Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng describes himself as “on a mission to keep you out of the ICU.” It’s not that he doesn’t want to see you; it’s more that he doesn’t want to have to treat you. A researcher, clinician, and advocate for The Ottawa Hospital’s ICU and palliative care, Dr. Kyeremanteng’s focus is on preventing health issues from bringing people into the ICU in the first place on one hand, and on how to reduce costs and provide the most efficient and compassionate care on the other.
When Dr. Kyeremanteng’s not busy at work, you might find him talking about his book “Unapologetic Leadership”; running his podcast, “Solving Healthcare with Kwadwo Kyeremanteng”; or sharing healthcare delivery insights (and so much more) to his vast following on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter.
Want to know the childhood experience that made Dr. Kyeremanteng want to study medicine and what keeps the Edmonton born-and-bred physician here at The Ottawa Hospital? Keep reading to see.
Q: What were your younger years like growing up?
A: I was one of four, and as a kid, I was pretty big on sports. Hockey, soccer, baseball, volleyball, basketball — if we could do it, I’d play it. I was also the class clown. I did a little improv and was a big comedy fan. I’ve always loved to smile and loved to giggle, and I try and bring that to my household and work environment every day.
Q: How did you decide to pursue medicine, and specifically work in the ICU and palliative care?
A: I had pretty bad asthma as a kid, and I spent a lot of time in hospital.
My pediatrician— Dr. Conradi — was my hero because of how he’d make us feel. For a kid that’s walking into a hospital and can’t breathe, the mom’s a bit panicked, his calm presence was super healing. Because of his impact on me, I was driven to be a pediatrician, to fill the gaps.
I took a two-year gap between degrees and bartended and travelled and met my wife. In hindsight it was one of the greatest times of my life. Once I got into medical school, I realized being a pediatrician just wasn’t a good fit. I did a rotation in the Foothills Hospital in Calgary in the ICU in 2004, and I was like, “This is my home; this is perfect.”
Later, I met Dr. John Seely when I was doing rotations. He was a palliative care doc, and I saw his impact on patients — the reassurance, the compassion. I wanted to be able to bring that to my practice.
Q: What do you work on in the ICU?
A: When people land in ICU, they often don’t leave as the same person. Either they don’t survive or they leave with significant disfunction. And my research interest has always been how to be more efficient with healthcare dollars — on how we reduce our spending but maintain or improve care.
For me, the “aha” moment was during the pandemic, when you saw a lot of people with comorbidities that could be modified. I realized we had to focus on prevention. So, from an advocacy perspective, any time I have a public forum, any time I go to social media, I’m covering a lot of the ways for folks to stay healthy and avoid seeing me. Now, we’re dipping into that from a research perspective as well.
For example, one thing we’re working on is how to help racialized community members in Ottawa reverse their prediabetes and diabetes through diet, exercise, stress management, and community building. It’s probably one of the projects I’m most excited about.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge facing ICUs and critical care right now?
A: Right now, it’s probably burnout. With supply and demand, we have an aging population that’s going to be leaning on the ICU resources more than ever, and we have issues with staff being burned out — many have left the critical care environment.
It’s getting better, but it’s still going to be a challenge moving together. It brings it back to keeping people healthy and out of the ICU. And then there’s the wellness side for our physicians; we’re doing research on wellness and ways to work more efficiently. We’re working on leveraging AI to do some of the work so we can focus on patient care.
Q: What’s some of the most exciting research in your field right now?
A: It’s going to be on personalized care. On what’s the best approach for you, because it’s not necessarily the same approach for me. It’s the ability to cater personalized treatment based on demographics, genetics, etc. And that’s going to be the future of research, not just in the ICU, but in all of medicine. And I think it’s the right path, too. Because it’s clear that one treatment is not always optimal for everyone.
Q: Why do you choose to work at The Ottawa Hospital?
A: I did my undergrad and medical school in Edmonton, and a Master of Health Administration at Dalhousie in Halifax. I did an elective in infectious disease in Ottawa in 2004, and my wife and I fell in love with the city.
“The research side here is bar none, elite. It’s straight up elite.”
— Dr. Kyeremanteng
What keeps me is the people. I’m surrounded by the most amazing staff, who are exceptional clinically and academically. The research side here is bar none, elite. It’s straight up elite. Whether hematology, the emergency group, or our own group in critical care, this is an elite level of research, and it’s great to be a part of that. I learn every day. It feels like it’s my family outside my family.
Q: Why is diversity important for a successful healthcare system?
A: I think diversity is essential if we want to stick with our mission of compassionate care. For us to provide that care and fulfil our mission, we need to have multiple perspectives. Looking at the example of AI, a lot of studies are based on white males, so we can’t apply that data to our general population. We need that diverse representation in our research. But we also need diverse leaders at the level decisions are being made to be role models for those who are underrepresented. It’s not just on the floors and doing the groundwork, but at a leadership level too — diversity is key.
Q: Where would we find you when you’re not at work?
A: Playing street hockey with my boys, throwing around a football, or playing some ice hockey myself. I’m very active, so I hit the gym and walk the dog — Coco the Aussie doodle — a lot. I’m always working on podcast stuff, doing social media production, or speaking engagements. Or I might be having a dinner date with momma bear.