Delegation from DMCH visits William Osler Health System at Brampton, Canada

Ludhiana, July 26, 2018: A three member delegation from DMC & H recently completed a nine day visit to William Osler Health System, Ontario, Canada. This visit was organised under the Global Health Program which was started after a MOU was signed by the two institutions.

Mr. Prem Kumar Gupta, Secretary DMCH Managing Society, said ‘The collaboration between the two institutions is running successfully since last four years and teams from the Osler group, Canada have visited DMCH thrice in the last three years. Now, we have sent a team from DMCH to have a firsthand knowledge about the Canadian health system and best practices adopted by them.’

The team comprised of Dr. Deepak Jain, Associate Professor, Orthopaedics and Coordinator, Dr. Rajesh Mahajan, Professor of Medicine and Incharge of Emergency Services and Mr. Gurjeet Singh, Manager, Corporate and International Patient Cell. The team visited three hospitals run by the Osler health system at Brampton, Peel region and Etobicoke. This included visit to Emergency department, Cardiac Cath lab, Fracture Clinic, Mental Health and Addictions department, Labour and Delivery department and Interventional radiology departments. The various processes and systems that were in place for effective management of patients were studied so that they could be implemented at DMCH and patient care could be further improved. The visiting team elaborated that the menace of drug addiction is rampant even in Brampton but the government health system in Canada has created a huge infrastructure to take care of the problem. Dr Mahajan said that we were impressed with the level of emergency services provided by the Osler group where a lot of stress was given to prompt treatment of the sick patients so that they could be managed and discharged home within the shortest possible time.

The visiting team also delivered a presentation on Indian Health System to a group of 100 health professionals belonging to the Osler group. This talk highlighted the role of public health system and private players in health care and the challenges faced by health care facilities in India. The visit generated a lot of interest among the local public and the visiting team participated in many TV and radio talk shows as well.

Mr Prem Kumar Gupta said that with this visit , we have practically seen academic and clinical needs of both the institutions. Another aspect of the visit was to understand the needs of international patients who travel from Canada to Punjab for extended periods. DMCH and Osler have launched ‘Care Beyond Borders’ program in which patients receiving treatment in Canada who are visiting Punjab would be referred to DMCH for treatment and their medical records will be shared by the two institutions. This program was promoted through several community meetings which the visiting team had with community organisations in Canada, these included Punjabi Community Health Services and Indus Community Services. Dr Deepak Jain said that these community organisations were doing remarkable work in bridging the gap between the hospitals and the homes of the patients by providing services directly to the patients. These type of services need to be started in India as well.

Dr. Deepak Jain & Dr Rajesh Mahajan said that the two institutions have initiated joint research proposals during the visit. These include projects to study the effect of migration on physical and mental health of immigrants / international students as well as studies on techniques to improve survival after acute heart attacks.