jjablkowski's blog

In July 1956 I was the 18th doctor who entered medical practice on the North Shore of Vancouver. My office was located on Lonsdale Avenue, close to 14th street. I was the junior partner of Dr C.G. McNeil, one of the North Shore’s medical pioneers. We were centrally located and many of our patients could walk to our office; parking a car was also not an issue. I could walk to the North Vancouver General Hospital, built in 1922, with its 120 beds and the head nurse still living in the hospital. I could even walk to the office from our house, if I needed to.

Women’s hearts are victims of a system that is ill-equipped to diagnose, treat, and support them. 

The Heart & Stroke Foundation releases their 2018 Heart Report to unveil the differences between men and women’s heart health. 

The transition of a child from pediatric care to the adult health system is a significant and typically stressful event for young patients and their families. That’s particularly true when there are chronic health conditions, developmental disabilities, and genetic disorders involved. Children are now surviving complex disabilities, genetic conditions, and extreme prematurity, and we are seeing many more of these young patients in our practices.

I turned on my computer this morning and clicked on the Google webpage to do a search on aphasia, and, in particular, on Pierre Paul Broca, the celebrated neuroanatomist of the 1850s. To my irritation the Google logo was a cartoonish puzzle that I did not understand. There was a burning piece of toast, something that looked like a piece of a face, something that looked like a brain, and then a drawing of a man’s face. A bit annoyed for not being able to understand the logo’s message, I was about to continue with my intended search, when it suddenly dawned on me—the toast!

My interest in the origins of publicly funded medical care in BC, and Doctors of BC’s role in it, was renewed when the BC government announced a 50% reduction in Medical Service Plan premiums as of 1 January 2018.