The family of the late Sudbury orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Alan McCluskey, is calling on the Northern Ontario medical community to help grow a scholarship fund in their father's memory.
The Northern Healthcare Leadership Bursary will be awarded annually to a student at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine who identifies an area of weakness in the North's health-care system and proposes a solution to address it.
Ken McCluskey began practicing as an orthopedic surgeon in Sudbury in 1960 and never really retired, said his son, Dr. Stuart McCluskey, an anesthesiologist at Toronto's University Health Network.
Born July 19, 1923 in the village of Sorbie on the west coast of Scotland, Ken studied Medicine at the University of London and did his internship in General Surgery and Neurosurgery at St. Bartholemew's Hospital. He came to Canada in 1958 to do a fellowship at Toronto General Hospital and was joined by his wife Aileen and sons Ian and Alastair one year later.
According to Stuart, "he was supposed to come to Sudbury for one year, and ended up staying the rest of his life."
Ken performed thousands of back surgeries until the early'90s, following which he maintained an office and did consulting for the Workplace Safety Insurance Board. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer of 2009 and passed away a few months later in his 86th year.
The bursary was established with funds from Ken's estate, as well as contributions from family, friends and colleagues, but the family hopes that Northern Ontario's medical community will take ownership of it. The bursary has two objectives - to highlight and address gaps in the region's health-care system and to help medical students at NOSM cover annual tuition fees of $17,000. The bursary will start off with a modest disbursement of $5,000, but there is hope that it will grow in future years. Any student entering first, second of third year at NOSM will be eligible.
"It's a real need for these kids to go to school and not end up with an $85,000 debt when they graduate," said Stuart.
Students applying for the bursary will be asked to write an essay identifying an area of weakness in the delivery of health care in Northern Ontario, and propose a solution.
"Health care in Northern Ontario is pretty good," said Stuart, "but, clearly, there are a lot of areas where it can be improved."
The bursary will serve as a memorial to Ken who came to Sudbury in response to a need for orthopedic surgery in the North.
Ken is survived by his four children, Alastair, Ian, Stuart and Fiona, all of whom grew up in Sudbury.
Contributions to the Northern Ontario Medical Development Bursary may be made through the Northern Ontario School of Medicine by calling 1-800-461-8777.
