ELNA Medical Enhances Virtual Care Offering and Adds 34 Points of Care with Investment in Ontario Telemedicine Services Leader MD Connected
The integration of MD Connected's telemedicine services supports ELNA Medical's omnichannel growth strategy, while providing Canadians with greater access to comprehensive medical services.
MONTREAL, March 29, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Montreal-based ELNA Medical ("ELNA"), Canada's largest integrated network of medical clinics, announced today its investment in MD Connected, a leading telemedicine service provider that connects patients with medical practitioners via a wide range of systems.
Founded in 2017, MD Connected's unique model includes fully digital and human-assisted telemedicine clinics, virtual care and COVID-19 testing at 34 clinics located within Rexall Drugstores, Metro and other well-known pharmacies in Ontario.
"This investment in an important virtual care provider supports ELNA's omnichannel growth strategy, while expanding access to integrated medical services for hundreds of thousands of Ontarians," said Laurent Amram, President and Founder of ELNA Medical.
ELNA Medical operates in Ontario under the banner of its wholly owned subsidiaries Medicentres Canada and York Medical, acquired in December 2020.
"Providing our patients with the very best in easily accessible quality care has always been the cornerstone of our mission. With other upcoming openings in the pipeline, MD Connected's extensive reach makes it an optimal fit for ELNA, and our partnership will allow it to scale rapidly beyond Ontario," added Laurent Amram.
"With a longstanding tradition of excellence in primary and specialty care, ELNA's broad Canada-wide network will allow for the continued expansion of MD Connected's virtual and telemedicine services across the country. We are proud to partner with ELNA to leverage one another's expertise and bring our collective patients a best-in-class personalized healthcare experience," said Venky Weylagro, CEO and President of MD Connected.
ELNA Medical is Canada's largest integrated network of medical clinics. Focused on comprehensive care, ELNA offers a vast array of primary and specialty medical services, therapies and procedures at 95 clinics and points of care. ELNA combines its extensive medical offering with access to over 1,500 diagnostic tests, thanks to its sister company, CDL Laboratories, a leader in round-the-clock medical diagnostics for three decades. Treating more than 1.4 million Canadians every year, ELNA is true to its innovative spirit and mission of providing easily accessible and personalized medical services of the highest quality. Leveraging state of the art technologies, and strategic partnerships with renowned industry leaders, ELNA strives to provide better healthcare outcomes for Canadians.
MD Connected Ltd. launched in 2017 with a mission to reduce barriers to accessing exceptional healthcare for all Canadians. MD Connected Ltd. is a virtual healthcare provider that uses advanced technologies, highly trained medical practitioners, and a secure telecommunications platform to conveniently unite healthcare professionals with patients. MD Connected has over 30 locations and has conducted hundreds of thousands of virtual visits to date.
SOURCE ELNA Medical
Find Your Voice as a Patient or Advocate to Reduce Medical Mistakes
New York, NY, March 29, 2022 — The first thing a person should do if they or a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness is consider themselves “unofficially part of their care team,” advises Melissa Mullamphy. “You can’t put a price on advocacy and family.”
As hospitals recover from staffing shortages and other COVID disruptions, it’s more important than ever for patients and their loved ones to find their voices and use them, adds Mullamphy, whose own mother’s cancer battle was fraught with frustration, medical missteps and endless bureaucracy.
Not in Vain, A Promise Kept isMullamphy’s candid account of her mother’s journey and the family’s roller coaster of emotions. Readers will witness the mistakes that compounded their pain, the small victories that gave them hope, and above all, the love that kept them going during an indescribably difficult time.
Each chapter in Not In Vain, A Promise Kept represents one month from her mother’s diagnosis to her passing. Mullamphy recalls the experiences with vivid detail (the names of doctors and nurses have been changed), hoping to prompt others to ask the tough questions and learn by her example.
“My goal in writing this book is to keep the promise that I made to my mom … to share her story so others don’t go through what she and my family went through,” Mullamphy says. “You can have input, control and make a difference in your loved one’s healthcare.”
Mullamphy shares shocking lapses in her mother’s care, including blood clots the doctor fails to notice, the confusion surrounding her mother’s DNR order, the time she found her mother wearing another patient’s bracelet and the unspeakable heartbreak of learning that all along, the hospital had used the wrong type of chemotherapy drug for her mother’s specific cancer.
Not In Vain, A Promise Kept is not without moments of hope, such as when the family is told the tumor has shrunk and when her mother’s last-ditch surgery to remove the tumor is declared “wildly successful.”
Ultimately, Not In Vain, A Promise Kept pays homage to a life well-lived and a woman well-loved, and it’s Mullamphy’s aim to help other patients and their loved ones find their voices, understand their rights and learn how to navigate a deeply complex, imperfect healthcare system.
“Use your voice, and remember that you are not there to make friends,” she adds. “Sometimes you have to be the biggest mouth in the room, but speaking up can save your loved one’s life.”
Author Melissa Mullamphy has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and has worked in psychiatric emergency rooms and step-down houses. Forever a student of mental health, she has also worked with many nonprofits, including those benefiting military veterans. For almost 20 years, she worked as a domestic operations manager for a major corporation. Following her experience with her mother’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, she began blogging about current events as they relate to healthcare.
Since 1992, April has been Stress Awareness Month. As a nation, we have good reason to be stressed. We have reached the two-year anniversary of the Covid 19 Pandemic, war rages in Ukraine, gas prices are off the charts, many of our cities are filled with violence, and corporations are understaffed, forcing many of us to work longer hours. This is the perfect recipe for stress that
can eventually impact multiple aspects of the body and mind. Learning how to cope with stress while finding healthy ways to deal with challenging situations can lead to a positive life. Long-term stress can cause more than mental issues. Anything ranging from headaches to stomach disorders and depression, even severe issues like stroke and heart disease, can be rooted in stress.
How should you manage stress when you begin to feel overwhelmed?
Our expert, Dr. Haley Perlus, sports and performance psychology Ph.D.outlines ways to slay stress.
Find your purpose
One way to manage stress is to find your purpose and recognize what speaks to you. If you want to follow your passion for photography, start a page that displays your work. Build a community around you based on shared interests. Surround yourself with positive people. Turn hurt into healing, if you had a tough childhood, volunteer to become a big brother/sister.
Your stress levels can decrease significantly by finding something you enjoy and taking advantage of it.
Shut off that Smartphone
Many of us are overly dependent on our phones or computers. Using them too much or too long can increase stress levels, and studies have shown this. Excessive smartphone use has been linked with mental health disorders and depression. When used too close to bedtime, it can impede falling asleep.
Exercise
Exercise is nature’s drug. All too often, when we are stressed out, people tell us to rest and relax. While there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes, what we need to do is get moving. There is science beyond why exercise reduces stress and even anxiety. It reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. It kicks up the production of endorphins which are mood elevators. That is why you often hear the phrase, “runner’s high.”
Learn to let go
It's important to recognize when a situation is out of your control and shift your focus to something you can control. For example, if you're waiting to hear back on a job opportunity, there's no longer anything you can do but wait to hear from the employer. Instead, shift your focus to things you can control, like cleaning your space, clearing your head and continuing to pursue other jobs in the meantime.
Accept what you need
What situations make you feel mentally and physically frustrated or uneasy? Learn how to recognize your triggers and how you can avoid them. Once you become self-aware, you can avoid them when it's reasonable and cope when you can't.
Manage time
Prioritizing activities you enjoy can help you make the most out of your time. Creating a day-to-day schedule can help ensure you don't feel overwhelmed by everyday tasks and deadlines while allowing yourself to make time for what you enjoy doing. This can help create a healthy balance between work and fun!
Practice relaxation
Deep breathing, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation are good ways to calm yourself. When you take time to focus on your needs and get a mental break, you can look at things from a fresh perspective. Taking a break when necessary to refocus can benefit you in the moment and in the long run.
