Citizenship Canadian Name Perry Kendall | Years active 1987-2015 | |
Full Name Perry Robert William Kendall Institutions Ministry of Health (British Columbia)Ontario Ministry of HealthCapital Regional DistrictCity of Toronto Institution Ministry of Health, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Vancouver Island Health Authority, Toronto | ||
Legacy dr perry kendall
Dr. Perry Kendall, OBC, MD, FRCPC (born 1943) is a Public health physician who is the first Provincial Health Officer (PHO) for the Canadian province of British Columbia's health ministry and was awarded the Order of British Columbia for contributions to Public health field and to harm reduction policy and practice.
Contents
- Legacy dr perry kendall
- Dr perry kendall public s discomfort with mental illness
- Early career
- Provincial Health Officer
- Public health topics during PHO tenure
- Recognition
- References
Dr perry kendall public s discomfort with mental illness
Early career
Born in the United Kingdom in 1943, Dr. Kendall completed his undergraduate medical training at University College Hospital Medical School in 1968 before spending a year as Senior House Officer at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.
In 1972 he moved to Toronto, Canada working in general practice at the Hassle Free Clinic. Over the next two decades, Kendall moved back and forth between the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. He moved to Vancouver in 1974 to work for the Vancouver Health Department's Pine Free Clinic and East Health Unit while acquiring a master's degree in Health Care Planning and Epidemiology and a Fellowship in Community Medicine. He then returned to Ontario in 1984 to work as a manager with the Ontario Ministry of Health until 1987, when he returned to British Columbia as Medical Officer of Health for the Capital Regional District, in which capacity he opened one of Canada's first needle exchange programs.
In 1989 he started a six-year career as Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto where he pioneered programs for HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention, established Harm Reduction as the official City policy for substance abuse, and city tobacco control by-laws. In 1995, Kendall was appointed President of the Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario, one of six academic health science centres in Toronto and a WHO Collaborating Centre, until consolidation with other organizations occurred in 1998.
Provincial Health Officer
The provincial government of Premier Glen Clark created the position of Provincial Health Officer (PHO) as an independent officer for the Ministry of Health through the Public Health Act
After a year serving as Vice-President, Seniors' Health, with the Capital Health Region in Victoria, British Columbia, Dr. Kendall was appointed as the first Provincial Health Officer for the province of British Columbia in May 3, 1999.
The Health Act outlines the role of the (PHO). As senior medical health officer for British Columbia, the PHO's responsibilities include:
Dr. Kendall also participates on a number of provincial and national committees and co-chairs the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network Council. As PHO, he worked with the Chief Medical Health Officers of the regional health authorities (e.g. Dr. John Blatherwick of Vancouver Coastal Health). Kendall appointed Evan Adams and Bonnie Henry as Deputy Provincial Health Officers.
In late 2014, Kendall announced he would retire as PHO in early 2015 but later rescinded his decision to retire for approximately a year.