He's received more than 70 letters of recommendations from colleagues, patients and patients' family members that detailed Dr. Paul Sugar's high level of care. In June, he was named the 2012 Gold Apple winner and Vancouver Coastal Health and Provincial Health Care Hero. Dr. Sugar is a palliative care physician at the Lions Gate Hospital and North Shore Hospice. On Bowen, he is well known for going the extra mile, and across the waters of Howe Sound, to care for patients on the island.
Laura Starsoneck, a cancer patient, was under Dr. Sugar's care when she stayed on Bowen Island. She said, "I would like to say how caring, thoughtful and intentional he was with me. He cared about me as both a patient and a person and he treated me with much grace and care. He made time for me when I needed him most and did whatever he needed to do in the moment to care for me best."
That Dr. Sugar is available for his patients whenever he is needed often comes up in conversations about his work. Colleen O'Neil, a nurse who lives on Bowen Island, said that she at one point asked him whether he would be available 24/7, whether he would pick up his phone no matter of time of day or night and he answered 'yes' without hesitation. "This was very reassuring to professionals, family and friends alike," she said.
Charles McNeill echoed that sentiment. Charles and Joan McNeill came to Bowen in August 2011 because Joan, a cancer patient, wanted to spend her remaining time in the place she loved. Her doctors in New York had assured the couple that she did not need to be near a hospital as she was no longer receiving any further treatment.
Charles McNeill remembers that move to Bowen vividly. "On the first night, Joan coughed up blood," he said. "We called the doctors in New York and they were shocked and concerned and told us we needed to get her to a hospital immediately because they suspected that the cancer had eaten into her artery and was going into her heart. That would have been a terrible situation." McNeill called the ambulance and also spoke to Dr. Sugar. "Joan was almost in a coma but when she woke up, she said, 'I'm not going anywhere,'" he said, adding that he had to call back to cancel the ambulance.
After that incident, Dr. Sugar came to meet with Joan. "He read her the riot act," McNeill recalled. "He asked her, 'What would you say if I would strongly advise that you should be sent to a hospital or a hospice?' And Joanie looked at him and said, 'Then I'd say that you're not my doctor.' Dr. Sugar understood that he was dealing with someone who was managing every detail of her last weeks and he was willing to engage with her on her own terms."
McNeill said that Dr. Sugar had been advised that this was a dangerous situation because of the remoteness of the location the McNeill's property lies at the end of Mt. Gardner Road. He also knew what the last phases could be like for a cancer patient but he was willing to help. And he was available anytime. "He would check in every day or so. If he hadn't heard from us, he would call," McNeill said. "With [Dr. Sugar's] help, we were able to deal responsibly with the situation and Joan had three weeks of glorious time with her family. If we'd have gone with everybody else's advice, they would have sent her away," McNeill said.
"Dr. Sugar enabled a quality of life that wouldn't have been possible otherwise," McNeill said, adding that his wife was happy all the way to the end no matter how much pain she had to endure. "Two days before she died, she was sitting on the deck and told me, 'I'm so happy,'" he said.
It was not only Joan who benefited from Dr. Sugar's dedication it was her husband Charles, family and friends who shared that special time with her. McNeill has returned to Bowen Island recently to release her ashes and said, "There were a number of people there who told me again and again how many people she inspired and uplifted in that special period. We all learned so much what a dignified and blessed death could be. We don't know what we would have done without Dr. Sugar."
Dr. Sugar specialized in palliative care after working for 30 years as a family physician. He makes home visits and asks families to call him at any time, a service that gives great comfort to his patients, especially if they are one boat-ride away from hospital care.