Dr. Haley Perlus knows what it takes to overcome barriers and achieve peak performance. As an elite alpine ski racer, she competed and trained with the best in the world, pushing herself to the limits time and time again. Now, with a PhD in sport psychology, Haley continues to push boundaries and drive peak performance, helping athletes and Fortune 100 executives reach their goals.
Haley works with individuals and teams to manage and expand their energy capacity while increasing resilience, focus and drive. Dr. Perlus is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, professor, author and consultant to Division I athletes. She has spoken at many events some of which include VISTAGE, Tec Canada, Elite Fitness and Performance Summit and Trilogy Athletes. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado lecturing on applied sport and exercise psychology at the graduate level. She has authored several books including The Ultimate Achievement Journal and The Inside Drive and her articles have been featured in publications such as Thrive Magazine, Fitness Magazine, IDEA Fitness Journal, EpicTimes, Telluride Inside, MyVega and BeachBody®.
Dr. Perlus earned her PhD at the University of Northern Colorado with an emphasis on social psychology of sport and physical activity, her MS at the University of Florida in sport pedagogy and her bachelor’s degree at the University of Western Ontario in kinesiology. Haley loves both water and snow skiing, and hiking. Her favorite meal is anything that requires only chopping or blending.
Move Past Mental or Physical Suffering With 5 Simple Steps
Boca Raton, FL, March 29, 2022 — Is it possible to find effective relief from emotional or physical suffering in as little as one hour? Andrew Hahn, Psy.D., and Joan Beckett, L.M.H.C., have been cultivating their revolutionary Life Centered Therapy (LCT) for decades, and they say it can be used as a blueprint for transforming most problems.
“There’s a lot of suffering in the world, and I think we have a very, very simple, powerful way that — in every hour you do this work — you get freer from your suffering, and you get results,” Dr. Hahn said in a recent interview.
In their new book, The One-Hour Miracle: A 5-Step Process to Guide Your Self-Healing, the authors explain how to apply Life Centered Therapy to heal from pain that is physical (such as chronic pain, asthma, addictions); emotional or mental (including depression, PTSD, OCD, paranoia); relational (releasing destructive patterns); and spiritual (alienation, despair, inertia). And sometimes, according to the authors, the transformation takes just one hour.
Filled with testimonials from real people who have benefitted from this approach when other methods failed to help, The One-Hour Miracle provides readers with an entirely new way of understanding their suffering, giving them inspiration and hope that they can create miracles in their own lives.
“The One-Hour Miracle includes a protocol that allows people to facilitate this process on their own by finding the root cause of their suffering and shifting it,” the authors said. “This framework helps them live engaged lives of freedom, peace, joy, wisdom, and vitality.”
The authors provide readers with clear, step-by-step instructions that can be implemented immediately to achieve authentic transformation. Additionally, therapists reading this book will have enough information to start using the approach with their own clients.
About the Authors Andrew Hahn, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and podcast host of Guided Self Healing/Fearless Living; and Joan Beckett, L.M.H.C., MBA, M.A., C.A.G.S., a licensed mental health counselor and former divisional controller of a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company, are thought leaders in the field of consciousness and spiritual, energy and somatic psychology. They are principals of the Life Centered Therapy Institute.
The One-Hour Miracle: A 5-Step Process to Guide Your Self-Healing Publisher: HCI Books Release Date: April 5, 2022 ISBN-10: 0757324150 ISBN-13: 9780757324154 Trade Paperback, 304 pages Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other online retailers
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The COVID Lockdown Strategy: What Can We Learn From the Data?
St. Paul, MN, March 28, 2022 — For the past two years, COVID numbers related to cases and deaths have dominated media outlets, but one key data point has been noticeably absent in the eyes of biochemist and immunologist Hugh McTavish, Ph.D.: How many COVID deaths did the lockdown strategy prevent?
