Lawrence Loh
{{Short description|Canadian physician and public servant}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lawrence Loh
| image =
| office = Peel Medical Officer of Health{{Cite web|url=https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/loh-lawrence-c/|title=Loh, Lawrence C.|website=Dalla Lana School of Public Health}}
| chair =
| predecessor =
| termstart = July 2020
| termend = September 2022
| termlabel2 = Interim
| termstart2 = March 2020
| termend2 = June 2020
| termlabel3 = Interim
| termstart3 = March 2017
| termend3 = September 2017
| office4 = Peel Associate Medical Officer of Health
| termstart4 = January 2016
| termend4 = March 2020
| office5 = Public Health Physician, Public Health Ontario
| premier5 = Kathleen Wynne
| termstart5 = January 2015
| termend5 = December 2015
| office6 = Senior Medical Consultant, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
| premier6 = Kathleen Wynne
| termstart6 = January 2015
| termend6 = December 2015
| office7 = Medical Health Officer, Fraser Health Authority
| termstart7 = August 2013
| termend7 = January 2015
| office8 = Medical Specialist, Public Health Agency of Canada
| primeminister8 = Stephen Harper
| termstart8 = September 2012
| termend8 = August 2013
| birth_date =
| occupation = Physician
| spouse =
| children =
| alma_mater = University of Western Ontario, BSc
University of Western Ontario, M.D.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, MPH
University of Toronto, FRCPC
| residence =
| birth_place = London, Ontario, Canada{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/05/02/the-man-who-took-on-amazon-closed-schools-and-defied-expectations-who-is-peels-top-doctor-lawrence-loh.html|title=The man who took on Amazon, closed schools and defied expectations. Who is Peel's top doctor Lawrence Loh?|date=May 2, 2021|website=thestar.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://healthydebate.ca/2021/10/topic/lawrence-loh-peel-pillars-dlsph/|title=Musician, aspiring writer – and one of Ontario's toughest medical officers of health|date=May 2, 2021|website=healthydebate.ca}}
}}
Lawrence C. Loh is a Canadian physician best known for having served as Medical Officer of Health for the Regional Municipality of Peel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was also the sixth Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Early life and education
Loh grew up in London, Ontario to Malaysian parents of Chinese descent. He grew up speaking English at home and not Mandarin. When Loh was 14, the family briefly moved back to Malaysia in Petaling Jaya for five years. After relocating back to London, Ontario Loh attended University of Western Ontario for his undergraduate degree and also medical school. He subsequently completed residency at the University of Toronto in Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
Career
Loh practiced family medicine in Brampton before specializing in public health. He subsequently worked in public health agencies at all three levels of government in two different provinces before being offered the job of Associate Medical Officer of Health for Peel Region in 2016 by Eileen de Villa (then Medical Officer of Health for Peel, who later joined Toronto Public Health).
= Academic career =
Loh is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
= Medical Officer of Health during COVID-19 =
{{See also|COVID-19 pandemic in the Regional Municipality of Peel}}
Loh was the Medical Officer of Health for Peel Region throughout the first two years of COVID-19 pandemic in the Regional Municipality of Peel.{{Cite web|url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peel-covid-hospitalizations-unvaccinated-1.6121615|title=Peel Region saw 81 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in about a month. None were fully vaccinated CBC News|website=www.cbc.ca}} In April 2021, Loh notably broke from the approach taken by the province and ordered Peel Region schools closed,{{Cite web|url=https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/peel-schools-ordered-to-close-despite-ford-government-s-firm-belief-they-should-remain-open-1.5375073|title=Peel schools ordered to close despite Ford government's 'firm belief' they should remain open|first=Sean|last=Davidson|date=April 5, 2021|website=Toronto}} as well as an Amazon Fulfillment Facility closed, both of which were accomplished through section 22 orders.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-peel-public-health-workplace-closures-1.6001128|title= Ontario health unit partially closes 2 Amazon fulfilment centres to control COVID-19 outbreaks CBC News|website=www.cbc.ca}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.insauga.com/breaking-public-health-orders-closures-of-amazon-facilities-in-brampton-and-caledon|title=BREAKING: Peel Public Health orders closures of Amazon facilities in Brampton and Caledon|website=www.insauga.com|date=24 April 2021 }}
During Asian Heritage Month in May 2021, Loh was recognized in the Senate of Canada by Senator Victor Oh. In his intervention, Senator Oh hailed Loh as a hero in the community, citing that Loh's "forward thinking and resolve [...] were instrumental in containing COVID-19 transmission in one of the country's hardest Regions."{{Cite web|url=https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/oh-victor/interventions/559848/6|title=Victor Oh - Topic Intervention 559848 - Senate of Canada}}
The Key to the City of Mississauga was presented to Loh on March 3, 2022, by Mayor Bonnie Crombie to recognize his role in the city's pandemic response.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-03 |title='A health-care hero:' Peel's top doctor awarded the key to Mississauga for efforts in battling COVID-19 |url=https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/a-health-care-hero-peel-s-top-doctor-awarded-the-key-to-mississauga-for-efforts-in-battling-covid-19-1.5804135 |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Toronto |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{CanChiefHealthOfficers}}
{{COVID-19 pandemic in Canada}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loh, Lawrence}}
Category:People from London, Ontario
Category:Physicians from Ontario
Category:University of Western Ontario alumni
Category:Canadian public health doctors
Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto
Category:Canadian health officials
Category:21st-century Canadian civil servants