Tributes Pour In For Dr. Sheela Basrur
Posted June 2, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They are the kind of tributes you might expect to hear when a beloved celebrity dies. Yet the accolades pouring in for Dr. Sheela Basrur are both appropriate and most definitely heart felt. The former Toronto and Ontario Medical Office of Health may have succumbed to brain cancer on Monday, but it’s clear the amazing reputation and impression she made on others will live on.
Dr. Donald Low, the infectious disease specialist at Mt. Sinai Hospital, who was Basrur’s frequent seatmate during this city’s tense SARS interrogations in 2003, notes his colleague’s contributions won’t soon be forgotten.
“She was just an amazing person, and everybody saw that during SARS,” he recounts. “They saw her calm and confident and you know, she was able to demonstrate during the toughest times what we had to deal with … I mean … how people didn’t respond like you saw in some of the Asian countries where everyone on the street was walking around wearing [masks] and people knew they were getting the straight goods from her, and it made a difference.”
Low knew she was ill, but had no idea the end was so near. “She keeps a stiff upper lip, and she was positive and you never know when things are tough with her, and this just tells us, you know, exactly her character. This is a big surprise to all of us that don’t see her on a daily basis.”
Federal Health Minister Tony Clement, who was in the same post in Ontario during the SARS outbreak, calls her a “unique” person who can’t be replaced. “I was trying to think of the right words … and what I came up with was humanity,” he relates. “She was so empathetic to the situation. She had a great bedside manner as a doctor, and I also think reassurance is the word that came to mind when I saw her sitting beside me at those news conferences.”
The man who succeeded him may be from another party, but for once, both agree. “She lifted everybody up, everybody that she worked with, she made them better,” confirms George Smitherman. “When Ontario reached out to her and made her our Chief Medical Officer of Health, the thousands of people who work in public health were made better on that day because they knew that they had the best possible leader.”
CityNews Medical Specialist Dr. Karl Kabasele had Dr. Basrur as his boss when he was doing his residency. He’ll never forget the lessons she taught him.
“She was a master communicator … And she was a great mentor, and I remember … one of the things she would often say is the importance of looking upstream, and she used the metaphor, and when you look at the health problem, and they don’t start the minute a patient walks into your office, and often times at a population level, upstream there are problems that lead to people getting sick and that’s part of the mandate in public health and community medicine, and kind of address the issues that can then lead to better health overall in the community.”
Lt. Governor David Onley also considered her a friend and saw her last in April, when he presented her with the Order of Ontario. But he also used to be an anchor at CityNews and shudders to remember those first SARS days when “police line tapes [were] going up around hospitals in Toronto, and it was like we were in the middle of a scene out of a movie, and it was real. It was happening, and people were literally dying.”
But Basrur had a way of calming the fears. “What emerged very, very quickly is that Dr. Basrur had this ability … of taking very complicated situations and distilling it down to every day terms that the layperson, including us as reporters, could understand and what we could and what we could not say to the general public as we were reporting the crisis day by day.
“I remember very clearly we’re in the different lineup meetings that were held in the newsroom – and I am positive this must have taken place in newsrooms across the province – you know a particular angle of a story might be pursued, and invariably someone would say ‘that’s not what Dr. Basrur said,’ and she became the arbiter of what was happening in the province, and as a result, I think, brought some calm and some reason to a situation that quite frankly was frightening, especially in the early days.”
Premier Dalton McGuinty issued a statement on Ontario’s former Medical Officer of Health. “She was a woman of great courage and she always had the strength to give her best advice, no matter what,” he reminds. “When Ontario needed her most, she was the calm voice that guided our way.”
Those thoughts were echoed by Mayor David Miller. “When SARS struck in 2003, the leadership of Sheela Basrur – our then Medical Officer of Health – calmed an anxious city by counselling residents to confront the outbreak with knowledge instead of fear,” he explains. “It was the ever-courageous Dr. Basrur who stepped forward to become both Toronto’s face and its voice to a worried world.”
We all knew that public face of the doctor. What was she like in private? “You know, irreverent. Dry wit,” explains Sujiit Choudhry, one Basrur’s closest friends. “She could be sarcastic and teasing in a lovely kind of way. Intelligent. Caring. Compassionate and again, over the last couple of years, she showed remarkable courage.”
Basrur is survived by a daughter, her parents and a remarkable reputation that already survives her.
Statement By Premier Dalton McGuinty
I was deeply saddened when I heard today of the passing of Dr. Sheela Basrur.
She was a remarkable woman and her passion for public service is what made her such an extraordinary Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario.
Even when her own health demanded her attention, I know she struggled with the decision to leave her post and concentrate on her treatment.
Today we are saddened by this loss, but we also celebrate the gift that was Sheela’s life and her work.
She was a woman of great courage and she always had the strength to give her best advice, no matter what.
When Ontario needed her most, she was the calm voice that guided our way.
Ontarians will remember her for her leadership during the SARS crisis, but I will remember her for her warm friendship, and her wisdom.
My thoughts and prayers today are with her family and her friends – especially her parents, and her daughter, Simone.
Statement from the City of Toronto
Mayor David Miller today extended condolences to the family and friends of former Medical Officer of Health Dr. Sheela Basrur and expressed gratitude for her commitment to the health of the residents of Toronto.
“We have lost an extraordinary Torontonian, a woman whose incredible wisdom and boundless compassion helped guide our city through some of its difficult periods in recent history,’ said Toronto Mayor David Miller.
“When SARS struck in 2003, the leadership of Sheela Basrur – our then Medical Officer of Health – calmed an anxious city by counselling residents to confront the outbreak with knowledge instead of fear. It was the ever-courageous Dr. Basrur who stepped forward to become both Toronto’s face and its voice to a worried world.
“On behalf of City Council and all Torontonians, I want to express my deepest condolences to Sheela’s family, friends and everyone who was touched by her remarkable life.’
Dr. Basrur was the first Medical Officer of Health for the newly amalgamated City of Toronto, appointed in 1998. Prior to amalgamation, she served for six years as Medical Officer of Health in East York. Dr. Basrur was appointed as Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health in 2004 and resigned from her duties in 2006 when she was diagnosed with cancer.
“We are grateful to have had a leader like Dr. Basrur. Not only was she committed to making Toronto a healthy city for everyone, she was a dedicated leader who inspired her staff to be the best they could be,” said Shirley Hoy, City Manager for Toronto.
As Medical Officer of Health for Toronto, Dr. Basrur led several ground-breaking initiatives, including DineSafe, a program that gave the public access to restaurant inspection results. Dr. Basrur also led the development and implementation of Toronto’s no smoking bylaw, and the bylaw against non-essential pesticide use.
“Dr. Basrur was an outstanding leader in the field of public health,” said Dr. David McKeown, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto. “She exemplified the highest standards of professional achievement in everything she did, and she personified the attributes of hard work, good humour and selfless dedication. We will all miss her.”