“Lockdowns were just a catastrophic mistake — one of the worst public policy disasters and mistakes ever,” Dr. McTavish said in a recent interview. “They threw 1 in 5 Americans, 19.3 percent to be precise, into moderate to severe depression.”
Calling the dramatic uptick in depression, drug overdoses and suicides “entirely predictable,” Dr. McTavish delivers an unflinching look into deaths of despair, “lost time of life” and other unsettling consequences of the lockdown response in his new book, COVID Lockdown Insanity. In it, Dr. McTavish reveals the staggering human toll of long-term isolation coupled with the shuttering of lifelines like churches and workplaces.
Dr. McTavish’s careful examination of the scientific evidence related to COVID-19 transmission and his analyses of both the human and economic costs of the lockdown strategy illuminate the dysfunctionality of the government’s policy response. In the end, he lights a path toward making more enlightened decisions that offer hope of real solutions.
In the book, Dr. McTavish dissects the data that shows:
- The COVID lockdowns threw 63 million Americans into major depression.
- All evidence suggests that the lockdown response to COVID failed to decrease COVID deaths at all.
- Even if the lockdowns prevented 200,000 COVID deaths, which they probably did not, the lockdowns caused three times more loss of life in increased suicides, drug overdose deaths, cancer deaths and heart disease deaths than they saved in prevented COVID deaths.
- For every 1 COVID death prevented, the lockdowns caused these harms: 1/3 of a death of despair (suicide or drug overdose); 316 people thrown into major depression; 127 people out of work; 350 students out of school; 1,640 people denied the right to live their lives as they wish and made at least a little less happy.
- Mask wearing has “little or no effect” on COVID cases or deaths.
- Hand washing and hand sanitizer use is the best intervention and could dramatically reduce COVID deaths, but this was underemphasized.
- Asymptomatic people very rarely spread COVID.
- Children do not spread COVID, and closing schools had no effect on COVID spread at all, and we knew that by the summer of 2020, and CDC staff wrote a paper saying so in January 2021.
In conclusion, Dr. McTavish says, “Lockdowns have no advantage at all. If you think life is better than death, a long life is better than a shorter life, happiness is better than depression, more money is better than less, education is better than ignorance, child abuse and domestic abuse are bad things, and more personal freedom is better than less, then you agree the lockdowns were a mistake.”
Hugh McTavish is a Ph.D. biochemist and immunologist and a patent attorney. He has authored 18 refereed scientific journal articles and is the inventor of 21 U.S. patents. He has also written two prior books on public policy and nature. He has started two pharmaceutical companies off his own inventions. He lives near St. Paul, Minnesota.
For more information, please visit www.hughmctavish.com (where you can read COVID Lockdown Insanity for free) or COVID-Sanity.org, or follow him on Twitter (@covid-sanity).
COVID Lockdown Insanity: The COVID Deaths It Prevented, the Depression and Suicides it Caused, What We Should Have Done, and What It Shows We Could Do Now to Address Real Crises
What Can Modern America Learn From Ancient Israel? Bible Scholar Explains
Orlando, FL, March 28, 2022 ― Christians believe that on Good Friday, Jesus died in place of the sinful believers who put their trust in his salvation, and rose from the dead on Easter — a preview of what’s to come on the Day of the Lord. The end-time prophecies in the Bible apply to all nations of the world. But do they have anything specific to say about the U.S.A.?
In his book, What the Bible Has to Say About the U.S.A.: The Old Testament Speaks to Americans Today, Bible scholar and veteran Christian author David S. Heeren takes readers on a fascinating exploration into the book of Hosea, where he draws striking parallels between ancient Israel and modern America. Heeren details the cultural characteristics that the two nations share during their periods of decline, centuries after their initial settlements, namely: Money vs. Morality, Lawlessness, Humanism (the deification of humanity), Liberalism, Globalism, Life vs. Convenience, New Age (and other religions that Heeren calls “hostile to Christianity”), God’s love (the book’s most important chapter), Cunning Commerce, Sexual License and Environmentalism.
