Dr. John Ashworth – September 16, 2016

Dr. John Ashworth, former Chief of Anesthesia at the Hamilton Civic Hospitals, passed away at St. Peter’s Hospital in Hamilton on September 16, 2016 in his 88th year. He was predeceased by his wife, June Kathleen Ashworth, and son, Andrew John Ashworth. He is survived by his sons Dominic, Stephen, and Timothy, his brother Peter, and his six grandchildren Maria, Christina, Leslie, Emma, Kristen, and Ethan.

Dr. Ashworth was a member of the anesthesia community in Hamilton when the McMaster Medical School arrived. He had graduated from Medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, England in 1955 and served in the British Army from 1947 to 1949. Following discharge from the army, he served as a house physician in three different hospitals in England before coming to Canada in 1958. Appointed staff physician at the Mountain Sanatorium in Hamilton in 1958, his job included giving anesthetics for thoracoplasty. He became interested in the field, completed studies at the University of Toronto, and returned to join the Anesthesia Department at the Hamilton General Hospital in 1962.

When Dr. Catton formed the Academic Department if Anesthesia in 1971, Dr. Ashworth was one of several Hamilton clinicians who participated. His initial scepticism about the approach to self-directed learning turned to enthusiasm as he was exposed to it, and his tutoring experience led him to become the Director of the Mixed Internship Program in 1979. His involvement continued and his file has several letters to the Deans of the era, commenting upon the risks inherent in supporting academic activity through reallocation of clinical earnings – prescient in light of the current achievements in Alternate Funding Plans.

He was an excellent and diligent clinician, and provided leadership for his clinical and academic departments during his career. He will be missed.