Dr Gordon Gatward (Bud) Lott

1924–2009

Dr Gordon Gatward (Bud) Lott was born in Victoria on 19 May 1924 and died there, unexpectedly, 24 September 2009. For many years he was very active in the BCMA and, as well, with MD Management.

Born and raised in Victoria, his schooling was also in Victoria, including attendance at Victoria College (the predecessor to the University of Victoria) in the early years of the Second World War. Bud was an ardent rugby player for Victoria’s Crimson Tide Rugby Club and was vice-captain and scrum half for the Victoria College rugby team. 

At Victoria College he joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps and transferred to the Canadian Army in 1943. Following discharge from the army at the end of the war, Bud attended UBC to complete his premedical years and then went to McGill, where he received his MD in 1953. Internship at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria was followed by 7 years of general practice in Port Alberni. 

His general surgical training began with a rotating surgical internship at Shaughnessy Hospital, followed by 1 year of pathology at the Royal Jubilee. He completed his general surgical training with 2 years at the University of Iowa. General surgery specialty recognition was granted by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1965 and was followed by his American College of Surgery Fellowship in 1968. His entire surgical career was spent in Victoria.

Bud was a surgeon with very high standards. He was self-effacing and well liked. His abilities and his comfortable manner were appreciated by both his patients and his fellow physicians. He served his profession as president of the Victoria Medical Society for 3 years.

In 1973 Bud became a director of the BCMA, a position he held for 4 years. He also joined the Negotiating Committee in 1973, which was only the second year that the BCMA had a Negotiating Committee and the first year that negotiations actually took place. 

Prior to that, fiscal agreements between the BCMA and the government were developed in meetings between the health minister and the executive director of the BCMA, with no involvement of the membership. In 1974, Bud became chairman of the Negotiating Committee, a post he held for 8 years. 

As chairman of the Negotiating Committee, Bud set a very high standard for future negotiators to emulate. The membership found he was an energetic advocate who achieved significant results. 

In his initial negotiated agreement (1975), he managed to obtain a 26.9% raise in fees, and in 1981 he lead the committee to an agreement that increased fees by 39.99% (a 2-year settlement), the highest settlement ever obtained in the country. In fact, these raises were an indication of how far the fee schedule had fallen behind inflation during the 1970s. 

Bud had a reserved, low-key manner in negotiations. He was also trusted by the negotiators for the government, who respected his forthright but firm manner and his consistent honesty during the negotiating process. Such settlements helped significantly in offsetting the inadequacies of agreements from earlier years. 

The medical profession in BC owes Bud a deep gratitude for his achievements on the profession’s behalf. Dr Lott was awarded senior membership in the CMA in 1990.

In his private life, Bud was very active in many sports, and particularly enjoyed golfing at the Victoria Golf Club. He was continuing his exercises just days before his untimely death.

Our sympathy goes out to his wife, Pat, their son, Jamie, their daughters, Lori, Lesli, and Shelley, their three grandchildren, and his older brother, Joe. As well, our sincere gratitude is extended to his family for allowing Bud to devote so much time and energy to the interests of the BCMA membership.
—M. Graham Clay, MD
Vancouver
—Norman D. Finlayson, MD
Shawnigan Lake