Daniel Gericke

Daniel looks after all aspects of the hyperbaric treatment provided at the facility. He served in the South African Navy Marines and Diving Unit, specializing in underwater explosive clearance, as well as teaching the technique. He became the Director of the South African Navy Decompression Chamber Program, treating HBOT patients in addition to decompression illness.

 He is responsible for a lot of firsts in the hyperbaric field. He founded the first multiplace hyperbaric medical centre in South Africa at Saint Augustine’s Hospital in Durban and then followed this up by establishing a sister monoplace facility at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg. The first hyperbaric chamber for Milpark wasn’t just purchased. It was designed and constructed specifically for the facility.

The Partners

From the start, Daniel and Deane wanted to create a clinic that patients would look forward to visiting. A welcoming environment highlighting nature and music to put patients at ease. Nobody having to take a number. No impersonal call-out of your name. No disturbing posters on the wall. Instead, they wanted an environment where you would be greeted on arrival and immediately made to feel at home.

Both have given considerable time to non-profit work in the medical field over many years and each brings complementary qualifications to the table.

Daniel has 30 years’ experience in hyperbarics and has gained this experience in many locations. Moving to Bermuda, he became Safety Director at the Bermuda Hospitals Board and the Island’s multiplace facility achieved its first safety accreditation. Due to Daniel’s stewardship, Bermuda’s King Edward Memorial Hospital Hyperbaric Centre was chosen as a Divers Alert Network (DAN) Preferred Provider Facility. Daniel was nominated as DAN International’s Top Instructor Trainer.

Later in Canada, Daniel was Technical and Safety Director at the Judy Dan Research & Treatment Centre in north Toronto. He also worked part time at Toronto’s Rouge Valley Hyperbaric Centre. With a particular ability to explain HBOT in terms that are easily understood, he has given generously of his time to others setting up hyperbaric facilities and has provided talks on various aspects of hyperbarics at both ends of the country.

 He served two terms as Secretary of the Canadian Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Association (CUHMA), participating in putting together CUHMA’s Guidelines to the Practice of Hyperbaric Medicine in Canada. He also assisted with several Hyperbaric Clinic Risk Assessments and has been part of the planning committees for CUHMA conferences. Although at some distance, he currently serves as HBO Chamber Operations Training Director for the Southern African Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Association (SAUHMA). 

Deane Nesbitt Jr.

Deane looks after the legal, financial and public relations aspects of the facility. He has been a member of numerous boards, seven being hospital or health related, and currently is on a board of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. He obtained a certificate in the Fundamentals of Hyperbaric Medicine from Simon Fraser University and is familiar with HBOT from a patient’s perspective. He is not a scuba diver, but has spent time at higher altitudes, flying a Cessna 150.

After studying law at McGill, he practised first with a firm (now Borden Ladner Gervais) and then on his own, obtained a certificate from the Owner-President Management Program at the Harvard Business School, co-founded an investment management company in Toronto (subsequently sold after 20-plus years), served on the board of Nesbitt Thomson (now BMO Nesbitt Burns), wrote an illustrated history about the company, and then pursued his life-long interest in music full time.  

Deane’s music has had airplay on over 300 stations across North America and has been performed in Toronto at Massey Hall, Nathan Phillips Square and the Canadian National Exhibition by the Canada Pops Orchestra. He wrote the soundtracks for a film featuring Jane Goodall, as well as for a one about World War II, featuring veterans and original footage from the war, which was screened at the Canadian War Museum. The Lincoln Concert Band commissioned him to compose a piece for the Canada 150-year celebrations in Niagara. His music is endorsed by the Canadian Institute of Stress for its restorative qualities and it helps contribute to the tranquil atmosphere of the facility.

In the 1990s, Deane acquired the rights to the name of the Packard motor car for Canada, with the intention of producing a 1999 100th Anniversary edition. An automotive company in Ontario was ready to manufacture the car. However, General Motors in Detroit contested the project, maintaining that the public would confuse the car with its company, Packard Electric. The Packard Motor Car Company and Packard Electric had previously coexisted with different owners for over 25 years, but a delay in law can be as good as a win. When GM dropped the claim over two years later, it had accomplished its goal of thwarting the project, for it was too late to produce the car for Packard’s anniversary. Fortunately, the inspiration for the project, pictured above, is still around, together with the company formed for the purpose, which is now Gericke-Nesbitt Inc

The Facility

With special attention to individual needs, the facility strives to provide a warm, welcoming and tranquil environment for patients undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy. In that connection, it draws on the beauty of nature – with its forest murals, greenery and clean wood finishes – as well as music, including Deane’s.

The clinic’s six chambers are among the most spacious and comfortable in the industry. Although the clinic is upscale, patients do not have to pay the cost of the hyperbaric treatment for any one of the 14 specific conditions outlined by the UHMS. Those costs are looked after by OHIP. 

The facility’s team includes Medical Director, Dr. Joseph Kay, who is a hyperbaric and diving medicine physician as well as a Transport Canada Marine Medical Examiner, and Clinic Manager, Tanya Dort, who has over 25 years’ experience in frontline patient care and who meets patients with a warm welcome that makes them feel very much at home. 

The operation’s logo is the baobab tree with branches forming the initials G and N. Known as the “tree of life,” this amazing tree stores water in its enormous trunk and can produce fruit when everything around it is affected by drought. 

Halton Hyperbarics – Gericke-Nesbitt Regenerative Medicine are both registered names of Gericke-Nesbitt Inc.)

Left to right: Ramy Moussa, CHT, Deane Nesbitt Jr., Partner, Daniel Gericke, Partner, Olu Adelekan, Clinic Assistant/Patient Coordinator, Tanya Dort, Clinic Manager, Alexa von Steun, CHT in training, Dr. Joseph Kay, Medical Director, Uzma Hussain, CHT in training, March 2023