THE PEOPLE’S DOCTOR
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s new medical officer of health, is following in the footsteps of her role model, Dr. Sheela Basrur
“I was raised in a household where . . . the expectation is to give back.” DR. EILEEN DE VILLA
When Dr. Eileen de Villa was a medical student doing hospital rotations in the late1990s, she came face to face with the horrors afflicting Toronto’s most vulnerable people.
Like the homeless man with diabetic vascular disease whose blood flow was so poor that maggots were feeding off the decaying tissue in his feet. Or the mentally ill woman who seemed to be doing better after a lengthy hospitalization only to commit suicide a couple weeks after being discharged. De Villa’s eyes well up at the memories. “(I saw) very complex medical situations that were clearly aggravated by social circumstances, income challenges, housing challenges, access to services challenges,” she says. “That was very formative for me.” Decades later, de Villa now has a vastly expanded role: As the city’s new medical officer of health, she is responsible for the well-being of 2.8 million Torontonians.
The 48-year-old oversees a department of 1,800 and an operating budget of $245 million — money used for a wide array of services, including combating West Nile virus and Lyme disease, ensuring food safety in restaurants, enforcing smoking regulations and preparing for a potential flu pandemic.
“She knows Toronto backwards and forwards, knows and understands the city’s diversity, knows and understands the social inequality issues,” says Councillor Joe Mihevc, who chairs Toronto’s board of health.
Mihevc also led the global search to replace the retired Dr. David McKeown. “What really impressed the selection committee is her focus on a sciencebased approach to public health.”
De Villa took over Canada’s largest municipal public health unit in late March. The job has the married mother of three young boys juggling responsibilities.
But she hasn’t forgotten the lessons learned as a University of Toronto med student: that an individual’s health can be determined by their social circumstances.
It is a notion that echoes the values imbued in her as a child.
Although de Villa had a privileged upbringing, her parents — Toronto cardiologist Dr. Maria Antonina “Nenette” de Villa, and her late father, Dr. Guillermo “Jun” de Villa, an obstetrician/gynecologist — drilled into her and brother Joey the importance of helping the less fortunate.
“I was raised in a household where the general teaching was, ‘You’ve been a very fortunate person; you’ve been afforded a great opportunity.’ And the expectation is to give back,” de Villa says during an interview at Toronto Public Health headquarters near Yonge and Dundas Sts.
Her childhood was filled with lively dinner table discussions about political tumult in the Philippines, the birthplace of her parents and older brother. Although de Villa was born in Boston — her parents had travelled to the U.S. for their medical residencies — the family returned to the Philippines in 1972. Her father had a large extended family there and wanted his kids to think of the country as home. That plan didn’t last long, however. In 1975, with the Philippines under martial law and the iron-fist rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the de Villas fled to Canada.
In Toronto, the de Villas became prominent members of the Filipino community. De Villa’s father joined a local anti-Marcos group in 1983, following the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. “These issues in the Philippines were front and centre in the minds of people here,” de Villa recalls.
By the early 1990s, de Villa’s mind was on her own career. She had completed a bachelor of science at McGill University, but the next step weighed heavily on her.
“Like many other young people, I thought, do I want to do exactly what my parents did (medicine)? Maybe not. There’s always a bit of forming your own identity, thinking that you don’t want to be constrained necessarily by your family’s history.”
A family friend mentioned that the United Nations offered internships. De Villa applied and got one in Vienna with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, which supports developing countries. Through this experience, she became interested in international health, or “community health” as it was termed at the time.
She then decided to purse a master’s degree in health science at U of T, specializing in health promotion. One of the requirements was securing work placements. She landed several more UN internships, including one with the secretariat for the International Conference on Population and Development.
“So I ended up with this wonderful blend of medical, health care and health system-related (knowledge) along with political and public policy aspects — which at the end of the day is public health,” says de Villa.
Embracing the idea of a medicine career, she entered U of T’s medical school. She graduated in 1998 and made one diversion — obtaining her MBA at the Schulich School of Business at York University — before beginning her residency, specializing in public health and preventive medicine.
One rotation landed her in the downtown head office of Toronto Public Health. That’s where de Villa first met the woman who would become a role model: Dr. Sheela Basrur, Toronto’s medical officer of health at the time.
De Villa witnessed Basrur’s leadership during both the garbage strike in the summer of 2002 and the SARS crisis in the spring/summer of 2003.
