Dr. John Blatherwick, former chief medical health officer, receives honorary degree

Dr. John Blatherwick, former VCH chief medical health officer, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from UBC last week, as recognition of his outstanding contributions to improving the health and well-being of Canadians, and his dedication to serving our country.

Upon his retirement last year, Dr. Blatherwick was Canada’s longest-serving medical health officer. He served as a B.C. medical health officer for 36 years and as the chief medical health officer in Vancouver for 23 years. As one of British Columbia’s best-known public health advocates, Dr. Blatherwick was the driving force behind a number of important initiatives including leading Vancouver's public health response to the SARS epidemic, advocating for harm reduction programs for injection drug users which resulted in the opening of Insite and campaigning against exposure to tobacco smoke which led to the establishment of municipal smoking bylaws and reducing population exposure to second-hand smoke.

Dr. Blatherwick is also the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for his work in public health, the George Elliot Award for lifetime contribution to public health in British Columbia and the Silver Medal of Service from the BC Medical Association.