Meet Bruce, the new local medical director for Sechelt/Gibsons

For long-time Sunshine Coast residents, Dr. Bruce Robinson likely needs no introduction. If they haven’t been his patient, they’ve likely encountered him on local golf courses, heard him strumming his guitar or observed him walking his three Siberian huskies Taglu, River and Neenah with his wife Lesley.

The well-respected family physician, who started his working life as a shipbuilding welder back in New Brunswick before studying medicine at Dalhousie University, has been a fixture on the coast for nigh on a quarter of a century.

Despite his busy private practice, Bruce has happily taken on a new responsibility. In July, he became the local medical director for Sechelt/Gibsons, filling a role vacated by Dr. Sara Wadge.

VCH News caught up with the former Maritimer to talk about his love for the Sunshine Coast and his patients, how health care has changed over the last 25 years in the area and what his goals are as the new local medical director.

A brief history of Bruce

As much as he enjoyed a welder’s income, Bruce was less keen on the daily dose of soot and scratchy eyes and so turned his attention back to his initial career plan – studying medicine.

On the suggestion of a chief resident back in Halifax, Bruce travelled west to the coast for a locum and never left. It wasn’t just the mild temperatures, the ability to play golf year round or marvelling at red-tail hawks, eagles and pods of Orcas from the comfort of his deck that kept him in rural B.C. His patients and fellow doctors also anchored him to the Sunshine Coast.

“My patients have been a wonder and an inspiration to me for this whole time. It would be so hard to leave that family,” says Bruce. “Also, I work with the best group of docs and medical professionals you could ask for. But meeting my wife Lesley sealed the deal, as it were. Couldn’t leave if I wanted to after that.”

25-year overview

Practicing over such a long period of time has given Bruce a unique perspective on the changes and advances made in health care delivery in a rural setting. He says electronic medical records (EMRs) have been one of the most radical changes in his profession.

“They have changed the way we do our office work and that learning curve has been pretty steep. It is amazing how disruptive easy access to your office can be when it’s only a modem/WiFi/ iPhone away,” he says.

High-quality staff

One other notable change, he says, is the quality of RNs, residents, students and new doctors.

“I am just amazed by how smart they are. I see that in the long term our new doctors and nurses will be able to mix their lives and work in such a way as to maximize their productivity without risk of burn out as we’ve had in the past.”

Bruce has also been delighted to see more social work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other allied partners in medicine.

“The quality and commitment here is also very high. The next stage will move this whole package closer to our patients through the concept of Primary Care Homes / Patient Medical Homes which hope to integrate all of these services into community outside the confines of the hospital. It’s an exciting time.”

In his role as the local medical director, one key issue emerging is end of life care and how the new medically assisted death legislation fits into the local medical community.

“It’s a bit of a challenge personally to deal with these issues and I suspect I will get a lot more questions asked of me,” says Bruce, whose professional interests include geriatric and palliative care. “How this will be integrated into our local community of practice remains to be seen. If I can improve our palliative services locally I will feel very satisfied. We’ve done well in the last few years but we could do so much better.”

Shifting demographics

As much as the Sunshine Coast has come to be known as a retirement community, younger folks priced out of the Lower Mainland housing market are starting to move in.

“For the future, I suspect we’ll see a younger demographic as this area becomes a real bedroom community for Greater Vancouver and we’ll see a shift in services as that occurs,” says Bruce. “I’ve done a few intimidating things in my time but following Dr. Sara Wadge as local medical director has to be near the top of the list. If I can perform my duties half as well with half the style that she has I’ll consider that a success – and many would consider it a miracle.”