Harry Medovy

Who was Harry Medovy?

Harry Medovy, OC was a Canadian pediatrician and academic.

Born in Russia, his parents moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba when Medovy was one to escape persecution against Jews. He studied at the University of Manitoba receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1928. During World War II, he served with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. In 1932, he joined the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Manitoba and was department head from 1954 to 1970. In 1954, he was appointed head of the Department of Pediatrics and Pediatrician-in-Chief of the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg.

He was active in preventing children from smoking, in making people aware of the risks from children poisoning themselves with household products, in advocating the addition of vitamins C and D to milk, and warning people of the dangers of nitrates in shallow wells. He was also was in charge of rapidly spreading the newly created Polio Vaccine to children throughout Winnipeg. He was one of the first doctors to recommend putting fluoride in the city's water, greatly improving the health of teeth for people throughout Winnipeg.

In 1979, his book A vision fulfilled: the story of the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg 1909-1973 was published.