Dr. George Burrows

DR. GEORGE MCLAUGHLIN BURROWS was born in Sutton on May 7, 1928, the fourth generation of his family to live in Georgina.

 

He received his MD from the University of Toronto in 1954. After completing his internship, he turned down the offer of a surgical residency in favour of pursuing Family Medicine in his home town.

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"There have been amazing changes in the last 50 years," noted Dr. Burrows in a 2006 interview. "When you look back to see what we were taught 50 years ago. If somebody had a coronary, you put them to bed for four to six weeks and hoped they survived. Now if you have a heart attack, they can operate on your coronary arteries right in the middle of the attack." 

 

Only hours after completing his final round as an intern at the Hospital for Sick Children he hung up his shingle on High Street in Sutton in 1956.

 

In those early years prior to OHIP he would often receive payments for service in pies, eggs and produce.

 

He never believed in unproven medication, so when the boxes of thalidomide began arriving from the drug company he immediately sent it back. It was while working seven days a week and often 24 hours on call he conceived the idea of a group practice that would provide the community with full time medical and emergency coverage while spreading the heavy workload among several doctors.

 

“ At the start when I was working alone for the first 4 or 5 years on some occasions I had a baby to deliver at the hospital and someone dying in the community. A solo practice really wasn’t the answer. So, instead of limiting patients, I chose to recruit doctors. The fact that this was a busy summer cottage area only added to the urgency.”

 

The town needed better coverage. This led Dr Burrows to take on the building and

founding of Georgina Medical Clinic on Dalton Road in 1961 which also served as an urgent care facility. His vision of Health care was reflected in this clinic. At the time the Georgina Medical Clinic was one of the most innovative and progressive clinics in the province.

 

It was state of the art - covering 24/7 call and even had a phone at the clinic door so that patients could directly contact the doctor on call. It housed a surgical procedure room for suturing and resuscitation, as well as an x-ray room.

The establishment of the new clinic eventually supported a group practice of 9 family doctors. It was not uncommon to have a baby delivered in the clinic due to the distance from York County Hospital. As no one provided house calls when Dr. Burrows arrived in Sutton, his mandate was to provide that service.

 

George made thousands of house calls over the years, spent countless hours in the hospital delivering babies ( averaging 80 deliveries a year), doing surgery, assisting in surgery, managing in-patients, working in the Emergency Dept, giving lectures, attending meetings and courses and sitting on committees.

On a couple of occasions he made the drive over the ice bridge to Georgina Island to attend emergencies under dangerous conditions. On one particular occasion the lake was not completely frozen, as it was early January. The emergency service vehicles refused to attempt the drive, so Dr. Burrows opened his car windows and drove with his door open so that he could escape if the car crashed through the ice. By the time he arrived two children were too injured too help but because of his quick action three were saved.

 

Dr. Burrows was one of the first doctors to be certified in the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 1970. He encouraged the rest of the doctors to do the same and the Georgina Medical Clinic became a rural teaching practice affiliated with the University of Toronto Medical school, earning Dr. Burrows the title of Professor.

 

During these years, Dr. Burrows and several other physicians were responsible for training medical students, second year Family Practice residents and nurse practitioners.

 

As well as being active in his family teaching practice, he worked regularly on short-term locums in under serviced areas of northern Ontario - Pickle Lake, Armstrong, Long Lac, and Ignace - as well as Stewart in northern British Columbia.

 

In 1999 due to the shortage of family physicians, he proposed to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to have three nurse practitioners join Georgina Medical Clinic.

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In 2006, Dr. Burrows was honoured to win FAMILY PHYSICIAN of the YEAR for Ontario by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. The winner is chosen by peers, community leaders and patients for their outstanding work in research, education, and community-building.

 

Dr Elizabeth McLean nominated him and in her submission she noted, “without him Georgina Medical would have closed several years ago as the doctor shortage peaked. He kept us going by supporting the clinic out of his own pocket and his own force of will.”

 

That same year he celebrated 50 years in family practice as well as his 50th wedding anniversary.

 

Dr. Burrows was adamant that family doctors live, work and volunteer in their community as he did. He was councillor in the village of Sutton for five years, and the first mayor of the Township of Georgina in 1971 after the amalgamation of Sutton, Georgina township and North Gwillimbury township. He sat another term as mayor in 1975 and as ward councillor in 1980. While on council he worked to improve subsidized housing, senior citizens’ apartments and recreational facilities.

 

He was member and chairman of the planning board for eight years, warden and active member of St James Anglican Church, member of the Sutton Public School Board, and supported subdivision policy whereby subdividers pay for their own roads and services, not taxpayers.

 

He was instrumental in implementing the addition of fluoride to the town’s water supply and a ban on smoking in public places; referring to the tobacco industry as the “ Merchants of Death.” Our municipality was the first in York county to pass the ban.

 

He helped establish the York Region Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Georgina Family Life Centre.

 

He avidly pursued acquisition of recreational areas for public use and at every opportunity supported acquisition of lake front property, stating it was a shame to have those who can’t afford to travel to pools or the provincial park to miss out on Lake Simcoe due to poor public access.

 

George never believed in turning a patient away. Bureaucracy for him never trumped compassion. He always fought for his patients and was a strong believer in home care, and preventative care.

“I’ve always said that most people live one life, a cat lives nine lives, but a family doctor is involved in thousands of lives. In essence you become part of each patient’s life.”

 

Dr. Burrows practiced medicine in Georgina for 59 years. His final house call was ten days before he died in May of 2015.

 

He is survived by his four kids and eight grandchildren. His wife of 59 years, Joyce Magnan Burrows, passed away in April of 2020. 

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The original clinic was lost to a fire in 2017 but has now been rebuilt and continues to serve the community of Georgina.

 

Dr. George Mclaughlin Burrows' life and legacy live on in the hard working nurse practitioners who now practice family medicine on the same property today, carrying on the legacy of community care and compassion he worked to realize over nearly 60 years.