Cardiology

A young women’s speaking with a healthcare provider

Cardiology is an area of medicine that deals with diagnosis and treatment of problems with the heart and blood vessels.

The Women’s College Hospital Cardiology clinic is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto and offers specialized care in general cardiology and cardiac diagnostic testing. 

Our team, made up of physicians, nurses, sonographers, electrocardiogram technicians, pharmacists and administrative staff, is committed to providing high quality diagnostic testing and patient-centred care in a safe, caring environment. Through teamwork and the use of the latest innovations and technologies, we aspire to revolutionize healthcare for you and your family. 

In addition to a general cardiology clinic and diagnostic testing, we also specialize in women’s heart health and offer programs and education to address the specific needs of women with cardiac concerns. 

Contact Info

Women’s College Hospital
76 Grenville Street
Floor 4
Toronto, ON M5S 1B2

Phone: 416-323-7723
Fax: 416-323-6304

All patients require a referral for an appointment or diagnostic test. Please speak to your family doctor to help make this referral.

Physicians

  • Dr. Paula Harvey
  • Dr. Leonard Sternberg
  • Dr. Shadi Akhtari
  • Dr. Jacob Udell
  • Dr. Husam Abdel-Qadir
  • Dr. Soohun Chun
  • Dr. Abdul Elzawi
  •  Dr. Eugene Crystal
  • Dr. Tosin Osuntokun
  • Dr. Natasha Aleksova

Advanced Practice Nurses and Nurse Practitioners

  • Holly Rector
  • Jennifer Price
  • Savita Parmar
  • Shelly Li

Pharmacy

  • Amanda Gin

We also have a team of highly skilled sonographers, Electrocardiogram Technicians and Administrative Staff who work closely with our physicians and nurses to provide you the highest quality care.

Dr. Lihi Eder and Dr. Paula Harvey

Cardio-rheumatology clinical and research program is the first of its kind in Canada. Established in 2017, the collaborative clinical program led by Dr. Paula Harvey (Cardiology) and Dr. Lihi Eder (Rheumatology) focuses on evaluating patients with inflammatory rheumatological disorders who are at risk for accelerated and premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease while also providing expertise on cardiovascular complications of the primary disorder and related treatments. The global aim of the program is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases in patients with inflammatory rheumatic conditions through improved clinical care, research and education. We have established a primary prevention clinic for patients with rheumatic disease which uses advanced imaging and laboratory markers to improve the detection of high-risk patients and improve the control of their cardiovascular risk factors.

Learn More 

As an academic centre fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, our cardiologists and technical staff are committed to providing the very best in diagnostic results and individualized, safe patient care while incorporating the very latest technologies and innovations. We offer a full array of on-site non-invasive cardiac testing including:

  • Electrocardiography
  • Echocardiography and Stress Echocardiography
  • Exercise Stress Testing
  • Holter monitoring
  • Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring
  • Nuclear Stress Testing
  • We also offer Cardiac CT and Cardiac MRI through the
  • Joint Department of Medical Imaging (JDMI) department

Learn More

Dr. Hasam Abdel-Qadir

Cardio-oncology Program with a focus on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in women after treatment for cancer is currently being developed by Dr. Husam Abdel-Qadir, a new recruit within the division of cardiology.

Jacob UdellOutcomes Research Program led by Dr. Jay Udell was established to improve the lives of women and men with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. The group has expertise in large public-private multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and population-based health care database studies involving innovative ways to prevent cardiovascular illness, promote wellness, and improve knowledge implementation. Our particular expertise is in the conduct of pragmatic/streamlined cardiovascular outcome trials nested within national and regional sources of routinely collected health data and registries. The goal of this approach is to perform more cost-effective and less complicated trials investigating late-phase drug development, new strategies of care, or better ways of disseminating best practices (with the goal of saving patient and payer drug costs and expenditures), including in the ambulatory setting.

They have completed  ISCHEMIA (NIH funded) and PARAGON-HF trials now published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  They are continuing to participate and provide leadership in INVESTED (NIH funded), CHOICES (CIHR funded) and SCORED trials at this time. Over the next year, they are looking forward to starting up participation in VESALIUS-CV, FINEARTS, and EMPACT-MI.

This clinic led by Dr. Paula Harvey has expanded to include disorders beyond complex hypertension that include Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome (POTS), Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia (IST) and orthostatic hypotension. Dr. Paula Harvey currently serves on the Hypertension Canada Congress Redesign Task Force, Hypertension Canada Congress Scientific Planning Committee, the Canadian Cardiovascular

Society POTS Guidelines Committee and the Heart and Stroke Foundation Women’s Heart and Brain Health Research Steering Committee. She is a member of the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance and Research Network.

 

Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative (WCHI) is Canada’s first gender-specialized Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Learn More here.

The Discharge Heart Function Clinic at Women’s College Hospital offers short-term, team-based care for individuals recently hospitalized or seen in the emergency department for a diagnosis of Heart Failure (a condition where the heart is unable to meet the needs of the body).

Our team, including a Cardiologist with specialization in Heart Failure, General Internal Medicine Physician, Nurse Practitioner and Pharmacist, work together to provide timely access to care to these types of individuals with the goal of decreasing their risk of returning to hospital, optimizing medical therapy and improving management of symptoms.

Over a 3–6-month period, our clinic provides education about living with heart failure, enrolls patients in remote monitoring, works up possible causes for heart failure, optimizes medications, and manages chronic conditions like low iron levels, that can impact heart health.

At the end of the program, our goal is to connect individuals with a cardiologist or family care provider who can help manage their condition long term.

To be eligible for this clinic, individuals must be referred by a physician or nurse practitioner, have a diagnosis of heart failure, AND had a recent hospitalization or ER visit for heart failure (in the last three months) or are high risk for hospitalization (had more than 1 hospital admission for Heart Failure in the last year).

For Providers: All referrals can be sent to General Cardiology at WCH using our general referral form. Please indicate HF clinic on the referral form so it can be triaged appropriately.

To request a consult with one of our cardiologist’s please fax referrals to (416) 323 – 6304. With your referral please include any relevant clinical notes and test results.

To order a diagnostic test to be done in our lab, please fax lab requisition to (416) 323 – 6147.

More information about our diagnostic lab can be found below.

For your safety and health, your first visit will most likely be virtual. We provide consults either by phone or video and you can choose which option would work best for you.  If you want to do a video visit, we will ask that you sign up for myHealthRecord  before the appointment. There is information on our website about how to sign up and then a team member will reach out to you to help arrange a video visit.

Sometimes it may be necessary for you to come in-person for your appointment and our team can help arrange that. If you require an essential caregiver to accompany you please let us know prior to the visit.

For either a virtual or an in-person appointment please have the following easily available during your visit:

  • A list of your current medications (can also bring pill bottles or blister pack)
  • Questions to ask
  • Names of clinicians you want updated on the outcome of your visit

For information about our COVID-19 policies, please see the COVID-19 information page.

 

We invite you to sign up for myHealthRecord. myHealthRecord is Women’s College Hospital’s online patient medical record that gives you access to your health information online at any time, from anywhere.

  • Access to recent diagnostic tests and blood work
  • Ability to message your healthcare team with non-urgent questions
  • You can update your medications and health information
  • An After Visit summary of your visit with the doctor will be available for review after your visit.

Become an active participant in your own healthcare by registering for myHealthRecord today. Instructions for registration located on our website.

Resources

An excellent resource for many questions or concerns you may have about your heart and heart health can be located at Canada Heart and Stroke Foundation. We have also provided some specific resources for different cardiac diagnoses below. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to your health care provider or a member of our team with any questions about your heart health.