For many in the medical community, Bill Hubbs is a magician. But instead of pulling a rabbit out of his hat, he pulled a CAT scanner out of a community. Now, after six years on the St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, Hubbs is stepping down.
"The support I got over the years was fantastic," Hubbs said in a recent interview. "In November 2005 when I said, 'Let's go for a CAT,' the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation said we could count on [raising] $1 million per year. We raised $2.7 million in nine months.
"The whole way it happened and how fast was amazing."
Hubbs has nothing but good words to say about the community and those who play supporting roles in raising health dollars on the Coast. He has particular praise for the St. Mary's Health Care Auxiliary.
Up and down the Coast the different chapters of the auxiliary work tirelessly to both raise money for the hospital and to make the hospital and care homes patients more comfortable.
According to Hubbs the auxiliary is the fourth largest contributor to health care in B.C.
"They're wonderful people, and they really stand out," are Hubbs' words on the auxiliary folks.
Bill is not the first Hubbs to be a part of the St. Mary's Foundation. As far back as the '60s there was a Hubbs on the board. Back then it was Harvey, Bill's dad, who was the mover and shaker in medical circles.
"I remember as a teenager my dad was the most hated person in Pender Harbour because he was shutting down the hospital [to move it to Sechelt]," Hubbs said.
But not all the Coast felt that way. According to a community newspaper at the time, when it came time to vote on the proposed move, the result was one of the largest votes on the Sunshine Coast with 1,477 for and 205 against the new hospital. Hubbs senior was hugely successful in obtaining 11 acres from the Sechelt Indian Band for the new hospital, a move the Band said was "two nations coming together for the importance of health care."
During Bill's six years on the Foundation board, he served as treasurer and the balance as chair. In recognition of his outstanding service to the board and the citizens of the Sunshine Coast, Hubbs was presented with a Greta Guzek original oil painting. Hubbs and his wife, Joyce (ironically, the daughter of Frederick Inglis, the first doctor on the Sunshine Coast) will remain on the Coast.
