The doctor
Dr. Meeta Patel treated victims of the Yonge Street van attack
BY RICK PENCINER, MD, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN AND DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL EDUCATION, NORTH YORK GENERAL HOSPITAL
A decade of caring for some of the sickest patients in a hospital on any given day combined with intense training makes Meeta Patel the doctor you want in an emergency situation. But not even she could imagine that our community would be the centre of the Yonge Street van attack on April 23, 2018, and that our hospital, North York General, would call a Code Orange to receive victims of this mass casualty.
Dr. Patel was working that day, and it was a life-altering experience. The attack happened minutes from her hospital, home and young family in North York. Yet nothing else mattered except focusing her skill and compassion to care for those already in Emergency and preparing for an unknown number of victims. She says that day deepened her passion for medicine and this community.
As an emergency doc for over 25 years, I recognize Dr. Patel is a leader and team player, highly regarded by her physician and nursing colleagues. As they will attest, this synergy and respect makes all the difference when you are focused on saving lives every day.
With a personal commitment to the next generation of physicians, Dr. Patel teaches and mentors at University of Toronto Med School. Her colleagues would call her an education innovator, especially in her role co-chairing the largest emergency medicine conference in the country. Incredibly balancing work, volunteering, teaching and family, she is also taking a masters in health teacher education. We are so privileged to have Meeta Patel in the North York family.