Conversations In Complexity

Gordon McGregor, a member of the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Council, in an interview with Ross Upshur reflects upon his personal experience taking care of his wife in a span of nearly 30 years. His experience with the health system is what thousands of patients and family caregivers undergo on daily basis. The interview highlights both positive and not so positive aspects of care and the need to take care of the instances that patients might find rather inconvenient or challenging to overcome.  Mr. Gordon McGregor has personal experience with ALC as a bereaved caregiver. His devotion to a life taking care of his wife struggling with a severe type of mental disorder throughout the years, as well as his experiences as an advisor for different hospital councils, makes his experience indispensable in helping us understand the caregiver experience. In his ‘‘Books and Men’’1, Sir William Osler (1849–1919) wrote that “ To study the phenomenon of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea,