Dr. Susan J. Harris

Written By: Ms. Lee Saxell,

Department Head, Department of Midwifery

Dear friends and colleagues of Sue's,

It is with a heavy heart that Sue's family announces her passing May 17, 2009, at 05:15, in her bedroom, in the home where she raised her children, at 59 years old. She was surrounded by her family; her mother Marion, her husband Ron, her children Jonathon, Amy and David and their partners. They held her in their loving arms while she passed over to the other side.

This past year saw Sue winning many well-deserved awards. She received the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons Award of Excellence, as well as the Reg L. Perkin Award from the College of Family Physicians. This is awarded each year to 10 of the most outstanding family physicians in Canada. Her nomination was put forward by her peers, other health care colleagues, community leaders and patients.

In May 2008, she also received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award. This award honours women whose outstanding achievements contribute to the health and future of the community and is recognized nationally as one of the most prestigious awards for women. When she was presented with this award in May 2008, at the YWCA's Awards Gala Dinner in Vancouver, she had 90 boisterous supporters (many from BCWH) in attendance to celebrate and cheer her on.

Sue was well known for her motto: "We have got to do something about this!" She was an exceptional leader in woman-centered care and always brought this perspective to the table. She would not tolerate planning that did NOT place the woman and her family at the center of decision-making. She had no patience for anything less.

A visionary for innovation, Sue implemented a new model of care within her medical practice to improve health outcomes for her patients. Called The Family Practice Centre, it incorporates nurse practitioners and dieticians and was one of the first practices in B.C. to implement an electronic medical record. Since then, Sue has been a mentor for many family physicians adopting EMRs.

At BC Women's Hospital, as Head of the Department of Family Practice over the past five years, Sue championed the discipline of Family Practice physicians. To quote her, "Family Practice remains the most challenging of disciplines, with relationships with people from all walks of life and generations, so it gives you a real connection to community. I feel so lucky to have chosen it..." Her eldest son Jonathon will share her passion for Family Practice when he graduates in 2010 with a sub-specialty in emergency medicine. Jonathon is well known for being a brilliant, caring young man who seems to be good at everything he does - like his mom. His friends and colleagues report how inclusive he is in his medical practice and how dedicated he is. We suspect he will continue to express Sue’s values in the world, in his own way.

If you review Sue's CV, she was a teacher and clinical mentor to countless students of many disciplines and was a champion of inter-disciplinary learning. She was passionate about inter-disciplinary learning, as well as care, believing collaboration offered the best possible care to families.

In 2004, Sue co-founded the South Community Birth Program (SCBP) for the ethnically diverse and under-serviced families in South Vancouver. She led an innovative approach to maternity care, one in which family physicians and midwives share patient care and work closely with nurses and doulas. She pioneered the Centering Pregnancy (CP) model of group prenatal care and was particularly good at leading groups. She brought this concept forward and CP group care is now also offered in the BCWH Family Practice Maternity Service. It was Sue’s idea at SCBP to integrate doulas into our care. She also pushed the team to include an electronic medical record in the SCBP program, which our team embraced kicking and screaming. Today, her partners at SCBP are eternally grateful to her for both of these initiatives.

On May 4, 2009, Sue was unanimously voted in by the membership of the Midwives Association of BC, and became a Honourary Midwife, for her outstanding contribution and support of midwifery in the province. She is the first physician in B.C. to receive this honour. She was so happy to share membership in the MABC with her daughter, Amy, currently in her 3rd year of the UBC midwifery program. Amy will graduate in 2011. At SCBP, we were so happy to have Amy as our student last year. All of her preceptors have noted that Amy is a natural-born midwife. Simply said, she is her mother's daughter.

Sue truly believed that everyone should follow their passion and she admired her youngest child, David, for pursuing his dream and for not entering the medical world as his two older siblings and his parents had done. David, quieter than his siblings, has a depth and strength that go far beyond his years. Sue respected that he moved to the beat of his own drum.

So many of the staff at BCWH have inquired about Sue since her cancer diagnosis in 2008. She was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern from her BCWH family. She put up a passionate fight against her cancer and lived longer than many predicted. The week after her diagnosis she contacted her colleague, friend and neighbour, Karen Buhler, and said, “I need to come to terms with this spiritually. I need to learn to meditate and I need to learn fast!” Sue joined Karen and a small circle of women who meditated weekly. It soon became apparent that the teaching was going both ways; Sue’s open-hearted inquiry, as she spent preparing for her death, was a privilege for the mediation group to share. She deepened her connection to the Jewish faith of her husband and children, without losing the spiritual values and beliefs she received in her Christian upbringing. A few weeks ago she said to her meditation group, “I know where I am going, and I am not afraid.” May we all be so fortunate, to have lived such a full life, to have touched so many others.

I asked her once what made her marriage to Ron last 30 plus years and this is what she said about him: "He has the capacity for great joy and love, which most people, including me, have trouble experiencing. You should have seen him the day our children were born: he glowed and floated on a cloud for weeks. And the day our children were married, look at the pictures; he was so happy. He knows how to love and he loves me unconditionally." We all saw Ron care for Sue so very tenderly and lovingly this past year - and we knew exactly what she meant…

Sue told me that after her terminal diagnosis many people commented that it was unfortunate she hadn't retired earlier. This surprised her as she passionately loved her work and, looking back, she would not have changed a thing. But the very day she was diagnosed with cancer, she cleaned out her hospital office and never came back. She knew she wanted to spend every last minute, with her family.

And like everything else Sue did, she did her dying well - preparing for it, comforting others about it, meditating and coming to peace with dying. All of us fortunate to be involved in her life and illness have learned so much from her through her process of dying. She was a natural born leader and a teacher, right up to the end of her life. She experienced her death with incredible courage and insight into what is important and what life is all about.

The Callanish Society in Vancouver was an immense support to Sue. She met many wonderful people there, who supported her in her journey, and they too felt honoured and privileged to walk along side her.

We will miss her so very, very much.

In lieu of flowers, Sue requests donations in her honour be made to one of the following:
The Sue Harris Family Practice Research Fund online at http:www.bcwomensfoundation.org (write Sue Harris Fund in the comments) or by mail to: BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre Foundation Room D310, 4500 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3N1 or

The Callanish Healing Retreats Society: http://www.callanish.org/donations.htm or

The Steven Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Project http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/grandmothers.htm