Heeren compels readers to ponder questions such as, Are we headed for a crisis even worse than COVID? Will moral deterioration result in upheaval that could impact all levels of American society? What can Christians do to prevent a total collapse? And how should we prepare for whatever lies ahead?
“He (God) no more wants to see American civilization crumble than He desired the collapse of ancient Israel,” Heeren explained. “So we should not ignore prophetic details that seem relevant to our imperiled nation. Reproduction of conditions could result in repetition of consequences.”
In the book’s final chapter, Heeren brings the discussion full circle, with a description of a great spiritual revival — as prophetic as some of the Bible's end-time texts that anticipate the very same thing.
“Prophet Zechariah said one-third of all human beings will rise into heaven on earth’s final day,” Heeren added. “According to recent estimations by evangelists Billy Graham and D. James Kennedy, the number 33 percent is way too high. That number, according to Kennedy and Graham and others, probably right now is less than 10 percent. Talk about revival!”
Author David S. Heeren is an award-winning journalist and author of 18 books. A personal prayer identical to that of Isaiah (Is. 6:8) led him to change his career emphasis from sports writing to Christian writing in 2007. Since that time, he has published nine books with Christian themes, five of which deal with biblical end-time prophecy. His book, The High Sign, which identifies the most likely sign of Jesus’ Second Coming, received a double-four-star (perfect) rating from the Online Book Club — the highest rating awarded by the club. Heeren was recently approved for inclusion in Who’s Who.
His upcoming Christian novel, Year of Our Lord, has been praised byliterary critic David Dickerson as “by far the most exciting in the In His Steps series.”
As Temps Heat Up, Experts Fear More Deaths from Opioid Abuse
Baltimore, MD, March 28, 2021 — There’s no question that the pandemic caused a troubling upward trend in addiction disorders, and a recent study predicts an additional 1.2 million drug overdose deaths in the next decade, with people in the Black community bearing the brunt of the opioid epidemic.
Opioids help people manage chronic pain — and that’s a good thing. What went wrong?
“In the mid-1990s, more and more practitioners were using opioids as a first-line agent to reduce pain,” explains Dr. Paul Christo, Associate Professor in the Division of Pain Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “And that, unfortunately, led to an increase in the use of opioids for chronic pain and probably increased the use for those who really didn’t need them.”
Dr. Christo wants to remind those battling addiction to make use of valuable telemedicine and tele-mental health services, and adds that it’s important for clinicians to advocate to their patients that online treatment options — including telehealth prescriptions for critical medications — are available.
The opioid epidemic today progressed in three phases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first involves deaths caused by prescription opioids, the second, an increase in heroin use, and the third, a surge in the use of synthetic opioids or fentanyl. Experts say the U.S. is right in the middle of the third phase of the epidemic, due to the increasing availability of fentanyl and increasing rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids.
According to a recent study there were 632,331 drug overdoses between 1999 and 2016. Most of these deaths (78.2 percent) were drug overdoses with known drug classification. Moreover, 21.8 percent were unclassified drug overdoses. A further investigation revealed that for unclassified drug overdoses, 71.8 percent involved opioids, translating to 99,160 additional opioid-related deaths.
There were over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017, according to an estimate from the CDC. Based on findings from the new study, over half of those deaths — about 47,000 — are suspected of having involved opioids.
Another study on opioid overdoses found that the number of drug overdose deaths decreased by 4 percent from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, more than 67,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Almost 70 percent involved a prescription or illicit opioid of those deaths.
“COVID-19 impacted the drug supply chain by closing borders on some regions, and it led to the higher death rate,” Dr. Christo explained. He added that drugs become more challenging to get, and the potency of overdose goes up. It also impacts the price, everything goes up, and in that sense, it becomes more deadly each day, according to Dr. Christo.
About Dr. Paul Christo
Dr. Paul Christo serves as Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Fellowship Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of Aches and Gains, A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain. Dr. Paul Christo also hosts an award-winning, nationally syndicated SIRIUS XM radio talk show on overcoming pain called, Aches and Gains®. For more information about Dr. Paul Christo. Please visit www.paulchristomd.com.
