Dr John Whelan, 1943–2024

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 67, No. 1, January February 2025, Obituaries
By: Bruce Patterson, MD

Dr John Whelan

The psychiatry community in Vancouver lost one of its treasures with the passing of Dr John Whelan in April 2024. John succumbed to ALS in hospice care, surrounded by the love of his life, Dell, and his beloved daughters, Ciara and Julie.

John was born in Galway, Ireland, and came to Vancouver in 1969 for his residency in psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. He had a private practice in Vancouver and established the psychiatric day hospital at the old St. Vincent’s Hospital. He is best known, though, as a pillar of the psychiatry consultation service at Vancouver General Hospital.

Consultation psychiatry brings the psychiatrist into the busy medical and surgical wards of our hospitals. It brings mental health expertise to the challenges staff and patients face in those settings.

John was a unique human being. He was calm, soft-spoken, and a superb listener. His advice to residents was always “Sit down with the patient. Don’t be in a hurry. If you listen very carefully to their story, you will get your diagnosis.”

John’s gentle approach was also powerfully therapeutic, a balm for patients and staff alike. Modern medicine tends to operate on the notion that medical treatment means pharmaceutical or surgical intervention. John taught us that a physician’s very personhood can be a potent force for healing.

John will be missed, but his legacy continues in the work being done by the trainees who were exposed to his remarkable example of humanity.

I feel very blessed to have known John.
—Bruce Patterson, MD
Vancouver

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Bruce Patterson, MD. Dr John Whelan, 1943–2024. BCMJ, Vol. 67, No. 1, January, February, 2025, Page(s) - Obituaries.


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