| |
Home | Archive | Videos | About | |
|
 |
||||
| A cardiologist with a great big heart, Dr. Paul Kannampuzha, heart surgeon at Trillium Health Centre | ||||
| |
story Maureen Scott photographs Steve Uhraney Perhaps it was destiny. When Dr. Paul Kannampuzha was a young boy; he grew up a stone’s throw from the Trillium Health Centre, where he is now part of a team of the top cardiologists in Canada. He is the former director of the Coronary Care Unit and presently is the Medical Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Wellness Centre as well as the director of the Heart Function Clinic. From his office windows, across the street at Hurontario and The Queensway, Dr. Kannampuzha can see his former backyard. “When I was a young boy, I knew that I wanted to do something in medicine,” says Dr. Kannampuzha with a warm smile that would melt most hearts. “I was influenced by a TV show about a doctor that I saw when I was in about grade eight. I think they were performing a back operation and that’s when I decided I wanted to do something in medicine. My grade eight teacher wrote in my year book ‘I hope that you become a great doctor someday’. During his formulative teen years, Paul volunteered at the hospital, dreaming of becoming a surgeon. But once in medical school at The University of Toronto, he chose a different path. “Surgery and internal medicine were separate paths and you had to choose your medical specialty,” explains Dr. Kannampuzha. “I chose internal medicine. Cardiology is a sub specialty. I graduated in the Class of ’88. By the time I finished in 1993, it was almost impossible to get a community cardiology job.” And then the big break came; I was very fortunate to be offered a position at the Trillium Health Centre (at the time The Mississauga Hospital) and have the opportunity to work with a group of respected cardiologists. Dr. Kannampuzha is one busy guy. Recently remarried (to Mara Langevin, a Nurse Practitioner who works in cardiology), this father of four divides his time between seeing patients in his office, and working at the two hospital sites, the other being the Trillium-West Toronto, near Sherway Gardens. “I start my hospital rounds at 7; 30 a.m., then head to the office around 9; 30 a.m. and work until 4; 30 p.m.” He tries to make it home for dinner each night to catch up with his kids, two boys and two girls ranging in age from 9 to 19. “My biggest challenge is balancing my time between work and family.” Each work week is different; thanks to the nine-week rotation plan he shares with 14 other cardiologists on staff. Dr. Kannampuzha explains; “Trillium-West Toronto is an out-patient centre providing diagnostics and day procedures, while the Mississauga location is the in-patient care facility. One week I’ll be in the diagnostic department performing stress tests, echocardiograms and electrocardiograms. Then the next week I’ll spend in Nuclear Medicine, where we test for heart disease by injecting a radioactive compound into a vein and then take pictures. Then a week in the Coronary Care Unit alternating with weeks in the office and then a week in the Heart Function Clinic. This is where we manage patients with very weak hearts. They are often very ill. It was the first clinic of its kind in Canada. It started in the mid 90s and is managed by a team of superb nurses and nurse practitioners, with physician supervision. It’s made a huge impact on the quality of life of the patients that attend the clinic.” The renowned cardiologist says take heed of the advice that the health industry has told us for years (such as maintaining a healthy weight and quitting smoking). Dr. Kannampuzha offers this important message: “If you think you are having a heart attack, call 911. This activates the response system and is the gateway to getting help. People often are embarrassed to call 911 as they are not sure if it’s indigestion. The paramedics can distinguish between indigestion and a heart attack. Fifty percent of patients having heart attacks still come to the emergency department on their own. If you are in trouble, time is crucial. Make the call.” In a ground-breaking healthcare partnership between Trillium Health Centre, the Peel Regional Paramedic Services, Halton Region Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Toronto EMS, the average time from a paramedic arriving at the patient’s side to a cardiologist restoring the flow of blood through the artery is now 70 minutes; well below the program’s 90 minute ‘first contact to device’ goal. Called ‘Code STEMI’, advance care paramedics (ACP) use an electrocardiogram (ECG) to determine if the patient is having a heart attack. The paramedics contact the interventional cardiologists at Trillium Health Centre directly to determine if the patient should by-pass Emergency and be brought directly to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Trillium for an emergency angiogram, or taken to their local emergency department. “Research has shown that patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), a specific type of heart attack involving a blocked coronary artery, receive greater benefit from treatment with primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PPCI) than from traditional thrombolytic or blood clot busting drugs.” Code STEMI protocol is in effect in Mississauga-Halton (as far away as Caledon), plus south Etobicoke, with the support of LHIN, The Sunnybrook-Osler Centre for Pre-Hospital Care, Credit Valley Hospital, William Osler Health System and Halton Healthcare Services. “We are offering top line care to the residents of Mississauga and beyond,” says Dr. Kannampuzha. “Advancements over the past ten years at Trillium allow us to manage every type of heart related illness, so that patients who live in our region need not travel to receive excellent cardiac care.” Fellow doctors kibitz with Dr. Kannampuzha during our photo session. “We are like one big happy family. We have a very unique situation at Trillium Health Centre; our group of physicians and health care staff support one another and work as a unified team. We enjoy each other’s company. “They are my second family.” We work and socialize together.” In fact, some of his own family works at Trillium. His first cousin Dr. Tef Kalaparambath is also a cardiologist and his 17 year old son volunteers at the hospital, and is hoping to be a “great doctor” someday. Destiny. GL |
|
||