World renowned Canadian Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser in London for St. Joseph's Hospital Tribute Dinner

Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser touring the molecular imaging facilities with Dr. Narinder Paul, Roy Butler, president and Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph's Health Care, and Michelle Campbell, president and CEO St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation, in London Ont. on Oct. 9, 2024. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)

One of Canada's best-ever hockey players, Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, was in London Wednesday. Dr. Wickenheiser is the special guest speaker at the St. Joseph's Tribute Dinner inside the RBC Centre in London, Ont.

Before the event, she was given a tour of the molecular imaging facilities at St. Joseph's Hospital to learn more about the work being done at the centre of excellence.

Dr. Wickenheiser has been a trailblazer in the sport of ice hockey. Her career spans more than two decades, with her determination and skill on the ice making her a Canadian sports legend.

Off the rink, she has continued to excel and inspire as a practicing family and emergency medicine physician in Toronto, Ont.

Dr. Wickenheiser said Wednesday’s event is a great way for her to talk to the community about issues close to her heart, hockey and healthcare.

"I'm in the business of both, and just the cutting edge of, where London is in the world of medicine, and in particular with the diagnostics work that Dr. Paul [Narinder] and his team are doing here at St. Joseph's, with advanced imaging and the way that they're going to transform the way that we treat conditions like metastatic prostate cancer, breast cancer, Alzheimer's in the future. And, it's very cool,” continued Dr. Wickenheiser. "You often think these things happen in big cities and fancy hospitals…that's happening right here in London."

The tribute dinner is one of the largest fundraising events for the hospital.

"Fundraiser events like Tribute are huge enablers for us in healthcare locally. What foundations do within hospitals is support the things that normal government funding does not support. And those can be things like advancing new treatments, clinical research, things that help us improve care right at the bedside," explained Michelle Campbell, president and CEO St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation.