Central Island zone medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback announced his retirement following a long career in public health. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

leadership

Medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback to retire after leading Nanaimo through many health crises

Jul 9, 2020 | 1:16 PM

NANAIMO — There will be a new face of public health in the mid-island region

Medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback, who’s based in Nanaimo, announced Thursday, July 9 was his last day at an afternoon news conference.

Hasselback said he saw a dramatic shift in focus during his nine years with Island Health.

“We used to start off being worried about specific diseases. Now it’s big things like equity and treating people with compassion, fundamental values re-emerging as what’s going to be needed going forward,” he told reporters.

“If we want to stay healthy, there’s some really basic, fundamental things getting back to the surface.”

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In recent years Hasselback was at the centre of several health crises in the area, such as the rise in fatal overdoses, the creation and implementation of Nanaimo’s overdose prevention site and the increasing homelessness crisis.

He said the overdose crisis, which peaked in 2017 in B.C. and has recently resurged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has “unmasked” the many underlying problems with substance abuse.

“Alcohol is still a larger problem in this and most communities. The unmasking of substance use and substance use disorders and their impact on our health and social circumstances is something we need to learn from and adapt to address.”

At the peak in 2017, more than 150 people passed away in Nanaimo of a fatal overdose.

“Nanaimo was hit early and hard,” Hasselback said. “We innovated in this community, developed many of the strategies for response which were picked up and spread across the province.”

Hasselback also championed the semi-annual State of the Child report, which tracked how many youth were considered living in poverty and the challenges they faced.

“Actually, I think children have fallen off the agenda in recent years and I think that’s a problem for all of us. We’ve got a fourth crisis coming ahead…with how our children are adapting, their behaviours and family situations.”

His retirement closes a lengthy career which included medical health officer positions throughout B.C. and the prairie provinces and several years in family practice.

In 2000, he was awarded the Canadian Public Health Association award and the National Specialist Society for Community Medicine President’s Award in 2010.

No successor has yet been announced, but Hasselback said there will be continuity within the position.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt