Dr. Kellie Leitch honoured for work in pediatric orthopedics, children's health advocacy
Feb 04, 2010 - 11:39 AM
By Jillian Follert
DURHAM -- On an average day, you can find Dr. Kellie Leitch in an operating room at Lakeridge Health, helping kids who have been hit by cars or banged up playing sports.
The new chief of surgery at Lakeridge says there's no better feeling than seeing a child who has suffered a major trauma get back to running around on the playground.
"That's what matters to me the most," she says. "It's what drives me to do all the other things I work on."â?¨ And that list is long.
When she's not in the operating room, Dr. Leitch is an avid community volunteer, a noted academic and a national advocate and policy advisor on children's health issues.
That list of achievements was recently topped up with an appointment to the Order of Ontario.
She was among 29 Ontarians to receive the honour in a ceremony at Queen's Park on Jan. 28.
"It's a little overwhelming," she said of the award. "It's a true privilege. I was surprised and elated when I found out."â?¨ Dr. Leitch says the appointment was made all the more special by the fact she was nominated by a patient, a young girl who underwent major back surgery.
The appointment recognizes her contributions to the field of pediatric orthopedics and her role as an advocate for kids.
From 2006 to 2008, she was a federal advisor on children's health issues. After doing nationwide consultations, Dr. Leitch authored a report that identified obesity, injury prevention and access to youth mental health services, as focal issues in the area of children's health. She also chaired a panel on the children's fitness tax credit, helping to develop legislation that was eventually made law.
"The great thing there, was that we helped create a broader definition of physical activities that kids can participate in, that make them healthy," she said. "It shouldn't just be competitive sports that are funded ... it can be dance or anything that kids do that they enjoy, that helps them get fit."
Dr. Leitch, who is one a small number of physicians to hold both a doctorate of medicine and an MBA, is also known for her efforts to highlight the need for doctors to be business savvy.
"It's extremely important to take sound business practices and incorporate them into medicine," she said. "It's not to say that I want medicine to be privatized. But, we can use business practices to achieve better, more efficient care."
A Toronto resident, Dr. Leitch has been working at Lakeridge since October and is planning a move to Durham as soon as her hectic schedule allows for some real estate hunting.
Recommend :