Bonnie J. Fraser Henry (born ) is a Canadian physician and public servant who has been the provincial health officer at the British Columbia Ministry of Health since 2014. Henry is also a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine, and is a family doctor. In her role as provincial health officer, Henry notably led the response to COVID-19 in British Columbia (BC).
Early life and education
Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Henry grew up in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where her mother, father, sister, niece, and nephew live. Her father was a major in the Canadian Army; the family lived in many different locations due to his postings, including Calgary, St. John's, and the Netherlands. Henry is the second-oldest of four daughters.
In 1986, Henry received a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Mount Allison University. In 1990, Henry earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. From 1996 to 1999, Henry did a residency in preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego. In 1999, she earned an Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology from San Diego State University. In 2001, Henry completed a residency in public health and preventive medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
Career
During her third year of her medical degree at Dalhousie, Henry joined the Royal Canadian Navy and served as a medical officer after graduating. She served for ten years at CFB Esquimalt, located in Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island.
In the early 2000s, Henry served as part of the World Health Organization (WHO) – UNICEF polio eradication programme in Pakistan. She continued to work with the WHO in 2001, moving to Uganda to support their efforts to tackle the Ebola virus disease. Henry helped to establish the Canada Pandemic Influenza Plan, which contains recommendations for health-related activities during the spread of a virus.
In September 2001, Henry joined Toronto Public Health as an associate medical officer of health, where she led the Emergency Services Unit and the Communicable Disease Liaison Unit. In this capacity she was operational lead of the response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 outbreaks in Toronto.
From 2005 to 2007, Henry worked as a physician epidemiologist at the BC Centre for Disease Control. From 2007 to 2014, she was the medical director of Public Health Emergency Management while also working as medical director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control starting in 2011. She helped Canada to plan and police the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In December 2013, Henry was made interim provincial executive medical director of the BC Centre for Disease Control. She was made Deputy Provincial Health Officer in August 2014, a position she held for three years. She helped to lead British Columbia through a catastrophic wildfire season, which impacted the air quality, as well as advising the Government of Canada on the Influenza A virus subtype H7N9 epidemic. In 2015, she testified as an expert witness alongside Allison McGeer in a labour arbitration between the Ontario Nurses' Association and Sault Area Hospital regarding a "vaccine or mask" policy.
In February 2018, Henry was appointed as the provincial health officer for British Columbia, the first woman to hold the role. She chairs the pandemic influenza task group. The group looks to minimise the number of people who become seriously ill during a pandemic, as well as limiting the social disruptions. She called for more efficient electronic systems to understand vaccine uptake, as well as manage Canada's vaccine inventory.
Henry has taught at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health, and the Faculty of Medicine since 2010, where she is an associate professor. She also received an honorary degree from the University of British Columbia in 2021.
COVID-19 response
Henry leads the provincial government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia. Her early handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia earned praise from the New York Times in June 2020. In August, September, and October 2020, Henry was criticized for not mandating public mask usage and the province's back-to-school plans. In November and December concerns were raised regarding the lack of transparency around COVID-19 data. In December 2021 she was criticized for previous claims that COVID mostly spreads by droplets instead of aerosols.