’s trending data as of September 2010 shows there has been no overall improvement in ALC rates for Ontario hospitals over the past three years, despite significant...
January 03, 2012
How do we meet the ALC needs of our rapidly growing elderly population – in other words, our parents, our loved ones, friends and neighbours? How do we meet the...
January 03, 2012
With the passage of the Medical Care Act in 1966, the government of Canada declared that all Canadians should be able to obtain health services of high quality according to...
January 03, 2012
According to statistics compiled late last month, the Sudbury Regional Hospital had 17 confirmed or suspected H1N1 patients in isolation. Six of these patients are being treated in our Intensive...
January 03, 2012
What was the local response to the growing ALC crisis? In October 2008, nine physicians volunteered to form a task force to advocate on behalf of our patients. Because we...
