Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, Head of Critical Care at The Ottawa Hospital, says he likely never would have gotten into medicine if it weren’t for a pediatrician in Edmonton.
Dr. Kyeremanteng “grew up with some pretty bad asthma” that caused trouble breathing and required hospitalizations, he says—a scary experience for both patient and parents. It was an anxious time for the family. But his physician’s presence, he says, “would just ease everything”.
“He walked into the room with a calm tone, put his hand on my chest, put his hand on my mom’s arm,” describes Kyeremanteng of his former pediatrician, Dr. Gerry Conradi. “And you just knew everything was going to be alright.”
Fast forward a few decades and Dr. Kyeremanteng is now a distinguished clinician and researcher at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), a member of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s board of directors—along with recently being named co-chair of the $500 million Campaign to Create Tomorrow to support the new hospital campus and leading-edge research.
A clinician and researcher on a mission
Dr. Kyeremanteng, who provides palliative care in the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), says he didn’t always want to be an ICU doctor. Back when he was five or six years old he wanted to be a plastic surgeon “so I could drive fancy cars,” he says with a chuckle.
But after getting into medical school, he experienced the rush of the ICU. From that moment on his mind was made up. “I was like, ‘this is where I gotta be,’” he says.
The near-constant hum of activity in the ICU, however, didn’t cloud the lesson he first received from Dr. Conradi years ago. “I’ve always tried to take bedside manner as seriously as possible, and I encourage my trainees to do the same,” he says.
“When you’ve got to deliver bad news to a family member, it’s a moment they will never forget. So don’t be cavalier about it. Do it in the right setting. Do things properly and with compassion.”
It’s a sentiment that is no doubt appreciated by his patients and their families. But Dr. Kyeremanteng has made just as much of an impact in the research realm: As an associate scientist and researcher with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), he has published around 100 research papers. His main research interest lies in making healthcare systems more efficient by spending less to achieve better outcomes.
Despite his impressive research credentials, however, Dr. Kyeremanteng says his “passion is really on the clinical side.”
Pushing the Campaign to Create Tomorrow forward
Dr. Kyeremanteng says he and his colleagues in the medical community understand the pressure the health system is under, which is why TOH Foundation’s Campaign to Create Tomorrow is so vital.
“This is a time in healthcare where there are a lot of challenges,” he explains. “And what we’re building here is going to be a key part of the solution.”
The development of TOH’s new hospital campus is Ottawa’s largest-ever health care infrastructure project. The new campus is being designed with a focus on patient experience, inclusivity and innovation. It will have 641 single-patient rooms – all private with accessible washrooms and space for loved ones to spend the night. The new campus will be home to the most advanced trauma centre in Eastern Ontario with dedicated access routes for ambulances and a rooftop heliport. The hospital will include specialized surgical suites, specialty programs, and outpatient clinics.
The new campus will further enable TOH’s research and discovery activities, which benefit patients across Canada and the world and include nearly 50 active patent families, nine spinoff companies, and more than 2,000 research papers published annually—along with 824 active clinical trials and 9,680 patients enrolled.
Construction of the new campus is expected to add more than $2 billion to the local economy, contribute over $1.2 B in labour income, create more than 4000 full time jobs and generate a total economic output of more than $3.75 billion.
“It’s about putting great minds from the business side, the startup side, the research side, the education side, and the clinical side together to better serve the public,” he says.
But Dr. Kyeremanteng says it wasn’t just the desire to improve healthcare that got him involved. He also wanted to be a mentor to younger generations. “You don’t sit on the sidelines—you want to be part of the solution,” he explains. “So when an opportunity like that comes along, it’s a no-brainer.
“When my kids drive by the new hospital one day, they’ll say, ‘Yo, dad was part of that campaign.’”
Amplifying the message through podcasting
Dr. Kyeremanteng is not shy about sharing his message about the impact this historic campaign will have on this region. For several years, he’s been vocal about promoting health and wellness through his podcast, Prevention over Prescription With Dr. K, which exploded in popularity during the pandemic.
He got into podcasting because he was “seeing people around me produce papers that seemed important, but nothing was changing. So I decided: ‘We need to amplify.’”
And amplify he did: Dr. Kyeremanteng’s podcast now has nearly 30K Instagram followers and his 2023 book, Unapologetic Leadership: Finding The Moral Courage To Do The Right Thing, is an Amazon bestseller.
He often hears from listeners, patients, and even colleagues who have improved their health through better eating and exercise—it’s a game-changer when it comes to relieving stress on the health system and society at large. He also promotes better eating through the company he founded, Gyata Nutrition.
And now, as a new co-chair for the Campaign to Create Tomorrow, Dr. Kyeremanteng has a chance to do even more good for the healthcare system—and for the public it serves. He’s calling on others now to join him.
