Island Health’s chief medical health officer, who faced death threats when he led the charge to ban smoking in capital region bars and restaurants, will retire at the end of the year.
The health authority said it will begin an international search to replace Dr. Richard Stanwick when he leaves the role Dec. 31.
During his last few weeks on the job, Stanwick, 72, plans to remain focused on the province’s dual public health emergencies: the drug-poisoning crisis and the Island’s COVID-19 response.
Stanwick, who was not available for an interview Monday, said he looks forward to “publicly sharing some reflections on my career” closer to the end of December.
A pediatrician and epidemiologist, Stanwick became medical health officer for the Capital Regional District in 1995, then chief medical health officer in 2001.
He had previously worked as a pediatrician at St. Boniface Hospital and Winnipeg Children’s Hospital in Manitoba between 1979 and 1995, serving as assistant provincial epidemiologist in Manitoba in 1985, then later as Winnipeg’s medical health officer from 1990 to 1995.
In the capital region, he is perhaps best known for leading efforts to ban indoor smoking in restaurants and bars — a ban that became provincewide in 2000, was re-introduced in 2001 after opposition and court challenges, and came into effect in all provincial office buildings in 2002.
By 2008, smoking was prohibited in public spaces provincewide. Then in 2015, the Capital Regional District went further and banned smoking in parks, playgrounds, playing fields, bus stops and public squares anywhere in Greater Victoria. Buffer zones were created around doorways, windows and air intakes.
Stanwick was also be responsible for shutting down the Montreux eating disorders clinic, operated in Victoria by Peggy Claude-Pierre, who was said to have advised royalty and was once declared “an angel” by Oprah.
In 2011, the Capital Regional District, under Stanwick’s direction, became the first region in Canada to introduce a bylaw banning minors from using tanning salon beds, to reduce the chances of developing skin cancer later in life. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had provincial bans. A B.C.-wide ban followed in 2012.
Stanwick also pushed early on for a supervised-injection site for Victoria. Health Canada approved it in 2017 and the next year, the Pandora Supervised Consumption Centre on Pandora Avenue — now called the Harbour — opened. A temporary site for supervised inhalation across the street from the Harbour will open this month.
Stanwick received less flack for his advocacy for flu shots and booster seats for kids.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a statement Monday that Stanwick has played a pivotal role in tackling the province’s two ongoing health crises — the COVID-19 pandemic and the toxic drug supply — and has demonstrated the leadership and persistence needed to advance public health.
“You need tenacity to make change, and you have led with tenacity,” Dix told Stanwick.
Island Health president and CEO Kathy MacNeil said Stanwick’s compassion and relentless drive to improve the health of all people — in particular underserved and vulnerable populations — “has intertwined to the point that they are just simply part of his DNA.”
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Stanwick’s insightful perspectives and wisdom have made a lasting impact over the decades, including during the province’s current public-health emergencies.
“It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank him for his public service and invaluable contributions to the health of all people in our province,” said Henry, who also gave a nod to his “much valued humour.”
Stanwick earned $302,000 in the position in 2019-2020.