During the labour dispute, Basrur and her staff ordered cleanups when illegal dumping in public parks prompted concerns about rat infestations. During the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak — which killed 44 people in Canada and forced the quarantine of 25,000 Torontonians — Basrur became known for her highly visible leadership, her steady decision making and her calm, reassuring messaging.
“She talked openly with us (the public health team) about striking the right balance between making sure you’ve got public confidence and trust, while staying true to the evidence and the science.”
Basrur, who died in 2008 of a rare form of cancer, was a “master” at finding that balance, says de Villa.
In 2004, her residency completed, de Villa was appointed one of Peel Region’s associate medical officers of health. Her file included medical consultation, vaccination and prevention and control of communicable diseases such as TB, STDs and blood-borne infections. She was also responsible for helping to oversee the region’s air quality, and food and water safety.
Dr. Megan Ward, who began as an associate medical officer of health for Peel around the same time as de Villa and still holds the position, says de Villa helped to steer the department’s budget process and guide contract negotiations with public health nurses.
In her 10 years on the job, de Villa maintained an “extremely respectful” manner, especially in dealing with her staff, regardless of the individual’s role in the organization, says Ward.
“She’s extremely courteous to people. That comes out in terms of careful listening to what people are saying, (and) their perspective. She asks lots of questions, which demonstrates that she really wants to understand.”
Once, when de Villa had a heavy schedule of off-site meetings and was feeling detached from her staff, she got an espresso maker, put it on a push cart and visited different floors of Peel Region’s
public health headquarters talking to staff and delivering coffee. “It was very friendly,” Ward recalls. “There was no agenda.”
It is a kindness she inherited from her father, Guillermo, who was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for his contributions to public life. When he died in 2006 at age 67, those gathered at his funeral heard that Guillermo never wanted his family wealth to stand out. Although his family could afford to buy him proper shoes for school, he refused to wear them, “not wanting to appear snobbish or spoiled,” his son Joey said at the service, according to local Filipino newspaper Filipiniana.
In her eulogy, de Villa said: “I can see how Dad’s love has been woven into many lives and returned many times over. If we take that love and do with it as he did, lending an ear, a hand or a shoulder to those who need it . . . and working together for the betterment of our community, then he will live on . . .”
And so his spirit lives on, not only in de Villa’s professional life, but her personal one as well. She has volunteered for a number of organizations including the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Carolyn Hammond, a close friend of de Villa’s for 10 years, describes her as calm, level-headed and approachable.
As an example, Hammond, a wine columnist for the Star, recalls the time she and de Villa were downtown chatting over cheesecake and latte. A stranger sitting beside de Villa said hello to her in French, not knowing if she could speak the language. She can, and the two launched into a conversation in which the man explained he was a visitor from the Ivory Coast.
De Villa “just has this incredible openness to everyone,” says Hammond. “A lot of people would be nervous about talking to a stranger and wouldn’t engage. But that’s the way she is.
“It’s moments like this that are always so refreshing to see in a person, and wonderful to see in a friend.”
De Villa’s openness extends to those in her east-end neighbourhood, including an elderly couple who live next door with their 60-year-old son, who is blind and mentally challenged.
For many years, the couple was a huge support to de Villa, her husband and sons.
“They were superb gardeners. They were my regular supply of the best lettuce, beans and tomatoes. They always took care of us … (then) time marched on and the roles needed to reverse. I’m now better able to provide them with support and assistance, and I do,’’ de Villa explains, adding others in the neighbourhood pitch in as well.
“They’re an extended branch of my family,” de Villa says.
Amajor part of her relationship with the family is going for walks with the son. He is a sports fan and has a collection of jerseys and caps that he likes to air out once a year. “We take them out, hang them on the line . . . We sit and chat. That makes him happy and makes me happy.”
The couple’s older son, who doesn’t live at home and asked that the family not be identified, said his dad is 93 and his 89year-old mom has mobility issues. The plan is to have his parents and younger brother stay in their home as long as possible, and the support from de Villa is helping make that happen. “It’s a really warm relationship,” he says. It’s an example of the “engaged citizen” de Villa aims to be.
“(I have) the great fortune of being able to work professionally in an area that actually is about city building and community building,” she says. “To me, that is not a responsibility that stops when the work day is done.”
“She asks lots of questions, which demonstrates that she really wants to understand.” DR. MEGAN WARD ASSOCIATE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR PEEL