Dr. Paul Kortan

(March 19, 1949 - November 26, 2022)

Mentor. Colleague. Family Man. Friend.

It was the summer of 1968, and Paul Kortan was a young man enjoying a European holiday. He was on his way home to what was then Czechoslovakia when he received word from his parents to stay away. Soviet tanks had rolled into Prague. He was 19, with nothing but a backpack and no way home.

That was the start of his journey to a new home in Toronto, to medical school, to Wellesley Hospital in 1982 and, in 1998, to St. Michael’s Hospital, where he served as a staff physician until he passed away on November 26, 2022.

A son of Holocaust survivors (his mother had been in Auschwitz and his father in a forced labour battalion), Paul learned from his parents early on the importance of treating everyone he met with empathy, compassion and respect. He embodied this philosophy day in and day out in how he treated his patients, colleagues and friends.

Dr. Kortan was a revered colleague, an inspiring mentor and a gifted endoscopist.

Dr. Gary May, head of gastroenterology at St. Michael’s, remembers his friend: “Paul was a cherished member of our St. Michael’s family and widely known for his integrity, clinical excellence and skilled teaching. He was also a caring and kind colleague, and will be deeply missed by everyone who encountered him.”

Dr. Gabe Kandel says Dr. Kortan was adored by his colleagues, for very good reason: “Paul was just a wonderful guy and great doctor. Greatly admired by everyone who worked with him, and a friend to everyone.”

Dr. Kortan helped build St. Michael’s therapeutic endoscopy unit into one of the largest teaching and research facilities in Canada, and a renowned program internationally. He was passionate about teaching and mentoring. In 2010, the Slaight Family established the Slaight Family Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy Fellowship Program to promote clinical endoscopy fellowships at St. Michael’s, and Dr. Kortan took the lead in recruiting and working with fellows. He took great pride in the fact that they came from all over the world to train at St. Michael’s.

Dr. Jeff Mosko was one of those fellows, and then went on to work with him. "I can say, with certainty, that I would not be where I am today without Paul. He was the ultimate mentor, colleague and friend and I feel so fortunate to have had him in my life."

In his memory, colleagues and patients have established the Dr. Paul Kortan Therapeutic Endoscopy Fellowship Fund to support the program that was so important to him, and improve procedures to detect and treat serious gastrointestinal disorders. A donation of $100,000 has launched the fund.