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Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Donate $500,000 in Support of Training, Education and Skills Development for Indigenous Youth and Young Adults
Education and training programs co-created with Indigenous communities build capacity locally — a sustainable solution to complex water challenges.
TORONTO, March 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively announce a donation to Canadian charity Water First Education & Training Inc. in support of locally-based, hands-on skills training and education programs. Reynolds’ & Lively’s $500,000 contribution will provide resources for more young Indigenous adults to become water treatment plant operators and environmental water science technicians, as well as engage Indigenous school-aged students in water science.
“Access to clean drinking water is a basic human right. Canada is home to over 20% of the planet’s freshwater — an abundance that’s envied around the world. There’s absolutely no reason Indigenous communities should not have access to safe, clean water. All the individuals involved, whether they are operating water systems or monitoring their local water bodies, are critical. We appreciate Water First’s focus on supporting young, Indigenous adults to become certified water operators and environmental technicians. These folks are helping to ensure sustainable access to safe, clean water locally, now and for the future. Blake and I are thrilled to support this important work,” shares Reynolds.
One of the most fundamental challenges in Canada today is the lack of sustainable access to safe, clean water in many Indigenous communities. Successive federal governments have failed to address the issue, with the likelihood of having no access to safe, clean water still far more prevalent in the lives of Indigenous Peoples, compared to non-Indigenous populations in Canada. At least 15%, or approximately one in six First Nations communities in Canada, are still under a drinking water advisory. Everyone has a right to safe, clean water. The water crisis in Indigenous communities is unacceptable.
Every community’s experience and relationship with water is unique. Due to the complexity of water challenges faced by Indigenous communities, an integrated approach involving multiple solutions is critical for long-term sustainability. Nobody understands this more than the people who live there.
Many Indigenous communities with water challenges have identified the need for more young, qualified and local personnel to support solving water challenges. In response, Water First collaborates with community leaders to design and customize local water-focused education and training programs to align with community goals and needs, which create opportunities to attract and train young adults in the water science field. These partnerships are built on trust, meaningful collaboration and reciprocal learning.
Water First has been in discussions with Ryan and Blake since January to share more about the organization’s approach to partnering and collaborating with Indigenous communities to help increase local water-science capacity.
“From our first conversation with Ryan, his genuine interest in supporting education and training opportunities for young Indigenous adults and youth has been clear. Many Indigenous community partners are reaching out to Water First to explore options to strengthen local technical capacity in the water field. Ryan and Blake’s tremendous support will significantly increase Water First’s ability to offer hands-on skills training to more Indigenous youth and young adults from coast to coast to coast,” said John Millar, executive director and founder at Water First. “We are proud to support the steps Indigenous communities are taking to address local water challenges independently and for the long term.”
Spencer Welling, Water First intern from Wasauksing First Nation shares, "I am doing this for myself, my family and community. It’s important to know how things are done and gives you a better appreciation for it. It’s a good career to have, which I’m sure would ease my parents’ minds knowing that. It also feels good knowing that my community will have a local water treatment operator at the plant for at least a couple decades.”
Anyone interested in learning about Water First and its education and training programs can find out more at www.waterfirst.ngo.
Water First Education & Training Inc. (Water First) is a registered Canadian charity that works in partnership with Indigenous communities to address water challenges through education, training and meaningful collaboration. Since 2009, Water First has collaborated with 56 Indigenous communities located in the lands now known as Canada while supporting Indigenous youth and young adults to pursue careers in water science.
The Inner Matrix: A Mind-Science Fusion for Those Who Want More Out of Life
Denver CO, March 24, 2022 — Do you feel as if you’ve professionally or personally plateaued? Are you plagued by stress or anxiety? Are you searching for greater meaning and purpose?
