Department History
The concept of developing critical care medicine in Edmonton was the brainchild of Dr. Brian Sproule, a 
pulmonologist who had participated in the care and mechanical ventilation of patients during the polio epidemic of 1953. He arranged for Dr. Garner King to train in pulmonary and critical care On his return from Denver, Dr. King set up one of the first multisystem intensive care units in Canada at the University of Alberta Hospital. In 1970 Dr. King developed a fellowship program in Critical Care Medicine in Denver. This was one of the first of its kind and trained physicians from Canada and beyond, many of whom went on to develop critical care programs elsewhere in this country and around the world.
Initially, Critical Care Medicine was a component within Dr. King’s academic home, the Division of Pulmonary Medicine. However, over time, it became clear that Critical Care Medicine had practitioners who had varied backgrounds in Anesthesia, Surgery, Emergency Medicine and other medical specialties. In 1985, the Division of Critical Care Medicine was established under Dr. King as an Interdepartmental Division of the Faculty of Medicine. The Divisional Director reported jointly to the Dean and the Chairs of Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesia and attended the monthly meetings of the Dean with the Chairs. This Division was responsible for the development of residency and fellowship training programs in Critical Care Medicine. On a national level in Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada officially recognized Critical Care Medicine as a specialty in 1986.
In 1987 Dr. Tom Noseworthy took over from Dr. King as the Divisional Director. He subsequently was appointed as the President of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in 1989 at which time, Dr. Rick Johnston was appointed as Divisional Director.
In 1995, the government of the province of Alberta disbanded the individual boards of the hospitals in the province and created regional health authorities. The Capital Health Authority created clinical departments including a clinical department of Critical Care Medicine which was for the first time primarily responsible for recruitment of intensivists. Dr. Noel Gibney was selected as the regional program clinical department head for the new clinical department, which was responsible for the delivery of critical care services in all 5 hospitals in the Edmonton area.
In 2002 Dr. Gibney, was appointed as Divisional Director. This allowed the academic Division and the clinical Department to merge their vision, mission and goals. At this time, it was agreed within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry that it should be possible for faculty members to hold a primary appointment in the Division of Critical Care Medicine (DCCM) and secondary appointments, if desired, in other departments. This was important for intensivists to receive full credit for academic activities in critical care, which, prior to that time, were not always fully valued by the traditional base specialties. The ability of academic intensivists to practice and function fully within the DCCM was a major advance and significantly facilitated the development of an active research program within the division. Starting in 2008, discussions were initiated with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry to advance the Division of Critical Care Medicine to full academic department status.
In 2012, Dr. David Zygun was recruited from Calgary to assume the role as Division Director and Clinical Department Head from Dr. Gibney. Dr. Zygun continued to advocate for the Division of Critical Care Medicine to be recognized with Departmental status within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and the University of Alberta. In 2016, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Dr. Richard Fedorak announced the creation of the Department of Critical Care Medicine with Dr. David Zygun as the first chair.
In 2017, Dr. Zygun was appointed Zone Medical Director for the Edmonton Zone, Alberta Health Services and resigned as Chair. He was succeeded by Dr. Sean Bagshaw as the new Academic Chair of the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and by Dr. Shelley Duggan as the new Clinical Department Head, Edmonton Zone.
