Dr. Paul Tam

By: Dr. Paul Tam

When I first came to Scarborough nearly 40 years ago, there was no dialysis or renal program nearby. I remember thinking this was ridiculous. So, I started advocating, with support from the community and SHN, to create the nephrology program Scarborough needed. It took 14 years, but we made it happen. Today, I’m proud to say that we’re the largest program in the country, treating over 6,000 patients annually.

When it comes to kidney care in Scarborough, there’s an urgency here. The most common cause of kidney failure today is diabetes. Over half of my patients with kidney failure are diabetic, and many people in our community—especially within our South Asian, Asian, and African populations—are predisposed to diabetes, which often leads to kidney disease. With diabetes, the risk of end-stage kidney disease, where dialysis is required, goes up significantly.

For those living with kidney disease, it affects everything. Kidneys regulate so much in the body—not just waste, but also blood pressure and fluid balance—and when they fail, it significantly impacts lives. Dialysis is lifesaving, but it also requires an enormous commitment. We’ve worked hard to ensure that patients in Scarborough don’t need to travel far for this care.

Today, I focus on keeping patients off dialysis through preventative care, emphasizing education and early intervention. Genetics, lifestyle, and socioeconomic barriers increase the prevalence of these chronic conditions, and addressing them requires a community effort.

Thanks to donor support, SHN is launching essential expansions of dialysis treatment spaces at General and Centenary Hospitals to meet the increasing needs of the community. Our program could not be what it is today without the community’s support. Donations allow us to create spaces for care that bring services closer to even more Scarborough residents. Every donation helps us meet this community’s unique needs.

I love Scarborough. I love the people I work with and the patients I serve. I’m grateful every day that my life and career brought me here from Hong Kong and that, together with this community, we’ve built something that changes lives right here in Scarborough.