For those of you who didn’t know him, he was an orthopedic surgeon, accomplished researcher, tireless advocate for the use of evidence to improve the health care system, and a mentor and role model for many of us.
We have lost much intellectually. But what hurts the most is that we have lost someone who had such passion about what he was doing, and who did it because he wanted to make the lives of patients better (especially the Albertans he loved so much). No matter what obstacles were in his way (and there were often many), he always had a twinkle in his eye and would say reassuringly “Don’t worry – we’ll get there”. He was a glass-half-full kind of guy. It was always so much fun sharing a drink or a coffee with Cy, scheming about what to do next.
Cy believed passionately that patients and the public need to be deeply involved in the design and management of the system. He was incredibly supportive of Healthy Debate – Alberta Innovates Health Solutions is a generous sponsor.
All of us at Healthy Debate thank Cy for everything he has done and mourn his loss.
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I was profoundly saddened to read about Dr. Frank’s untimely death.
I had the honor and privilege to work with Dr. Frank at the Health Council of Canada – Dr. Frank as our distinguished Councillor from Alberta and I as Council Liaison to the Board of Directors.
He was without doubt a wonderful and gentle human being. The Health Council was very fortunate to have such a person of his committment and extensive experience on all health care matters on their Board. Not only does he have a place of distinction among all health care providers and experts in Canada and indeed the world, he also has a place of distinction in the hearts of so many people he has aided throughout the years. He will be missed.
May God bless his gentle soul and may his memory be eternal.
Respectfully,
Mary Maniates
Dr. Frank was an incredible individual and as expressed above, had a passion for health care system improvement and always trying to find a better way. My lovely wife and I were lucky enough to sit with him at dinner held by the Alberta Medical Association where they were both honored with Medals for their contributions to healthcare in Alberta. It was great listening to them chat about the work they had done together developing Alberta Bone and Joint and bringing together orthopedic surgeons from around the province to help deliver quicker and more comprehensive surgery and follow up by teams of healthcare providers. Bone and Joint is still held up as the Gold Standard today of how to improve access and delivery and Dr. Frank was one of those that helped establish that. He will be dearly missed by so many personally as a mentor and friend and healthcare as a whole has lost such a large contributor. Rest in Peace Dr. Frank!
Larry and Darlene Schindel
So many wonderful praises. He sounds like a man who cared for everyone. Even with never having met him, I feel we have lost something important.
For the past 30 years, there hasn’t a day when I haven’t asked myself what Cy would want me to say or do with a given patient. Like so many, I am forever in his debt and believe the greatest show of respect we can each show him, going forward, is to ask ourselves what Cy would want us to say or do on any issue in healthcare. Thank you.
well said