Dr. Natalie Wong, Interim Physician-in-Chief for the Department of Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital.
I’ve been with St. Michael’s Hospital since 2004—my whole career. I came because of the people and the patients, and I’ve stayed because of the people and patients. I love St. Mike’s.
From almost the very beginning, I’ve specialized in both internal medicine and critical care. I’m the only physician in Toronto who does both.
Internal medicine is all about investigating the root cause of an issue before referring to the right specialist for ongoing care.
For someone like me who loves the study of medicine, it’s the perfect role. It’s like being in the show House and solving mysteries every day.
Then there’s the Intensive Care Unit, where we take care of the sickest patients.
I like to put it this way. When your body needs to heal, it takes a lot of energy to function and even breathe. So, we take over. We put you to sleep, and we take over your breathing, your heart, your kidneys, and your feeding so your body can recover after an accident or illness.
At St. Mike’s, I am constantly practicing both specialities to their fullest extent.
As a Level 1 trauma centre and as a hospital dedicated to caring for the most vulnerable populations, we see the sickest patients.
They are why I came here in the first place, and why I stay.
We see the extremes of disease. We see what happens when patients don’t have access to regular care. And we understand that many patients have had traumatic experiences with healthcare and don’t want to be here at all.
It’s our job to build trust and make sure everyone gets the care they need.
We deal with some of the toughest healthcare challenges, but we also experience some of the most rewarding moments in medicine.
It’s part of the reason we’re consistently ranked as a top hospital for resident training—physicians want to be here. And patients receive the best care here.
And it’s not just physicians. Our nurses, allied healthcare professionals, cleaning staff, and every single person who works here is in it together. We all feel love and pride in the work we do to help people every single day.
Honestly, it’s a lot like that show The Pitt.
As an internist and critical care specialist, I was at the centre of St. Mike’s COVID-19 response. Those were incredibly traumatic months for all of us.
Everything shut down, but we stayed. In the beginning, we didn’t know what was going on and we had limited protective equipment.
We were worried and scared. Until more research was done and the vaccines came along, we didn’t even have proven treatments for COVID-19 patients. We just took care of them as best we could.
It was often hard to predict who would make it and who wouldn’t in those early days.
At one point, everything just seemed surreal in the ICU. Looking around, every single patient was on life support with damaged lungs.
It was hard to be there. But we just kept being there. We worked around the clock and stayed overnight to keep our families safe.
Somehow, things have returned to normal. I’m now serving as interim physician-in-chief, which allows me to see all the really amazing things my colleagues are doing in other divisions.
It reinforces why I’m at St. Mike’s. Everyone is doing cool things, and they all really love it just like I do.
At the end of the day, I love our patients. I love my colleagues. I love the work we do. I come in and I’m happy. There’s just something different about this place—a spirit you can’t quite describe.
And I know that none of this work would be possible without the support of our donor community. Thank you for being by our side—every day, every step of the way.
Donate to St. Michael's Hospital Foundation.