For more than 20 years, author and Inner Matrix Systems founder Joey Klein has studied a range of healing modalities, from psychology and neuroscience to martial arts and mediation. He synthesized effective elements from multiple disciplines into a single approach that he says can help others train their thoughts and feelings to discontinue destructive patterns, engage their formidable internal resources and create powerful visions for their lives.
“Each of us has our own Inner Matrix, which consists of our emotions, thought strategies and nervous system, that drives our actions, behavior, and ultimately creates our experience of life,” Klein said.
He shares his techniques and practical exercises in his new book, The Inner Matrix: Leveraging the Art & Science of Personal Mastery to Create Real Life Results.
Aimed primarily at high level executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders, The Inner Matrixcontains insights of value to anyone looking to make positive changes in their lives, including:
- A simple, practical approach to managing your emotions, thought strategies and nervous system to channel success;
- Ways to develop fulfillment, peace and inspiration;
- How to create the neurological alignment needed to achieve any desired outcome;
- Methods for designing a rich and meaningful life;
- Case studies, scientific references, expert insights;
- And much more.
Ultimately, The Inner Matrix is a comprehensive guide for realigning your emotional, mental and physical states to support the achievement of your most important personal and professional goals.
“When you master your internal state, you master your world,” Klein said. “It is just that simple.”
About the Author
Joey Klein is the founder and CEO of Inner Matrix Systems, a personal mastery training system for high achievers. He has been interviewed by Self Magazine, INC.com, Yahoo Finance andNBC. Klein has coached leaders from some of the world’s top companies, including IBM, Coca Cola and the World Health Organization.
Self-Professed City Girl Shares Unforgettable True Story of Life Above the Arctic Circle
Harrisburg, PA, March 24, 2022 — It was frigid that night — 35 below — and Ernest “Tiger” Burch made an honest mistake. He brought the Coleman lantern inside their primitive house before lighting it. In spite of the flames that threatened to engulf Tiger and his young bride, Deanne, the couple made it out safely. Then Tiger ran back inside to save his thesis.
“When you’re young, you don’t think that tragedy is going to strike you at all,” Deanne recalled in a recent interview.
At the tender age of 23, a naïve but very much in love Deanne Burch did what all good wives were expected to do in the 1960s: she put the needs of her husband first. She accompanied Tiger to a remote, Inuit (Inupiaq) village in Kivalina, Alaska, where Tiger was conducting research for his Ph.D. To say that the environment and living conditions were harsh would be a considerable understatement.
In Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle, Deanne pours her memories onto paper, immortalizing in vivid detail their experiences on the barrier island 83 miles above the Arctic Circle, including the ways in which the Inupiaq people supported the Burches throughout both exhilarating triumphs and agonizing tragedies.
In Kivalina, Deanne lived on the edge of two worlds — the one she left behind in the lower 48 and the one where she reluctantly participated in all aspects of the women’s lives. Skinning seals, cleaning and drying fish, and cutting beluga and caribou to store became her way of life. Plumbing, running water and electricity were not available. Loneliness was a constant companion until a few women befriended her.
During a span of six days, Deanne and Tiger narrowly escaped death during a camping trip, and Tiger suffered severe burns from the fire in their house. He spent three months in the hospital receiving treatment for seared lungs and horrific burns on his face and hands. His lungs never recovered from this ordeal.
When he was finally released from the hospital, he returned to the village with Deanne to complete the study. The life-threatening and harrowing experiences in Alaska transformed Deanne into a woman of strength who learned how to embrace challenge.
Over 50 years later, she remembers that young girl who left on an unknown journey that will live in her heart forever.
Author Deanne Burch was born and raised in Canada and attended the University of Toronto, obtaining B.A. degrees in liberal arts and social work. After the Alaska journey, she and her husband eventually settled in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, where they lived until his death.
Deanne spent 30 years as a professional international photographer who taught and lectured in the U.S. and Canada. She published several articles in photography magazines and journals. Since retiring in 2014, she devoted herself to writing short stories and children’s stories. Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle was published in March 2021.
