Dr. John H.C. Chiu
In 1981, when the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco was organizing the very First International Conference on Health Problems Related to the Chinese in North America, Dr. John H.C. Chiu, then the President of the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals (Ontario) as well as the President of the Chinese Canadian Medical Society (Ontario), responded to the call to endorse as well as participate at the Conference, held in San Francisco, California, in 1982. With that first foray started Dr. Chiu’s 30 years of involvement with the vision and goal of bringing the Chinese North American medical and health organizations together to improve the status of health for all Chinese North American residents.
Dr. Chiu has been with the FCMS National Steering committee from the beginning. In 1990, he also chaired the 5th Biennial International Conference held in Toronto, Canada, attended by almost 400 physicians and health professionals. This successful event stimulated the CCMS (BC) and CCMS (Quebec) to start to become more actively involved with the conference and organization. The success of the Toronto Conference also inspired the forefathers of the Federation of Chinese American and Chinese Canadian Medical Societies to start organizing in its current form, led by Dr. David Chiu, Dr. Harry Lee, Dr. Hsueh-hwa Wang and Dr. John Chiu. The FCMS was inaugurated in 1994, and Dr. Chiu served as Vice-president in 1994-96, President in 1996-98, and as the Chairman of the Board in 1998-2000, as well as the Historian of the FCMS from its inception until the present.
Dr. Chiu has been, and is still an active advisor to the CCMS (Ont.) and the FCCP (Ont.) after finishing his presidency 30 years ago. He has continued to encourage the younger generations in both organizations to be involved and be visionaries As a result, the CCMS (Ont.) took up the challenge as the host bringing the 14th Biennial International Conference back to Toronto, Canada in 2008. He was the President of the FCCP (Ont.) Education Foundation for 25 years, 1985-2010, a registered charity which donates annually 50+ scholarships and awards to universities and post-secondary institutions, with now an endowment fund of over $1.2 million. He also sat on the Board of the PSI Foundation, a registered charity of Ontario doctors, giving out annually $4million to medical research and education grants. He has been on the Ontario Medical Association Council for over 20 years, and also served consecutively as chair of 3 OMA branch medical societies including the Central Toronto District Doctors from 1989-2011. He was elected as a Life member of the OMA in 2007 for his contributions to the organization and to the common good in Ontario.
Dr. Chiu is active in community social services and charities, which included being the President of Catholic Cross Cultural Immigrant Services, and Vice-President of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto. He is also a past advisor to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Mon Sheong Foundation and Home for the Aged, and the Ontario Ministry of Health.
Dr. Chiu was born in Hong Kong, graduated from the University of Hong Kong, and came to Canada in 1968 after his wedding to Yvonne Chiu. He completed his radiology training at the University of Ottawa, as well as Fellowship in Neuroradiology at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University, before starting full time practice as a Diagnostic Radiologist. He is a devoted father to 1 son, Derrick. He is an avid traveler, a food & wine connoisseur, and lover of art, classical music and opera. He is a former Board Director of the National Ballet of Canada.